La Quinta voters will decide next month whether to give Mayor Linda Evans a seventh term in office, as she faces challengers Suzanne Espinoza-Jimenez and Lynn Langdon on the Nov. 3 ballot. Evans has held the mayor's seat since 2014, and before that served on the City Council beginning in June 2009.
The race is shaping up as the latest test of Evans's long hold on City Hall. Longtime La Quinta Mayor Linda Evans is seeking a seventh term in office, according to The Desert Sun, which reported she will have to defeat two contenders to keep her role. The paper's coverage, including a video report published Tuesday, also raised the question of whether another win could set some kind of record for Evans, though specifics on any existing mark were not detailed.
Under the city's rules, the La Quinta mayor is elected at large for a two-year term, according to the City of La Quinta, which also notes that City Council members serve four-year terms. The city holds its general municipal election on the first Tuesday of November in every even-numbered year, per the same city source, which is why Evans and her challengers are on the ballot this fall rather than in an odd year.
Who's Challenging the Incumbent
Incumbent Mayor Linda Evans will be joined by challengers Suzanne Espinoza-Jimenez and Lynn Langdon, according to KESQ. The station reported that three candidates participated in the mayoral portion of a public forum held earlier this month in La Quinta, giving voters a chance to hear directly from those seeking office ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
That forum was hosted by the Greater Coachella Valley Chamber of Commerce and featured seven candidates total running for three elected positions, KESQ reported, combining the mayoral race with City Council contests on the same stage. The format gave residents an early look at how the mayoral field stacks up before early voting begins.
A Familiar Pattern of Challengers
This is not the first time Evans has had to fend off opponents at the ballot box. Robert Sylk challenged Evans for mayor in both 2020 and 2022 and was challenging her again in 2024, according to the UKEN Report, which also confirmed that Evans has held the mayoralty since 2014 after joining the City Council in June 2009.
With Espinoza-Jimenez and Langdon now in the race, Evans faces a fresh pair of challengers rather than a repeat matchup. Whether her long tenure translates into another term will be up to La Quinta voters when ballots are counted following the Nov. 3 election.
