I’m Mike Ochoa — born in Tijuana, raised in the South Bay: San Ysidro, Barrio Logan, Logan Heights, and Golden Hill.

I’m not a career politician. I’m a father, a grandfather, a neighbor who has walked the same streets, breathed the same polluted air, and felt the same frustrations our communities face every day.

I’m running for San Diego City Council, District 8 (2026) for one reason — because our families deserve better, and I’m done waiting for someone else to fix it.

I’ve seen what happens when leadership turns its back on us. When a 4-year-old child was harmed at Sunset Elementary and school officials stayed silent for nine months, that wasn’t protection — it was negligence. And I refuse to accept that this is the standard for our children. If this had happened in La Jolla, Coronado, or Del Mar, we all know it wouldn’t have been ignored for nine months.

Our kids deserve the same protection, dignity, and urgency as any other child in this city.

MY ROOTS. MY STORY. MY VALUES

My story begins far from politics and prestige, rooted instead in humble beginnings, hard work, and the strength of family…

I was born in Tijuana and spent my early childhood in El Salto, Guadalajara, Jalisco, where I learned the simple joys of street games —el trompo, el balero, las canicas. Those early days taught me creativity, resilience, and how communities raise children long before I ever understood the word “leadership.”

When I came to the United States, I grew up in Logan Heights and Golden Hill, before eventually planting my roots in the South Bay, where I made lifelong friends and completed my education at Montgomery High School. I am, without question, a proud son of the South Bay— shaped by its families, streets, and opportunities, and grounded in the belief that leadership is earned through service, not status.

I wasn’t raised with wealth or privilege. I was raised with values.

I had the rare blessing of being shaped by two fathers, each of whom taught me a different lesson about what it means to be a man.

My biological father, Rafael Munoz Ochoa passed away in 1965 when I was only eight. He had come to this country with nothing but determination, working as a dishwasher at a restaurantcalled Miguelito’s on Kettner Boulevard in downtown San Diego — which is likely why he named me Miguel. From him, I inherited humility and the understanding that dignity comes from honest work.

My second father — Rodolfo Sotelo, the man who stepped in and raised me — came to the United States through the Bracero Program of the 1940s, a program built on the backs of hardworking men who believed in the promise of a better life. His discipline, sacrifice, and devotion to family taught me the meaning of responsibility and the power of perseverance.

These two men — one by blood, one by choice — gave me the identity I carry today:

A man shaped by struggle, strengthened by family, guided by community, and committed to service.

MY PROMISE TO YOU

✅ I will fight aggressively for every resource our community deserves — not as a politician, but as your neighbor.

✅ I will protect our children and demand accountability from school leaders and city officials—no more silence, no more excuses. When public leaders are given positions of trust and they break that trust then they need to be remove and replaced. When it comes to the welfare and protection of our children, it’s not negotiable.

✅ I will prioritize affordable housing, safer streets, cleaner neighborhoods, and real support for working families and first responders.

✅ I will restore transparency, trust, and pride to every block of District 8.

This campaign isn’t about left or right. It’s about right and wrong.

It’s about families. It’s about our kids. It’s about a community that refuses to be ignored any longer.

It’s about: “The People’s Campaign — “One of Us, For All of Us”.

For too long, our voices have been ignored, our children overlooked, and our neighborhoods left behind. But I believe in something powerful — us.

Together, we can rebuild trust in leadership, protect every child’s right to safety and opportunity, and restore dignity to every block, every family, every voice in District 8.

This isn’t just a campaign — it’s our movement.

A campaign built by the people, for the people — where no one, and no community, is left behind.

Join me. Stand with me. Let’s fight for the future we all deserve — together.