# Aliso Viejo City Council, District 2 Compare records and positions simply between Steven Von Der Porten or Max Duncan for Aliso Viejo City Council, District 2 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Aliso Viejo's five-member City Council. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. An appointed city manager runs daily operations. Aliso Viejo is a general-law city. It has no separately, citywide-elected Mayor. The council chooses a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem from its members each year. The term is four years. - Jurisdiction: City of Aliso Viejo - 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/aliso-viejo-council-2 - 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: 90 out of 100 (Very strong), across 3 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Steven Von Der Porten** — Father/Aerospace Engineer - **Max Duncan** — Mayor of the City of Aliso Viejo · Incumbent A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Sitting Mayor Max Duncan is running for a second council term against challenger Steven Von Der Porten. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff. This person holds District 2's seat on Aliso Viejo's 5-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. An appointed city manager runs the city day to day. Aliso Viejo is a general-law city with no separately elected citywide Mayor. The council picks a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem from its own members each year. The term is four years. Duncan is a sitting councilmember whose term is expiring. The county's candidate document lists no incumbent for District 2. That district did not exist as a seat when they were elected at-large in 2022. The city's council roster and their own bio page confirm they hold the seat now. They are running to keep it under the new district lines. Beyond their city bio and Von Der Porten's filed job title, no other source was found. No campaign site or news coverage turned up for either candidate. ## Max Duncan Elected to the City Council at-large in 2022 and currently serving as Mayor (a one-year role the council rotates among its own members each December), Duncan is running for a second term under the city's new district lines. Their own city bio describes them as a technology-industry professional with a Bachelor of Science in Business Information Systems, who has started multiple businesses and worked as an engineer for several tech companies, and lists extensive local youth-sports and civic volunteering -- leadership with YMCA Adventure Guides, Aliso Viejo Little League, Aliso Viejo Girls Softball, and AYSO. Duncan and their wife have two children and live in Aliso Viejo. No campaign site or additional news coverage describing their specific council-term priorities was found in this pass beyond what's on the city's own site. **Strengths:** One term of council experience plus a year serving as Mayor, giving them direct, current familiarity with the city's budget and operations. **Trade-offs:** No campaign statement or platform beyond their city bio was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of what they'd specifically prioritize in a second term. **Keep in mind:** No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for their campaign in this pass -- see Financial info. ## Steven Von Der Porten Filed their candidacy under the ballot designation "Father/Aerospace Engineer." No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source describing their background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort. **Strengths:** An aerospace-engineering background suggests technical, process-oriented experience; running as a parent gives Von Der Porten a direct stake in local schools and family services. **Trade-offs:** No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass beyond their listed occupation, and no prior public service was found for them. **Keep in mind:** No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for their campaign in this pass -- see Financial info. ## Sources 1. [OC Registrar of Voters -- Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election 11/3/2026 -- City of Aliso Viejo section (pages 71-73 of 188): confirms City Council District 2 (2 qualified candidates) and District 3, Short Term (2 qualified candidates) as the city's two November 2026 races, each Vote for 1, plus every candidate's filed ballot designation and, for District 3, the outgoing incumbent of record (Richard Hurt)](https://ocvote.gov/fileadmin/user_upload/data/candlog/GEN2026/candlog.pdf) 2. [City of Aliso Viejo -- City Council page: the sitting 5-member roster (Mayor Max Duncan, Mayor Pro Tem Mike Munzing, Councilmembers Tiffany Ackley, Garrett Dwyer, and Tim Zandbergen), confirms the city moved to by-district elections starting in 2024, and confirms the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem are chosen annually by the council rather than directly elected](https://www.avcity.org/222/City-Council) 3. [City of Aliso Viejo -- Mayor Max Duncan's official bio: confirms he was elected at-large to the City Council in 2022 with his term expiring November 2026, plus his occupational and community-service background](https://www.avcity.org/294/Mayor-Max-Duncan) ## The rest of the ballot Aliso Viejo City Council, District 2 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, "Aliso Viejo City Council, District 2 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/aliso-viejo-council-2 (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.