Rita Soto: From selling tamales to becoming the new Mayor of Lynwood

More than three decades after migrating to the United States in search of the American dream and starting from zero,  Rita Soto was sworn in as the new Mayor of Lynwood on Tuesday. 

Soto, the vice mayor in the last term, replaced former Mayor Jose Solache, who was recently elected to the California Assembly. 

Soto said she feels humbled to be in this position. She finds it a little hard to admit that she has indeed climbed the ladder of success, but she recognizes that she is very committed when she has a goal in mind.

Soto, 57, came to the United States at age 24 to reunite with her husband Armando Soto. Although she had a teaching degree in Sinaloa, Mexico, she realized she could not use it once she settled in the City of Lynwood.

At that moment, her husband was renting a bedroom in an apartment shared with others. Soto was impressed to see how people lived in small spaces and had no choice but to adapt. They soon moved to their own apartment, and she increased her workload performing different jobs, from sewing clothes to babysitting. 

One day, someone asked her if she could make tamales. Without hesitation, she said yes. She did not, in fact, know how to make them.

“I remember the first four dozen I made, I spent almost five hours making them, but after that, little by little, I kept learning and then I was making 30 dozen every weekend by myself,” she said.

Eventually, she added coricos, a cookie from Sinaloa, and sweet empanadas to her menu, which were all a hit. 

However, in the back of her head, Soto always had the idea of going back to teaching. One day, she went to pick up a kid she was babysitting and started talking with one of the teachers who told her they would need more teachers. Soto didn’t hesitate and started working on getting the proper certification for her degrees from Mexico. While the school needed teachers who spoke Spanish, Soto was not bilingual at all, but that didn’t scare her.

‘No’ means finding another opportunity

Once she had the proper documentation, Soto went to the interview for the teaching position, but was rejected because she was not bilingual. She felt devastated but moved on and applied at Mark Twain Elementary in Lynwood where she was hired as a kindergarten teacher. Knowing she needed the experience before officially starting her job, she volunteered during the summer to learn about the program.

“The principal sent me to classes where the teachers spoke English only and while it was very difficult, it helped me a lot,” she said.

At 28, Soto started teaching classes completely in Spanish at Mark Twain. While she had achieved one goal of returning to teaching, now she had to master another language. She started attending adult school to take English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and then transferred to Cerritos College to continue taking English and writing classes. 

Working for bigger goals

Soto’s job was not permanent, but she was elated when she received her first paycheck. She knew she could do much more to achieve the American Dream. She told her husband they should buy a house. He told her she was crazy.

“He said, ‘How are we going to buy a house if I’m the only one working?’ because my job wasn’t permanent,” Soto remembered. “I said I don’t know, but I want to live in a house.”

At that time they had their first child, which motivated her even more to get the house.

They started looking for one but didn’t qualify for one they liked. They kept trying and the house they liked was available for them three months later. The real estate agent helped them with the process and in a couple of months, they closed escrow. 

“My husband was like, ‘How are we going to do this?’ I said I don’t know but we will,” she said. 

Soto kept working as a teacher and selling tamales on the weekends. She also continued attending school and caring for her two children with her husband’s help.

As years passed by, she kept moving up the ladder in education, despite having issues with not being completely fluent in English. She could manage only about 40% or 50% of the language but that didn’t deter her from achieving her goals. She was working on getting certified as a multiple-subject teacher. 

Soto said language was not a barrier for her since most parents in the school she taught were Spanish speakers.

Once she received the proper credentials, she kept moving up within the Lynwood Unified School District. She became an instructional leader at Washington Elementary and continued working on her second master's degree in education and administration. After graduating in 2018 she became the vice-principal at Roosevelt Elementary and in 2022 she became the principal of Mark Twain Elementary. She was excited but emotional to return to the school where her teaching journey started. 

During this time Soto convinced her husband to buy a second house. He was hesitant but this time, he trusted her more. They were able to get a bigger house where they live now. 

Getting involved in Lynwood’s City Council 

While Soto was working in education, people told her she should get involved in  city government. It was suggested that she become a commissioner. Initially, she declined because she didn’t consider herself a political person. Eventually, she changed her mind. 

She was a planning commissioner for a year and was then encouraged to run for city council.

Without knowing much about the position but with the desire to help make a positive change in her community, Soto accepted. 

She became a councilmember in 2020. Then, she was voted the vice mayor, and in November 5, 2024 she was reelected to the council. On Tuesday, the council members voted for her to become the new mayor of Lynwood, a city with about 90% of Latino population. 

Soto feels very proud to have overcome the obstacles of education and language to achieve her goals. She said there is a misunderstanding that all immigrants who come to the United States don’t have an education. However, their current life situation places them on a different path, but it’s also a personal decision to stay or keep moving. 

“Selling tamales or babysitting is not bad, but people think these jobs are only for uneducated people,” she said. “When people question how I got this or how did I get that, it is because I’m working really hard to get what I want.”

As the Mayor of Lynwood, Soto has many plans. That’s one of the reasons why she decided to retire as a principal to focus her entire time on the City of Lynwood. Some of her priorities in the council include public safety, improving local businesses, providing educational opportunities and protecting the environment while promoting sustainable practices. 

Soto said she’s grateful to have a good network of friends and family. But she’s especially thankful to her husband for supporting her dreams. She said her experience has taught her that when there is a will, there is a way. 

“I’m proud of my accent,” said Soto. “I’m proud of who I am now because thanks to having a dream of being better than how I was in Mexico pushed me to do much more.”