San Diego Sample Ballot & Voter Guide 2026

Rafael Perez is a Nonpartisan candidate running for San Diego City Council in District 8. A real estate agent and instructor, he has a background in housing, education, and public service, including roles on the Citizens’ Equal Opportunity Commission and the San Diego Regional Airport Authority Board.

Priorities: Addressing the public health emergency in the Tijuana River Valley · Expanding housing affordability and homeownership opportunities · Restoring trust in City Hall through responsive and transparent governance

Venus Molina is a candidate for San Diego City Council, District 8. She currently serves as Chief of Staff to Councilmember Jennifer Campbell and has dedicated her career to advocating for San Diego's communities. Her work has focused on advancing initiatives to expand housing, lower costs, and connect residents with essential resources.

Priorities: Lowering the cost of living for working families · Investing in sustainable infrastructure, including roads, sidewalks, and public spaces · Enhancing public safety through collaborative efforts and police accountability

Gerardo Ramirez is running for San Diego City Council District 8. Raised in San Ysidro by a single mother, he began working as a farmworker at 12 and later became the youngest Chief of Staff on the San Diego City Council, securing over $107 million for District 8 projects. He aims to bring a new generation of leadership to City Hall, fighting for working families and addressing community needs.

Priorities: Addressing affordability and increasing housing production · Improving city services and infrastructure, including safe streets, clean parks, and fire safety · Promoting fiscal responsibility, cost savings, and efficiency in city government

Miguel M. Ochoa has demonstrated significant personal transformation, including obtaining full-time employment, seeking legal custody of his children, and abstaining from drugs and alcohol. Raised in Palo Alto, California, he has persevered through various personal hardships, including his children being kidnapped and personal illness, while maintaining sobriety and employment.

Kenia A. Peraza is an at-large member of the San Ysidro School District school board in California, having assumed office in December 2024. A mother of three and an interior designer, she is also a community advocate for children and families in San Ysidro. Peraza earned her bachelor's degree from the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California.

Priorities: Expanding bilingual and dual-language programs · Promoting transparency in school funding

Antonio Martinez is a fifth-generation resident of San Ysidro, born and raised in San Diego's District 8. He has dedicated his career to community service, including serving multiple terms on the San Ysidro School Board and working as a Congressional Staffer. Martinez is currently a candidate for San Diego City Council, focusing on local issues.

Priorities: Addressing the housing and homelessness crisis · Securing investments in public safety and infrastructure · Raising wages and strengthening the labor movement

Francisco A. Mayoral Munoz is a U.S. Marine Veteran and retired Lieutenant Colonel who also serves as a peace officer in San Diego. He has expressed a vision for San Diego focused on core city services, ending the homelessness humanitarian crisis, and restoring public safety and trust.

Priorities: End the homelessness humanitarian crisis. · Restore public safety and demand accountability for repeat drug and theft offenders. · Cut city overspending to fix unsafe streets and repair the stormwater management system.

Mark Powell is a lifelong San Diegan, small business owner, educator, and former Reserve Police Officer running for City Council District 6. He brings over 25 years of experience from roles as a teacher, vice-principal, university professor, and an elected San Diego County Board of Education member.

Priorities: Make life more affordable: Restore free parking in Balboa Park, reduce or repeal the costly trash tax, simplify permits for affordable housing, oppose new taxes, and put the city budget online for public access. · Preserve community character and quality of life: Adopt stricter design standards and limit ADUs, restore traffic flow by removing under-used bike lanes, and protect existing motor vehicle lanes. · Keep our neighborhoods safe: Reduce fire risk, bring back community-oriented policing, and partner with San Diego County on mental health services and homelessness prevention.

Jane L. Glasson is a special education assistant who ran as a Nonpartisan candidate for Mayor of San Diego in the March 5, 2024 primary election. She also previously campaigned for San Diego City Council District 6 in 2022 and 2014.

