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City of Buena Park · Statewide General Election

Buena Park City Council, District 5

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 holds your district's seat on Buena Park's 5-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside an appointed city manager who runs day-to-day operations. Buena Park is a general-law city with no separately, citywide-elected Mayor -- the council elects a Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its own members each year. Not all five council districts are elected the same year. A 4-year term.

Two candidates, Brandon Schooner and Sharena Walker, are running for Buena Park City Council District 5's open seat. Incumbent Connor Traut, the city's sitting Mayor, did not file for re-election -- he is instead a candidate for Orange County Supervisor, 4th District. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff.

This person holds District 5's seat on Buena Park's 5-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside an appointed city manager who runs day-to-day operations. Buena Park is a general-law city with no separately, citywide-elected Mayor -- the council elects a Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its own members each year, and District 5's outgoing officeholder, Connor Traut, currently holds that Mayor title. Not all five council districts are elected the same year. A 4-year term.

This is Buena Park's only open council seat in 2026 -- the other race, District 2, has an incumbent on the ballot. Beyond each candidate's own filed occupation, no campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source could be found for either despite a real, per-candidate search effort -- the city's own elections page confirms it published an individual candidate statement for each of them, but both of those statement PDFs 404 on the city's document system. Documented below as a gap, not filled in with speculation.

Brandon Schooner

Filed his candidacy under the ballot designation "City of Buena Park Commissioner," indicating current service on one of the city's boards or commissions. No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source confirming which commission or describing his platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort -- the city does not publish a combined, searchable commissioner roster that could independently confirm this designation.

Strengths

His filed designation indicates current city-commission service, suggesting some existing familiarity with Buena Park's governance and processes.

Trade-offs

No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of his priorities beyond his listed designation.

Keep in mind

No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for his campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.

Sharena Walker

Filed her candidacy under the ballot designation "Director of Marketing." No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source describing her background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort.

Strengths

A marketing-director background suggests communications and outreach experience relevant to public-facing city work.

Trade-offs

No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of her priorities beyond her listed occupation.

Keep in mind

No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for her campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.

Source review: Mixed (74/100) · 3 cited sources

Only procedural records are cited (candidate lists, results, finance filings); no source describes the candidates, so the score is capped.

Review note: No cited source describes the candidates; add descriptive coverage to lift the cap.

  • ocvote.gov (opens in a new tab)OC Registrar of Voters -- Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election 11/3/2026 -- City of Buena Park section: confirms City Council District 2 (2 qualified candidates) and District 5 (2) as the city's two November 2026 races, each Vote for 1, with incumbent flags and every candidate's filed ballot designation
  • buenapark.com (opens in a new tab)City of Buena Park -- City Council page: the full sitting 5-member roster and district assignments (Mayor Connor Traut, District 5; Vice Mayor Lamiya Hoque, District 4; Joyce Ahn, District 1; Carlos Franco, District 2; Susan Sonne, District 3), confirming the council elects a Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its own members each year and that Traut is not among the qualified 2026 candidates for his own District 5 seat
  • buenapark.com (opens in a new tab)City of Buena Park -- Elections and Voter Services page: lists all four qualified November 2026 City Council candidates by district (Yong Choi and Carlos Franco, District 2; Brandon Schooner and Sharena Walker, District 5) with filing and qualification dates, and confirms Joyce Ahn was appointed to the District 1 seat on August 19, 2026 as its sole candidate, canceling that district's election

Last updated August 31, 2026.