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City of Bakersfield · Statewide General Election

Bakersfield City Council, Ward 1

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

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 seven ward seats on Bakersfield's City Council, alongside a separately, directly elected Mayor: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Kern County city of about 403,000 residents. A 4-year term, staggered so roughly half the seven wards are up every two years -- Wards 1, 3, 4, and 7 are up this cycle; Wards 2, 5, and 6 (elected in 2024) are not. Bakersfield's Mayor is directly elected separately and is not on this ballot -- Karen Goh was last elected in 2024 and her term runs through 2028. Bakersfield has no separately elected City Clerk or City Treasurer; both are appointed positions.

Incumbent Eric Arias faces Mercy Peña, a Greenfield Union School District trustee, for this southeast Bakersfield seat.

This person would hold one of seven ward seats on Bakersfield's City Council, alongside a separately, directly elected Mayor: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Kern County city of about 403,000 residents. A 4-year term. Bakersfield has no separately elected City Clerk or City Treasurer; both are appointed positions. There is no run-off -- whichever candidate gets the most votes wins the seat outright.

Ward 1 is one of four Bakersfield wards up this cycle (with Wards 3, 4, and 7); Wards 2, 5, and 6 were last elected in 2024 and are not on this ballot. Arias is seeking a second full term.

Eric Arias

The incumbent, first elected in a Dec. 2020 special election (74.3% of the vote) and unopposed in his 2022 re-election. Born and raised in Ward 1, he worked in Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez's office beginning in 2014 and has organized community events including food donations and back-to-school drives.

Strengths

Five years of incumbency, deep roots in the ward he represents, and prior experience inside county government via Supervisor Perez's office.

Trade-offs

Having run unopposed in 2022, this is his first contested race since the 2020 special election -- less recent competitive scrutiny of his record than a typical multi-term incumbent would have.

Keep in mind

No independent reporting evaluating his Council votes on specific issues was found this session beyond his own campaign announcements; his public record is best checked directly against City Council meeting minutes if that level of detail matters to you.

Mercy Peña

A trustee of the Greenfield Union School District (Kern County) school board, Area C, elected in 2024. Her Ward 1 run is her first bid for city office.

Strengths

Current elected-official experience on a local school board, which carries budget and governance responsibilities of its own.

Trade-offs

No independent reporting on her Ward 1 platform or campaign themes was found this session beyond her name, ward, and candidacy status.

Keep in mind

Her Greenfield Union trustee term runs through 2028, so she would not need to vacate that seat to serve on the City Council if elected -- whether she intends to hold both was not addressed in any source found this session.

Source review: Strong (87/100) · 9 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

  • ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia -- "City elections in Bakersfield, California (2026)": the full November 3, 2026 City Council candidate roster by ward -- Ward 1 (incumbent Eric Arias, Mercy Peña), Ward 3 (Cassie Bittle, Kathryn Halling, Seth Hewett, Juan Carlos "JC" Llamas, Pedro Naveiras; Johnny Olaguez listed separately as not making the ballot), Ward 4 (incumbent Bob Smith, Ryan Crowl), and Ward 7 (incumbent Manpreet Kaur, Angie Valdez) -- with an Aug. 7, 2026 filing deadline
  • ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia -- "Bakersfield, California": its City Council table gives a "Date term ends" year for every sitting member -- Wards 1, 3, 4, and 7 all read 2026, Wards 2, 5, and 6 all read 2028 -- and its election-history section states that in 2014, three cycles (12 years) prior on the same staggered rotation, "Wards 1, 3, 4 and 7 were up for election"; also confirms Mayor Karen Goh's term runs through 2028 after a combined Mayor-and-Council election in November 2024, and that the Nov. 3, 2026 City Council filing deadline was Aug. 7, 2026
  • bakersfield.com (opens in a new tab)The Bakersfield Californian -- "Local election filing closes, with six potential candidates for Ward 3" (Peter Segall, Aug. 7, 2026): confirms Wards 1, 3, 4, and 7 are up this cycle, that Ward 3's filing period was extended to Aug. 12 because incumbent Ken Weir was not running, and transcribes the full candidate roster "listed online by the Kern County Elections Division as of 5 p.m. Friday" for every Bakersfield ward race -- names City Clerk Julie Drimakis as the office confirming candidate status
  • bakersfield.com (opens in a new tab)The Bakersfield Californian -- "City Council incumbents draw challengers ahead of Aug. 7 filing deadline" (July 31, 2026): earlier-stage filing status for all four Bakersfield ward races -- Ward 3 already the most competitive with four declared candidates and no certified incumbent bid; Ward 4 incumbent Bob Smith ("serving since 2012") facing challenger Ryan Crowl; Ward 1 incumbent Eric Arias facing Mercy Peña, a Greenfield Union School District trustee; Ward 7 incumbent Manpreet Kaur facing Angie Valdez
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Bakersfield City Council": a 7-member council elected from single-member wards to staggered 4-year terms, presided over by a directly elected Mayor; names the current roster by ward and party and the council's standing committees
  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)Kern County Elections Division -- its own "November 3, 2026, General Election" landing page, confirming the election date and linking to (but not itself substituting for) the county's "Candidate List" and "Contest/Candidate Proof List" documents; fetched via an Internet Archive Wayback Machine snapshot from Aug. 28, 2026 after the live site's WAF returned HTTP 403 to every direct automated fetch, the same block already documented elsewhere in this dataset for Kern County's own Board of Education filing
  • ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia -- Eric Arias: confirms his Dec. 16, 2020 special-election win (74.3% over Gilberto De La Torre), his unopposed 2022 re-election (100%, 5,343 votes), and that his current term ends in 2026
  • ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia -- Mercy Peña: confirms she is a Greenfield Union School District (Kern County) school board trustee, Area C, elected 2024 with a term ending 2028, running for Bakersfield City Council Ward 1
  • bakersfield.com (opens in a new tab)The Bakersfield Californian -- "Eric Arias announces candidacy for Bakersfield City Council's Ward 1 seat" (2020): Arias was born and raised in Ward 1, worked in Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez's office beginning in 2014, and organized community events including food donations and back-to-school drives

Last updated September 1, 2026.