From 2015 to 2017, Ardila served as the office manager and scheduler for City Councilman
Brad Lander. He was also a youth tutor for the
International Rescue Committee. From 2017 to 2019, he served as an expansion consultant for the
New York City Department of Education. In 2019, he joined
the Legal Aid Society as a program coordinator.
2021 New York City Council campaign Ardila ran for
New York City Council in the
30th district in
2021. He ran on a progressive platform and sought to represent the district's growing Latino population, earning him endorsements from
Queens elected officials including
Mike Gianaris,
Jessica Ramos,
Donovan Richards,
Jimmy Van Bramer, and the
Working Families Party. In April 2021, the
New York Post published an article chronicling numerous
homophobic and racist derogatory comments and slurs made by Ardila on
Facebook while in high school from 2009 to 2011. Ardila apologized the next day and said he regretted making the comments. He was defeated by incumbent
Robert Holden, a conservative Democrat who originally won on the Republican ballot line, in the primary with 45% of the vote.
New York State Assembly Ardila was elected to the
New York State Assembly in
2022. In March 2023, Ardila was accused of having
sexually assaulted two women in 2015. Governor
Kathy Hochul and others responded by calling on Ardila to resign from the Assembly. In his bid for re-election in
2024, Ardila placed third in the Democratic primary with 9.7% of the vote behind eventual winner
Claire Valdez and Johanna Carmona. == Electoral history ==