# California City Council, At-Large (Short Term) Compare records and positions simply between Elexis Shaw, John Fischer, or Dawn Ferguson for California City Council, At-Large (Short Term) at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would hold a second, separate at-large seat on the California City Council. This seat is different from the regular four-year at-large seat also on this ballot. It carries only the rest of an unfinished term, not a full four years. Two Council seats opened after resignations in July 2025. The Council filled both by appointment in September 2025. - Jurisdiction: City of California City - 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/california-city-council-short-term - 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: 89 out of 100 (Strong), across 6 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Elexis Shaw** - **John Fischer** - **Dawn Ferguson** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Three candidates -- Dawn Ferguson, Elexis Shaw, and John Fischer -- are running for California City's second at-large Council seat this cycle, a short-term seat carrying only the balance of an unexpired term rather than the usual 4 years. This is a separate contest from the ordinary 4-year at-large Council seat also on this ballot. Two Council seats were vacated by resignation in July 2025 -- Jesse Hightower (after inflammatory remarks to a resident during a heated meeting) and Michael Kulikoff -- and the Council filled both by appointment that September rather than an immediate special election. This dataset could not independently confirm which of the two 2025 vacancies this particular short-term seat traces back to, or why none of its three current candidates carries an incumbent flag in the county's own list. A separate vacancy on the Council did go to a special election this past June, which a different candidate (not on this ballot) won outright -- a reminder that Council turnover has been a defining feature of this term. ## Dawn Ferguson A candidate for this short-term seat. This dataset found no independent biographical detail (occupation, background, or platform) for them despite a genuine multi-method search this session -- a documented sourcing gap, not a claim about their actual background. **Strengths:** Unconfirmed by this dataset -- no independent coverage was reachable this session. **Trade-offs:** No campaign materials, endorsements, or independent reporting were found for them. **Keep in mind:** None of the three candidates in this race carries an incumbent flag in the county's own candidate list, so this appears to be an open-seat contest for all three. ## Elexis Shaw A candidate for this short-term seat. This dataset found no independent biographical detail (occupation, background, or platform) for her despite a genuine multi-method search this session -- a documented sourcing gap, not a claim about her actual background. **Strengths:** Unconfirmed by this dataset -- no independent coverage was reachable this session. **Trade-offs:** No campaign materials, endorsements, or independent reporting were found for her. **Keep in mind:** None of the three candidates in this race carries an incumbent flag in the county's own candidate list, so this appears to be an open-seat contest for all three. ## John Fischer A candidate for this short-term seat, independently confirmed as a retired LAPD officer and longtime California City resident. In June 2024, 23ABC/KERO profiled his volunteer work painting over graffiti around town alongside Tomas Estarella, a former gang member: "This is my community and I don't want graffiti in my community. I don't want people coming into my town thinking that we're ghetto," Fischer told the station. **Strengths:** A documented, multi-year record of hands-on community volunteer work in California City, and a law-enforcement career (retired LAPD) that speaks to his public-safety background. **Trade-offs:** This dataset found no reporting on his stated platform for this Council race -- the graffiti-cleanup coverage predates his candidacy and doesn't address city policy. **Keep in mind:** His community-cleanup work is well documented, but it's volunteer activity, not a governing record -- he has no prior Council experience to evaluate. ## Sources 1. [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)](https://www.turnto23.com/news/in-your-neighborhood/bakersfield/kern-residents-to-weigh-city-council-elections-in-november-2026-general-election) 2. [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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_City,_California) 3. [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](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Candidates/list.aspx?view=certified) 4. [BakersfieldNow/KBAK -- "California city council starts 2-week process to fill seats after resignations" (July 14, 2025): reports two council seats vacated by the resignations of Jesse Hightower (after inflammatory remarks to a resident during a heated meeting over a $1,000 African American Mayors Association subscription) and Michael Kulikoff, and that Mayor Marquette Hawkins moved for a 2-week public-interview vetting process rather than a $50,000 special election or immediate appointment; applicants had to be California City residents](https://bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/california-city-council-starts-2-week-process-to-fill-seats-after-resignations) 5. [23ABC/KERO (turnto23.com) -- "Former gang member, retired LAPD officer cleaning up Cal City" (June 4, 2024): profiles John Fischer, a retired LAPD officer and longtime California City resident, and Tomas Estarella, a former gang member, painting over graffiti around town; quotes Fischer directly ("This is my community and I don't want graffiti in my community")](https://www.turnto23.com/news/in-your-neighborhood/california-city/former-gang-member-retired-lapd-officer-cleaning-up-cal-city) 6. [South Kern Sol -- "California Primary Election Results 2026" (June 3, 2026): its own results tally for "City of California City Councilmember" records Shawn Bradley defeating Isaac D. Barcelona 510-503 (50.35%-49.65%) in the June 2, 2026 special election for a vacated council seat -- independent confirmation that Barcelona is an active, named Cal City political figure ahead of his Nov. 2026 mayoral run, and that Bradley's seat is already resolved (not on this ballot)](https://southkernsol.org/2026/06/03/california-primary-election-results-2026/) ## The rest of the ballot California City Council, At-Large (Short Term) 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, "California City Council, At-Large (Short Term) — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/california-city-council-short-term (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.