# Alhambra City Council, District 1 Compare records and positions simply between Amy J. Wong or Ron Sahu for Alhambra City Council, District 1 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Alhambra's 5-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. - Jurisdiction: City of Alhambra - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/alhambra-council-1 - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: August 31, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 87 out of 100 (Strong), across 4 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Amy J. Wong** - **Ron Sahu** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Amy J. Wong and Ron Sahu are running for the open District 1 seat after three-term incumbent Katherine Lee did not file for re-election by the August 6, 2026 deadline. Sahu had briefly withdrawn his own candidacy when Lee appeared to be seeking another term, then re-entered once she dropped out. This person holds one of five district seats on Alhambra's City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, land use and development approvals, and the city's contracts. Members serve four year terms. They choose one of their own as a rotating mayor. Neither candidate has held elected office. So the choice turns on which local record and priorities a voter trusts for an open seat. Wong offers a public health career and Planning Commission service. Sahu offers an engineering background and years of hands on neighborhood advocacy through Grassroots Alhambra. ## Amy J. Wong This person is a public health adviser at the South Coast Air Quality Management District and a first-generation American who has served five years on Alhambra's Planning Commission. She is running on neighborhood safety, affordable housing, small businesses, parks and mobility, environmental sustainability, and giving residents more say in City Hall decisions. She led the campaign behind Monterey Park's data-center ban, described as the first voter-approved ban of its kind in the country, and has since brought that fight to Alhambra. **Strengths:** A five year Planning Commission record plus a citywide organizing win. That win is Monterey Park's data center ban, reported as the first voter approved one in the country. **Trade-offs:** No experience in elected office. Her record is commission service and outside advocacy, not votes cast as a sitting councilmember. **Keep in mind:** She and her husband are more recent Alhambra residents than her opponent. Weigh her decade of San Gabriel Valley civic work against a shorter residency in the district she'd represent. ## Ron Sahu This person is an environmental and energy engineering consultant with bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering, including graduate work at Caltech, who has lived in Alhambra since 1988 and served on its Planning Commission and Environmental Sustainability Commission. He is running on city finances and fees, government transparency and accountability, land-use planning, housing, and transportation. He is active in Grassroots Alhambra, the group behind the city's district-based elections and campaign-contribution-limit ballot measure, and has organized against development at Story Park and delays on contaminated land near Fremont Avenue. **Strengths:** Nearly four decades in Alhambra plus two city commissions. A documented record in local fights over Story Park development, contaminated land near Fremont Avenue, and Measure R spending. **Trade-offs:** No experience in elected office. His record, like Wong's, is commission and advocacy work rather than a councilmember's votes. **Keep in mind:** He withdrew once, believing the incumbent would run again. He re-entered when she didn't. That is a real second guess worth knowing about going in, not a disqualifying one. ## Sources 1. [City of Alhambra — Candidate Offices, November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election (qualified-candidate list)](https://www.alhambraca.gov/184/Candidate-Offices) 2. [ColoradoBoulevard.net — "Alhambra Election Takes Surprise Turn as Lee Drops Out of District 1 Race; Sahu Jumps Back In" (2026-08-17)](https://www.coloradoboulevard.net/alhambra-election-takes-surprise-turn-as-lee-drops-out-of-district-1-race-sahu-jumps-back-in/) 3. [ColoradoBoulevard.net — "Amy J. Wong Announces Run for Alhambra City Council District 1" (2026-08-09)](https://www.coloradoboulevard.net/amy-j-wong-announces-run-for-alhambra-city-council-district-1) 4. [ColoradoBoulevard.net — "Ron Sahu Announces Candidacy for Alhambra City Council District 1"](https://www.coloradoboulevard.net/ron-sahu-announces-candidacy-for-alhambra-city-council-district-1/) ## The rest of the ballot Alhambra City Council, District 1 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Alhambra City Council, District 1 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/alhambra-council-1 (sources last retrieved August 31, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.