[3] De La Fuente supported efforts in 2003 to shutter all of Oakland's dispensaries but one, contending that "at least half of the clubs (were) selling pot for recreational use.

"[4] De La Fuente ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Oakland in 2006, placing second of three major candidates, behind the winner (former Congressman Ron Dellums) but ahead of challenger Nancy Nadel.

On June 16, 2006, after a careful ballot recount, and a dispute over whether votes for unqualified write-in candidates such as George W. Bush and Homer Simpson counted towards the total, Dellums was declared the winner in the Oakland mayoral race.

[5][6] In 2012 De La Fuente challenged Rebecca Kaplan for the at-large set on the Oakland City Council, leaving open the district 5 seat.

On October 26, 2007, the councilman's son, Ignacio De La Fuente Jr., was sentenced to fourteen years in prison for the rape of three women, and a 15-year-old girl.

[18] A California Highway Patrol officer alleged to have observed De La Fuente speeding around 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) and making unsafe lane changes while driving his 2006 Buick on the Nimitz Freeway, I-880, near the Fruitvale Avenue exit in East Oakland.

[19] A CHP spokesperson alleges that, after being stopped, De La Fuente was noticeably impaired and failed field sobriety and driver coordination tests.