canyonlakeca.govoffice3.com (opens in a new tab)City of Canyon Lake -- "Notice of Election": "a General Municipal Election will be held in the City of Canyon Lake, California, on Tuesday, November 3, 2026" for "Two (2) Members of the City Council" with a "Full term of four years"; states the nomination period (July 13-August 7, 2026, extendable to August 12 for an incumbent's seat with no incumbent filer) and vote-center hours.
canyonlakeca.govoffice3.com (opens in a new tab)City of Canyon Lake City Clerk/Elections Official Sheryl Garcia -- "Notice of Offices and Nominations" (Elections Code section 10224.5), posted August 4, 2026: certifies "nomination papers have been furnished to two incumbents for the two open offices" as of that date -- read against the later Notice of Nominees (below), which names only one of those two incumbents among the final qualified candidates, showing the other incumbent (Kasey Castillo) was furnished papers but did not go on to file.
canyonlakeca.govoffice3.com (opens in a new tab)City of Canyon Lake City Clerk/Elections Official Sheryl Garcia -- "Notice of Nominees for Public Office": "the following persons have been nominated for the offices designated to be filled" at the November 3, 2026 general municipal election -- "For Member of the City Council, vote for no more than two: Paul Kakis, Monica Lyons, Jeremy Smith" -- the final, post-filing-deadline qualified-candidate roster for the only contest this dataset builds from this notice (a companion public-safety/emergency-response sales-tax measure also appears on this notice but is not built here, consistent with this dataset's citywide descoping of ballot measures from display).
canyonlakeca.govoffice3.com (opens in a new tab)City of Canyon Lake -- Resolution No. 2026-28, adopted June 10, 2026 (5-0, Castillo/Steeber/Terry/Welty/Smith all voting aye): calls the November 3, 2026 general municipal election "for the purpose of electing two (2) Members of the City Council for the full term of four years," requests consolidation with the County of Riverside, and sets regulations for optional 200-word candidate statements (filed with nomination papers, printed at the candidate's own expense) and for resolving a tie vote by lot -- signed by Mayor Jeremy Smith and City Clerk Sheryl L. Garcia.
canyonlakeca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Canyon Lake -- "City Council" government page: "The City of Canyon Lake is governed by a five-member City Council elected by the community" at-large (not by district); "Each year, the City Council selects one of its members to serve as Mayor and another to serve as Mayor Pro Tem for a one-year term" -- confirms Canyon Lake has no separately elected Mayor. Current roster: Mayor Jeremy Smith and Mayor Pro Tem Kasey Castillo (terms end December 2026, the two seats on this cycle's ballot), and Council Members Josh Steeber, Mark Terry and Dale Welty (terms end December 2028, not up this cycle).
canyonlakeca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Canyon Lake -- "November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election" page: states two Council seats for full 4-year terms are up, gives the nomination-period dates and candidate-qualification requirements, and links the city's election notices, the Campaign Filings portal, the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, and past election results.
canyonlakeca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Canyon Lake -- "Fair Political Practices Commission" government page: directs Form 700 (Statement of Economic Interests) lookups to the FPPC's own statewide Form 700 search tool or the City's Public Records Portal, links a Laserfiche "Campaign Filings" portal for other disclosure forms, and links the city's own Form 806 filing -- neither the FPPC's JavaScript-only Form 700 search tool nor the Laserfiche portal's document listing could be retrieved with the tools available in this pass, so no financial-disclosure content is asserted for any 2026 council candidate.

Last updated August 31, 2026.

City of Canyon Lake

Canyon Lake City Council

This person holds one of two at-large seats up this cycle. Canyon Lake's City Council has five members. They vote on city laws, the budget, and public-safety and lake-management decisions. Canyon Lake is a gated, private-lake community off Railroad Canyon Road. The term is four years. Canyon Lake has no separately elected Mayor. The five councilmembers choose a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem among themselves each year.

Three candidates qualified for two of Canyon Lake's five at-large City Council seats. Incumbent Mayor Jeremy Smith is seeking another term. Smith faces two newcomers, Paul Kakis and Monica Lyons.

The two winners each serve a four-year term on Canyon Lake's five-member, at-large City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and public-safety and lake-management decisions for this gated, private-lake community off Railroad Canyon Road. Canyon Lake doesn't directly elect a mayor -- the five councilmembers choose a Mayor and a Mayor Pro Tem from among themselves each year, per the city's own City Council page.

The two seats up this cycle belong to Mayor Jeremy Smith and Mayor Pro Tem Kasey Castillo, whose terms both end December 2026. The city's own Notice of Offices certifies that nomination papers were furnished to both incumbents as of early August 2026, but Castillo does not appear on the final, post-deadline Notice of Nominees -- only Smith filed and qualified. That leaves one incumbent facing two first-time candidates for the two open seats, rather than a field of returning officeholders. No specific 2026 platform could be confirmed for any of the three beyond their appearance on the certified nominee list, despite a genuine search effort; no candidate has a dedicated city biography page, and no independent local reporting on this race was found.

Paul Kakis

Paul Kakis is a newcomer running for one of Canyon Lake's two open Council seats. No background information was found for Kakis.

Monica Lyons

Monica Lyons is a newcomer running for one of Canyon Lake's two open Council seats. No background information was found for Lyons.

Jeremy Smith

Jeremy Smith is the incumbent and council-selected Mayor. Their current term ends December 2026, and they are seeking a new term. No further background information was found for Smith.

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