Skip to main content

City of American Canyon · Statewide General Election

American Canyon City Council

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person would hold one of two at-large seats up this cycle on American Canyon's City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for a city of about 21,837 residents (2020 Census) in southern Napa County, incorporated in 1992. The city runs under a council-manager government -- an appointed City Manager handles day-to-day operations -- and has its own directly, citywide-elected Mayor, separate from the Council; the Mayor's seat is not up this cycle. Council Members serve 4-year overlapping terms.

Five candidates are running for two at-large seats on American Canyon's City Council: Sindy Biederman, Robert Cole, Jim Giron, Jason Kishineff, and incumbent David Oro. Both seats up this cycle belong to Oro and Vice Mayor Mark Joseph, who chose not to seek another term, leaving Oro as the only sitting officeholder in the field.

American Canyon, a city of about 21,837 residents (2020 Census) in southern Napa County -- the county's second-most-populous city after Napa -- runs under a council-manager government: a professional City Manager handles day-to-day operations while a City Council made up of four at-large Council Members and a separately, directly elected Mayor sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use. All five offices serve 4-year overlapping terms. Mayor Pierre Washington's own term is not up this November; only the two Council seats are on the ballot.

Two seats are up this cycle. Incumbent David Oro, who has served on the council for nine years by his own account, is seeking another term. The second seat opened when Vice Mayor Mark Joseph -- whose term also expires this November, per the city's own Council roster -- chose not to file for re-election; he does not appear anywhere on the county's certified candidate list. Four newcomers are competing for that seat and against Oro: Sindy Biederman, Robert Cole, Jim Giron, and Jason Kishineff.

Sindy Biederman

Sindy Biederman has lived in American Canyon for 34 years and describes herself as a retired probation officer. She currently serves as a Napa County Office of Education Board Trustee, where she says she provides fiscal oversight, approves budgets, and adopts policies, and she is a California School Boards Association delegate representing four counties. Twenty-three years ago she founded American Canyon Troop Support, which she says helped establish the city's Veterans Day and Memorial Day ceremonies.

Strengths

Three decades of residency, a sitting Napa County Office of Education board seat with budget-oversight experience, and a long record of local civic organizing.

Trade-offs

No prior American Canyon city government or commission role found; her record is in county education governance, not municipal administration.

Keep in mind

She would be moving from an elected county education board seat to a city council seat -- distinct bodies with different jurisdictions, though both involve budget oversight.

Robert Cole

Robert Cole, 46, has lived in American Canyon for 14 years. By his own account he spent 10 years as a Senior Maintenance Worker for the City of Vallejo's Public Works department and currently serves as President of the World Marine Estates Board of Directors, a homeowners' association where he says he has kept rent increases at an average of under $9 per year for members while completing infrastructure projects and building up reserves. His official ballot designation is "Non-Profit Organization President."

Strengths

A decade of hands-on public-works experience in a neighboring city, plus a checkable claim of financial stewardship as HOA board president -- rent increases averaging under $9/year.

Trade-offs

No prior American Canyon government, commission, or elected experience; his public-works background is with Vallejo, not American Canyon.

Keep in mind

His HOA board record is self-reported; this dataset found no independent confirmation of the specific rent-increase or reserve figures he cites.

Jim Giron

Jim Giron has lived in American Canyon for 26 years; his own candidate statement says his three children attended the city's elementary, middle, and high schools. He describes 37 years of information-technology experience and is retired; his official ballot designation is "Retired IT Executive." He belongs to the Eagle Vines Golf Club and has signed the Code of Fair Campaign Practices, a voluntary pledge on campaign conduct.

Strengths

Long residency and family ties to the local school system, decades of private-sector management experience, and a signed pledge to the Code of Fair Campaign Practices.

Trade-offs

No prior city government, commission, or elected experience found in this dataset's research.

Keep in mind

His campaign material emphasizes stewardship of public resources and transparency in general terms; no specific platform positions on individual city issues were found this pass.

Jason Kishineff

Jason Kishineff serves as a Napa Valley College Board Trustee; that is his official ballot designation. In his own candidate statement, he is sharply critical of what he calls "out of town developers steering the development of American Canyon, building endless warehouses and transferring wealth away from American Canyon families," and frames his campaign as a deliberate break from the sitting council: "I'm running to disrupt politics as usual. That's why most of the council doesn't want me on it." He says he will not print campaign fliers or cards and will not accept donations. Napa County's own certified candidate roster shows he did not file a candidate statement for the county voter pamphlet, unlike the other four candidates in this race.