Priorities: Supporting homeowners and renters, including opposing SB 10 and protecting existing homeowners · Restoring public safety to protect neighborhoods · Addressing homelessness by offering addiction treatment and daily free meals

Kent F. Lee is a San Diego City Councilmember representing District 6, where he has served since 2022 and became President Pro Tempore in 2024. A first-generation Asian American, Lee has a background in nonprofit leadership and community service, focusing on improving the quality of life for local families.

Priorities: Increase housing supply and affordability · Invest in and maintain community infrastructure · Reduce homelessness through collaborative solutions

Mathew Gordon is a community leader and political aide who announced his campaign for San Diego City Council District 4. He previously served as an aide to former Councilmember Myrtle Cole and was the president and CEO of The Blue Heart Foundation, a non-profit focused on empowering underserved Black and Brown youth. Gordon, who was born and raised in Southeast San Diego, is running on an "Opportunity & Prosperity Ag

Priorities: Making housing more accessible by banning junk fees, standardizing deposits, creating security deposit payment plans, and penalizing prolonged corporate vacancies. · Revitalizing neighborhoods and expanding economic opportunities, including bringing new grocery stores to the district and developing cultural districts. · Improving public safety through community-based policing and ensuring local government accountability and transparency.

Martha Abraham is a NICU nurse and community advocate running for San Diego City Council District 4. As an immigrant, single mother, and grassroots organizer, she is committed to advocating for a San Diego where all communities can thrive, be housed, and live quality lives.

Priorities: Housing justice and affordable living · Infrastructure equity and public health investment · Government transparency, accountability, and efficiency

Roosevelt Williams III is a lifelong San Diegan, entrepreneur, and community advocate with over two decades of experience serving District 4. As the founder and CEO of Young Black & ‘N Business, he has empowered entrepreneurs and drafted policies like the Responsible Banking Ordinance. Williams III is currently running for San Diego City Council District 4.

Priorities: Expand affordable housing and fight displacement · Create safer streets and stronger neighborhoods · Support local businesses and economic growth

Tylisa D. Suseberry is an executive assistant in State Senator Toni Atkins' office, with prior experience in city and county government and local nonprofits. She has run for the San Diego City Council District 4 seat in both 2022 and a 2024 special election. Suseberry is passionate about revitalizing her district and supporting small businesses.

Priorities: Revitalizing vacant and abandoned corridors · Supporting small businesses and entrepreneurship, including advice on banking, loans, and LLCs

Henry L. Foster III is the current incumbent City Councilmember for San Diego’s District 4, having won a special election in March 2024. He has a background in the construction industry and public service, previously serving as Chief of Staff and the City's Equal Opportunity Contracting Program Manager. He is committed to building a stronger, safer, and more sustainable District Four.

Priorities: cost of living · fiscal management · infrastructure

John Franklin is the former Mayor of Vista, having served 14 years in elected public service, including on the Vista City Council and Vista Irrigation District Board. He is a small business owner with a background as a policy advisor on Capitol Hill.

Priorities: Lowering taxes and improving affordability, including housing · Improving public safety and reducing crime · Addressing homelessness

Rebecca Jones is the current Mayor of San Marcos with nearly 20 years of public service, including roles as councilmember and vice mayor. She is known for her pragmatic, solutions-oriented leadership, focusing on public safety, affordability, and improving quality of life for San Diego County residents.

Priorities: Public safety · Affordability · Homelessness

Norma Contreras is a Democrat, former Tribal Chairwoman of the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians, and a women's health advocate. She works as a case manager for the Strong Hearted Native Women’s Coalition and has nearly two decades of experience serving Native and diverse communities.

Priorities: Affordable housing · Wildfire prevention · Community representation

Sasha Miller is a public health educator, former public health professor at Cal State San Marcos, and a union member running for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors in District 5.

Priorities: Housing · Justice for Palestine · Fiscal responsibility

Kyle Krahel is an Oceanside native and Harvard University graduate with a degree in Government. He serves as Deputy Chief of Staff to Rep. Mike Levin, previously chaired the San Diego County Democratic Party, and was an Oceanside city planning commissioner.

