# Mayor of Belmont Julia Mates is running uncontested for Mayor of Belmont. Full ballot at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. Belmont's Mayor is a separately elected, citywide office. Voters have elected the Mayor directly only since 2022. Before that, the City Council chose the Mayor from its own members. The term is four years. - Jurisdiction: City of Belmont - 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/belmont-mayor - 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: September 1, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 73 out of 100 (Mixed), across 5 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Julia Mates** — Mayor of Belmont · Incumbent A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Mayor Julia Mates is running for reelection unopposed; she was the only candidate who qualified by the filing deadline. Belmont's Mayor is a separately elected, citywide office with a 4-year term -- unlike the city's four councilmembers, each of whom represents one of Belmont's geographic districts. By her own account, Mates became Belmont's first directly elected mayor when she won the office in 2022; before that, the City Council chose the Mayor from among its own members, the same arrangement several other California cities still use. The county's own certified candidate roster and independent San Mateo Daily Journal reporting (Aug. 11, 2026) both confirm no one else filed to challenge Mates this cycle. ## Julia Mates The incumbent Mayor, seeking a second term in that office after becoming Belmont's first directly elected mayor in 2022; she joined the City Council in 2018. A San Francisco native who moved to Belmont in 2006 to raise her family, she describes herself as biracial -- Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish -- and is, by her own account, the first Chinese American Jewish mayor in the United States. During her time on the council and as Mayor she has overseen new affordable-housing construction, roadway repaving (including Ralston Avenue) and other infrastructure repairs, a storm- and sanitation-infrastructure rehabilitation completed in 2023, and the city's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She represents Belmont regionally as Chair of the San Mateo Consolidated Fire Department Board (after three years as Chair), Vice Chair of the San Mateo County Transportation Authority board, and Chair of the San Mateo County Libraries JPA governing board. **Strengths:** Eight years in Belmont city government. On the council since 2018 and Mayor since 2022. She also leads regional boards in fire service, transportation, and libraries. **Trade-offs:** No independent reporting reviews her recent term as Mayor. The Daily Journal only briefly confirmed she is unopposed. What is here comes from her own campaign site, not outside scrutiny. **Keep in mind:** With no opponent, this race is a retention question, not a comparison. Her claim to be Belmont's first directly elected mayor is her own description of a 2022 change. It was not checked against the city's charter pages, which could not be reached. ## Review notes - Gina Latimerlo for Belmont City Council -- 'Districts/Voting' page on her own campaign site: names Belmont's four City Council districts and their current representatives (District 1: Latimerlo; District 2: Cathy Jordan; District 3: Robin Pang-Maganaris; District 4: Tom McCune) plus the citywide, at-large Mayor (Julia Mates). and Mayor Julia Mates -- 'About Julia' page on her own re-election campaign site: her account of becoming Belmont's first directly elected mayor in 2022 after joining the council in 2018, her background, and her regional-agency roles. may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [San Mateo County ACRE (Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder-Elections) -- Roster of Candidates, Qualified Candidates Only, November 3, 2026 General Election (CFMR009), dated 2026-08-25: confirms Belmont's Mayor, Council District 1, and Council District 3 are each 'On Ballot: Yes' with exactly one qualified candidate apiece (Julia Mates, Gina Latimerlo, Sarah K.M. Delisle)](https://smcacre.gov/system/files/2026-08/52_candidateroster0825.pdf) 2. [San Mateo Daily Journal -- "San Mateo County election races take shape across cities, schools" (Daily Journal staff report, published Aug. 11, 2026): independently confirms Mayor Julia Mates, Councilmember Gina Latimerlo (District 1), and Sarah Delisle (District 3) are each running unopposed/uncontested, and identifies District 3 as the seat currently held by Councilmember Robin Pang-Maganaris, who is not seeking reelection](https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/san-mateo-county-election-races-take-shape-across-cities-schools/article_24177505-16a5-4574-87d6-842157cae5f6.html) 3. [Wikipedia -- "Belmont, California": used narrowly for the current-officeholder roster (Mayor Julia Mates; Vice Mayor Robin Pang-Maganaris; Councilmembers Tom McCune, Gina Latimerlo, Cathy Jordan), not for anything volatile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belmont,_California) 4. [Gina Latimerlo for Belmont City Council -- 'Districts/Voting' page on her own campaign site: names Belmont's four City Council districts and their current representatives (District 1: Latimerlo; District 2: Cathy Jordan; District 3: Robin Pang-Maganaris; District 4: Tom McCune) plus the citywide, at-large Mayor (Julia Mates)](https://ginaforbelmont.org/districts) 5. [Mayor Julia Mates -- 'About Julia' page on her own re-election campaign site: her account of becoming Belmont's first directly elected mayor in 2022 after joining the council in 2018, her background, and her regional-agency roles](https://juliamates.com/about-julia) ## The rest of the ballot Mayor of Belmont 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, "Mayor of Belmont — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/belmont-mayor (sources last retrieved September 1, 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.