# Cathedral City Council, District 5 Compare records and positions simply between Antonio Baciu or Danielle Mead for Cathedral City Council, District 5 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Cathedral City's 5-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. The term is four years. The council selects one of its own members to serve as Mayor and another as Mayor Pro Tem -- the titles rotate rather than being separately elected. - Jurisdiction: City of Cathedral 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/cathedral-city-council-5 - 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 3, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 78 out of 100 (Mixed), across 4 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Antonio Baciu** - **Danielle Mead** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. District 5's seat is open: incumbent Mayor Raymond Gregory is not seeking reelection. Antonio Baciu, a former vice chair of the city's Parks and Community Events Commission, and Danielle Mead, chair of the Planning Commission, are running to succeed him. This person holds your district's seat on Cathedral City's 5-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. The term is four years. The council selects one of its own members to serve as Mayor and another as Mayor Pro Tem — the titles rotate rather than being separately elected. With no incumbent in the race, District 5 is guaranteed a new representative. Both candidates bring prior city-commission service — Baciu on parks and community events, Mead chairing the Planning Commission — but neither's detailed platform was independently reported beyond that commission background in the time researched for this profile. ## Antonio Baciu Antonio Baciu is a former vice chair of Cathedral City's Parks and Community Events Commission, running for the open District 5 council seat. No independent biography or platform statement beyond their commission service, as reported by the Desert Sun, was found in the time available for this profile. **Strengths:** Prior appointed service on a city commission gives Baciu some familiarity with how city government operates. **Trade-offs:** No prior elected office, and no independently reported policy platform beyond their commission role. **Keep in mind:** Both candidates in this race come from city-commission backgrounds rather than prior elected experience — voters have no incumbency record to weigh for either. ## Danielle Mead Danielle Mead chairs Cathedral City's Planning Commission and is running for the open District 5 council seat. No independent biography or platform statement beyond their commission role, as reported by the Desert Sun, was found in the time available for this profile. **Strengths:** As Planning Commission chair, Mead has direct experience with the land-use and development decisions that also come before the council. **Trade-offs:** No prior elected office, and no independently reported policy platform beyond their commission role. **Keep in mind:** Mead's Planning Commission role means they have likely already weighed in on development matters the council will separately decide. ## Sources 1. [Riverside County Registrar of Voters — 2026 Annual Election Calendar (lists every November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election office by city, including "City of Cathedral City: City Council District 3 / District 4 / District 5 / City Treasurer")](https://voteinfo.net/sites/g/files/aldnop371/files/2026-02/Annual%20Election%20Calendar%202026.pdf) 2. [The Desert Sun — "See who's running for mayor and city council in Coachella Valley" (Tom Coulter and Sam Morgen, Aug. 13, 2026; names every qualified candidate in each Cathedral City council/treasurer race with a one-line occupation/background note)](https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/08/13/election-2026-whos-running-for-mayor-city-council-palm-springs-area/91221615007/) 3. [City of Cathedral City — Mayor & Council (official roster: Mayor Raymond Gregory/District 5, Mayor Pro Tem Ernesto Gutierrez/District 4, Councilmembers Lamb/District 1, Ross/District 2, Gordon/District 3, plus City Treasurer Greg Jackson)](https://web.archive.org/web/20260518041924/https://www.cathedralcity.gov/government/mayor-council) 4. [Riverside County NetFile — Cathedral City candidate-name searches](https://netfile.com/public/ctriv/campaign/search-entities) ## The rest of the ballot Cathedral City Council, District 5 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, "Cathedral City Council, District 5 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/cathedral-city-council-5 (sources last retrieved September 3, 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.