Priorities: Housing · Climate · Transit

Mandy Havlik is a community advocate running for San Diego City Council District 2 as a nonpartisan candidate. As a mother of two, an Indigenous woman, and the spouse of a disabled Navy combat veteran, she has served as first vice chair of the Peninsula Community Planning Board and the Sunset Cliffs Natural Park Council. Havlik focuses on bringing community voices to City Hall and addressing local issues.

Priorities: Investing in infrastructure and city services, funded by increasing the Transit Occupancy Tax and reducing administrative waste. · Addressing housing affordability through smart growth, homeownership opportunities, inclusionary zoning, and expanding services for the homeless. · Protecting coastal communities and the environment, and improving traffic safety in neighborhoods.

Nicole Crosby is a candidate for San Diego City Council District 2, running as a Nonpartisan. She has served her community as a PTA president, Clairemont Town Council President, and Deputy City Attorney. Crosby's campaign focuses on addressing affordability, public safety, and infrastructure improvements for the neighborhoods in her district.

Priorities: Rein in the cost of living and expand affordable housing opportunities · Improve public safety, including preventing gun violence and supporting first responders · Repair and upgrade San Diego's infrastructure, including roads, sidewalks, and streetlights

Linda A. Lukacs is a nonpartisan candidate who ran for election to the San Diego City Council, District 2, in California, losing in the general election on November 8, 2022. A San Diego resident with a background in dentistry, nursing, and business, she focused her campaign on local issues.

Priorities: Decreasing the homelessness crisis by addressing its root causes · Fully funding the police to ensure neighborhood safety · Repairing and modernizing failing infrastructure by securing federal and state funding

Josh Coyne is a candidate for San Diego City Council, District 2. He currently serves as Director of Government Affairs and Chief of Staff for the Downtown San Diego Partnership, where he leads efforts on homelessness, economic development, and public safety. Coyne is running to bring this experience to the City Council, focusing on improving city services and creating economic opportunity.

Priorities: Ending street homelessness · Improving basic city services and infrastructure · Promoting economic development and fiscal responsibility

Daniel Smiechowski is a Nonpartisan candidate who ran for Mayor of San Diego in California in 2024, losing in the primary. He has previously run for San Diego City Council District 2 in 2018 and 2022, and served as an elected member of the Clairemont Planning Commission and Clairemont Towne Council.

Priorities: Addressing the cost of housing and homelessness by leasing city-owned land instead of selling it · Reducing the cost of government and reforming the city's pension program by putting new hires on Social Security and implementing salary cuts/hiring freezes for high-earning positions · Developing Horton Plaza as a "Fifteen-Minute City"

Johnny Lee Dang is a 40-year-old administrative assistant and lifelong community advocate, born and raised in San Diego, currently running for City Council District 4.

Priorities: Establish an AI/Robotics Technology Center for economic diversification and high-paying job creation. · Restore fiscal responsibility by cutting wasteful spending, reviving managed competition, and pursuing pension reform. · Launch a comprehensive Imperial Avenue Revitalization Plan to drive commercial and residential development and improve quality of life in Southeast San Diego.

Richard Bailey is a former two-term Mayor of Coronado, elected at 30, with degrees in Business Finance and Applied Economics. He brings private sector experience as a small business owner and a background in public service, focusing on financial responsibility and local governance.

Priorities: repealing fees · restructuring City Hall · reducing basic services

Jacob Mitchell is a 28-year-old fourth-generation San Diegan, a chemist trained at PLNU with an ongoing MBA, running for City Council in District 2. He is not a career politician and focuses on system-based solutions for the city's challenges.

Priorities: Making housing more affordable and protecting neighborhood stability · Increasing government accountability and efficiency through stronger audits and oversight · Improving city livability and reducing the cost of living for residents

Paul Suppa is a California licensed attorney with 26 years of experience, a partner at Estelle & Kennedy, and a long-time District 2 resident, running as an independent for San Diego City Council.

Priorities: Fiscal responsibility and accountability · Infrastructure before expansion · Public safety and quality of life