- turnto23.com (opens in a new tab)23ABC/KERO (turnto23.com), byline Sam Hoyle -- "Kern residents to weigh City Council elections in November 2026 General Election": a city-by-city roundup of every Kern County municipal race this cycle, citing the Kern County Elections website as its own source; names California City's four contests and all ten candidates -- Mayor (Marquette Hawkins, Incumbent, 2-year term, vs. Isaac Barcelona), At-Large Council (Ron Smith, Incumbent, vs. Jeanie O'Laughlin and Karina Perez), At-Large Council Short-Term (Dawn Ferguson, Elexis Shaw, John Fischer), and Treasurer (Keith Middleton, Incumbent, vs. Inishia White)
- en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia's California City, California article: 2020 census population 14,973; 203.70 square miles (third-largest city by land area in California); founded 1958 as a planned Mojave Desert community, incorporated 1965; infobox names Marq Hawkins as the sitting Mayor and Jim Creighton as Mayor Pro Tem
- cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)A negative-result campaign-finance search: California's Cal-Access candidate/filer search returned only an empty, unrenderable page for every query attempted this session, for all ten California City candidates -- the same recurring bot-detection failure mode documented elsewhere in this dataset. Documents the absence of a reachable financial-disclosure source for these four contests, not any candidate's actual finances
- southkernsol.org (opens in a new tab)South Kern Sol -- "California City Council Upholds CoreCivic Approvals After Hours of Public Testimony" (Aug. 26, 2026): its own vote-tally reporting names the sitting Council casting this vote -- Councilmember Della Clark, Councilmember Ronald Smith, Mayor Pro Tem Creighton, and Councilmember Hawkins voting yes, Councilmember Sean Bradley dissenting -- independently confirming Marquette Hawkins and Ron Smith both still active in their respective offices as of this date
Last updated September 1, 2026.
City of California City
California City Council, At-Large
This person would hold one of California City's at-large City Council seats. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. California City is a Kern County city of about 15,000 residents. A separately, directly elected Mayor and Treasurer also serve. The term is four years.
Ron Smith holds one of California City's at-large Council seats. He faces two challengers. They are Jeanie O'Laughlin and Karina Perez.
This person would hold one of California City's at-large City Council seats. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Kern County city of about 15,000 residents, alongside a separately, directly elected Mayor and Treasurer. The term is four years. This is a distinct contest from the second, short-term at-large Council seat also on this ballot.
Smith is a sitting member of a Council that has faced real turnover this term -- two seats vacated by resignation in 2025 -- and voted in August 2026, alongside the Mayor and the rest of the Council majority, to uphold the city's approvals for a CoreCivic-run immigration detention facility.
Ron Smith
Smith is the incumbent, seeking another term. He was a sitting councilmember as of late August 2026. He voted with the Council majority to uphold the CoreCivic detention facility approvals.
Jeanie O'Laughlin
O'Laughlin is a challenger. No detail about their job, background, or platform was found.
Karina Perez
Perez is a challenger. No detail about their job, background, or platform was found.
Your pick
A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.