Skip to main content

City of Carson · Statewide General Election

Carson City Council, District 2

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 Carson's 5-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use. A 4-year term.

Incumbent Jim Dear, on the council since 2001 with intervening terms as mayor and city clerk, faces Derek Haskell Jr., a youth-nonprofit executive making his first run for elected office, for the District 2 seat.

This person holds one of five district seats on Carson's City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land-use decisions. A 4-year term. Council members choose one of their own to serve as mayor and mayor pro tem, presiding over meetings but casting only one vote like any other member.

Dear is campaigning on continuity built from two decades of intermittent city service — council, mayor, and city clerk — plus a public-safety focus. Haskell, a first-time candidate, is campaigning under the slogan "Time for a Fixer" on youth programs tied to the 2028 Olympics, infrastructure, and government transparency.

Jim Dear

Jim Dear is the incumbent, first elected to the council in 2001 and returning to it in 2018 after two stints as mayor (2004-2016, on and off) and one as city clerk (2015-2018). He names public safety and support for local labor and the business community as his priorities, and points to founding the city's Ethics Task Force and its Women's Issues Commission. A retired LAUSD history and civics teacher, he still works part-time as a substitute due to the teacher shortage.

Strengths

Two decades of intermittent city service — council, four mayoral terms, one as city clerk — plus founding the city's Ethics Task Force.

Trade-offs

Returning to a seat he's cycled through several other offices in raises the question of what a sixth stint on the council does differently this time.

Keep in mind

His platform leans on institutional history more than a new, specific plan for the district; a concrete District 2 priority for this term is what would separate it from his prior returns to office.

Derek Haskell Jr.

Derek Haskell Jr. is a first-time candidate and Executive Director of the C3 Foundation, a youth-empowerment nonprofit (per his own LinkedIn profile). He's campaigning under the slogan "Time for a Fixer" on public safety and infrastructure, youth programs tied to the 2028 Olympics, and government transparency. He also coaches for Twin City Baseball Little League in Carson.

Strengths

Runs a youth-focused nonprofit and coaches local Little League — direct, hands-on experience with the city's younger residents and families.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed government experience — his record is nonprofit and community work, not City Hall administration.

Keep in mind

His platform names concrete goals — Olympic-linked youth programs, infrastructure — but as a first-time candidate he has no council voting record for a voter to check them against.

Source review: Mixed (79/100) · 7 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Derek Haskell for Carson (@derekhaskellforcarson) may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

Last updated August 30, 2026.