Strengths

A sitting elected seat on the Napa Valley College board and a clearly stated policy position -- opposing warehouse-heavy development -- rather than general platitudes.

Trade-offs

No American Canyon government or commission role found; declined to file a county voter-pamphlet statement, and says he won't distribute literature or accept donations.

Keep in mind

Skipping a filed statement and donations are unusual choices for a competitive race; voters wanting more may need to seek out public forums.

David Oro

David Oro, 53, has lived in American Canyon for 21 years and has served on the City Council for nine years; his official ballot designation is "Business Owner/Councilmember." In his own candidate statement he says his family -- including his parents, who joined him and his wife -- has made American Canyon a three-generation home, and lists accomplishments including work on the city's water supply, public safety, local business support, parks and road improvements, the city's Town Center project, and traffic-circulation planning.

Strengths

Nine years of sitting City Council experience, the only incumbent in the field, with a citable record on water supply, the Town Center project, and traffic circulation.

Trade-offs

As the incumbent, he owns the council's recent record on those same issues -- water supply, traffic, and Town Center -- for voters weighing whether to continue or change course.

Keep in mind

He describes himself as a business owner but does not name the business in his candidate statement; this dataset found no independent detail on it.

Source review: Strong (87/100) · 10 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • napacounty.gov (opens in a new tab)Napa County Registrar of Voters (John Tuteur) -- "Roster of Candidates, Qualified Candidates Only" (CFMR037), General Election 11/3/2026, print date 2026-08-13: Contest 5030 (City Council, City of American Canyon), Vote for 2, "On Ballot: Yes," lists five qualified candidates with their filed ballot designations -- Jason Kishineff ("Napa Valley College Board Trustee," no statement filed), Sindy Biederman ("Napa County Office of Education Board Trustee"), Robert Cole ("Non-Profit Organization President"), Jim Giron ("Retired IT Executive"), and David Oro ("Business Owner/Councilmember").
  • americancanyon.gov (opens in a new tab)City of American Canyon -- own "Meet the 2026 Candidates" page (part of Elections Central): independently names the identical five candidates -- Sindy Biederman, Robert Cole, Jim Giron, Jason Kishineff, David Oro -- running for "Two Four-Year Terms" on the City Council, each linking to an individual candidate profile page.
  • americancanyon.gov (opens in a new tab)City of American Canyon -- own "Mayor & City Council" page: states, in the city's own words, "The City Council is the legislative body which consists of four elected City Council members and a directly elected Mayor," each serving "four year overlapping terms," under a council-manager government; names the sitting council including Vice Mayor Mark Joseph, who did not file for re-election.
  • americancanyon.gov (opens in a new tab)City of American Canyon -- Sindy Biederman's own candidate profile page: 34 years' residency; retired probation officer; Napa County Office of Education Board Trustee; founded American Canyon Troop Support 23 years ago; stated priorities of responsible growth, infrastructure, and community engagement.
  • americancanyon.gov (opens in a new tab)City of American Canyon -- Robert Cole's own candidate profile page: age 46, 14 years' residency; 10 years as a Vallejo Public Works Senior Maintenance Worker; President of the World Marine Estates Board of Directors; stated priorities of preserving small-town character and supporting local business.
  • americancanyon.gov (opens in a new tab)City of American Canyon -- Jim Giron's own candidate profile page: 26 years' residency; 37 years of IT experience; three children who attended local schools; has signed the Code of Fair Campaign Practices; stated priorities of responsible stewardship and transparency.
  • americancanyon.gov (opens in a new tab)City of American Canyon -- Jason Kishineff's own candidate profile page: Napa Valley College Board Trustee; his own candidate statement opposes "out of town developers ... building endless warehouses," says he is "running to disrupt politics as usual," and states he will not print campaign literature or accept donations.
  • americancanyon.gov (opens in a new tab)City of American Canyon -- David Oro's own candidate profile page: age 53, 21 years' residency, nine years on the City Council; lists accomplishments including work on the city's water supply, public safety, local-business support, parks and roads, the Town Center project, and traffic circulation.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "American Canyon, California": used narrowly for the fixed, dated 2020 Census population figure (21,837), the city's 1992 incorporation date, and its location in southern Napa County.
  • southtechhosting.com (opens in a new tab)A negative-result local campaign-finance check: the City of American Canyon's own campaign-finance filing portal, hosted by SouthTech Systems, is a JavaScript-rendered filer-search application that returns only an empty page shell (dozens of script tags, no extractable filing content) to both an automated web fetch and a direct HTTP request. Documents the absence of a reachable, current financial-disclosure source, not any candidate's actual finances.

Last updated September 2, 2026.