San Fernando voters are heading into a crowded seven-way fight for three City Council seats on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, with at least one new face all but guaranteed at City Hall. Two incumbents are on the ballot, and Mayor Joel Fajardo chose not to run again, leaving the five-member council poised for a shakeup.
The council moved the city’s standalone municipal election to line up with the statewide primary, so the three highest vote-getters on June 2 will each earn a full four-year term. The nomination period ran in February and March, according to a January press release from the City of San Fernando. The city has roughly 23,000 residents, per the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder has certified seven candidates for the June ballot.
Who is on the ballot
The certified field features incumbents Mary Mendoza and Mary Solorio facing five challengers: Fernando Diaz, Sonia Navarro, Sean M. Rivas, Flor Sanchez and Michelle Vergara. Local reporting indicates Mayor Joel Fajardo weighed a return to the council but ultimately did not complete the filing process before the deadline. With two sitting councilmembers in a field of seven chasing three open seats, at least one newcomer is certain to join the council once the votes are counted.
What they are running on
The candidates are generally circling the same themes, but they are giving them different spin: public safety, economic development, infrastructure and transparency are the recurring refrains.
Incumbent Mary Mendoza has centered her campaign on public safety and what she describes as restoring integrity in local government. Fellow incumbent Mary Solorio is leaning on a message of “transparent leadership that puts residents first.” Michelle Vergara is stressing neighborhood safety alongside support for small businesses, while Flor Sanchez is emphasizing fiscal responsibility and backing for local merchants. Those positions were laid out in campaign coverage and a candidate Q&A with the Los Angeles Daily News.
Local experience and commissions
Several contenders are pointing to city boards and commission service as proof they already know their way around San Fernando government.
Sean M. Rivas chairs the Planning & Preservation Commission and cites experience in education. Fernando Diaz and Flor Sanchez have also served on that commission, coupled with other community work. City meeting packets and minutes document those commission roles, and nonpartisan voter guides flesh out candidate biographies and occupations for residents doing their pre-election homework.
How ties are decided and what to watch
In a small city, a handful of ballots can separate winners from also-rans, so turnout operations could matter as much as yard signs. City Clerk Julia Fritz has noted that a true tie would be settled “by lot” after the certificate of canvass, following California Elections Code Section 10551. That section instructs the governing body to break ties by lot and then formally declare the result.
Observers say voter turnout, messages on public safety and pitches to small businesses are likely to shape which three names come out on top.
Voters can look up polling locations and sample ballots through the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder and can contact the City Clerk’s office with questions about local election information or ballot materials.
