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City of Ceres · Statewide General Election

Ceres City Council, District 1

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 would represent one of Ceres's four City Council districts: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Stanislaus County city of about 49,302 residents (2020 Census). Ceres operates under a council-manager government, with a professional city manager running day-to-day operations while the elected council sets policy. The Mayor is elected at-large citywide to a 4-year term and isn't on this ballot -- Javier Lopez was elected in 2024; the four council seats are elected by district to staggered 4-year terms, with Districts 1 and 2 up this November.

Two candidates are running for Ceres's open District 1 council seat: Gary M. Condit, the current Planning Commission Chair, against fellow Planning Commissioner Dorie Perez. Incumbent James Casey isn't running again. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright -- no runoff.

This seat is one of Ceres's four district-elected City Council seats, alongside a citywide-elected Mayor. Councilmembers vote on the city's budget, ordinances, and land use; day-to-day operations run through a professional city manager. The seat is open because sitting District 1 incumbent James Casey did not return nomination papers -- the city's own certified Notice of Offices and Nominations lists only District 2's incumbent, Rosalinda Vierra, among sitting officeholders furnished papers this cycle.

Both candidates already sit together on Ceres's 5-member Planning Commission -- Condit as Chair, Perez as a commissioner -- so whoever wins keeps one seat on that body vacant while gaining a City Council vote. Casey initially filed a state candidate-intention statement in October 2025 signaling he might run again, but never returned nomination papers by the filing deadline.

Gary M. Condit

Gary M. Condit chairs Ceres's Planning Commission, appointed to that body in 2023, and is a grandson of the former U.S. Representative of the same name ("named after his grandfather," per Wikipedia's sourced account). He ran for Ceres Mayor in 2024 and lost to incumbent Javier Lopez by a little under 5 percentage points. His filed ballot designation is "Sheriff's Office Analyst." He filed his 2026 candidate-intention statement May 7, and his campaign committee, "Neighbors for Condit," is treasured by outgoing District 1 incumbent James Casey himself. No Form 460 financial disclosure was on file for his committee as of this retrieval; no independent news profile beyond the Planning Commission record and his 2024 mayoral run was found in this pass.

Strengths

A Planning Commission chairmanship gives him a checkable land-use record, and a competitive 2024 citywide mayoral run (losing by under 5 points) shows an existing base of support beyond his district.

Trade-offs

That same 2024 loss means voters already weighed him citywide and chose the incumbent; no source in this pass describes a specific platform for this council run beyond his ballot designation.

Keep in mind

His campaign treasurer is the outgoing District 1 incumbent, James Casey -- a detail worth knowing if you're weighing continuity with the current council's direction versus a change.

Dorie Perez

Dorie Perez serves alongside Condit on Ceres's Planning Commission, with a term running to December 2028. Her filed ballot designation is "Educator." She filed her 2026 candidate-intention statement in November 2025 -- the earliest of any 2026 Ceres council candidate -- and organized her own self-treasured committee, "Dorie Perez for Ceres City Council District 1," in July 2026. No Form 460 financial disclosure was on file for her committee as of this retrieval; no independent news profile beyond the Planning Commission record was found in this pass.

Strengths

Sitting Planning Commission experience gives her a checkable land-use record alongside her opponent, and she declared her candidacy earliest of anyone in this cycle's two Ceres contests.

Trade-offs

No source found in this pass describes a specific platform, endorsement, or public position for her beyond her Planning Commission service and her educator designation.

Keep in mind

Because both candidates already sit on the same city commission, this race is less an outsider-versus-insider choice than a decision about which of two known, sitting appointees moves up to the elected council.

Source review: Strong (88/100) · 13 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • stanvote.gov (opens in a new tab)Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters -- official "Unofficial Candidate List," General Election Nov. 3, 2026 (document timestamped by the county 7:57 AM 8/31/2026, refetched fresh for this shard): under "CITY OF CERES," lists exactly two contests -- Council Member, District 1 (Vote for 1: Gary M. Condit, Dorie Perez, neither flagged incumbent) and Council Member, District 2 (Vote for 1: Galen Guzman, Jorge Guerrero Jr., *Rosalinda L. Vierra) -- with no Ceres Mayor contest anywhere in the document.
  • ceres.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Ceres -- own "2026 General Municipal Election Sign-Up" chart (posted to the city's Elections page, "Last Updated: 8/7/2026 3:45 PM"): the City Clerk's real-time filing record naming District 1's incumbent as James Casey and District 2's as Rosalinda L. Vierra, and giving exact papers-pulled/filed/verified dates for all 5 qualified candidates -- independently corroborates the county's roster.
  • ceres.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Ceres -- own "Notice of Offices and Nominations" (posted July 30, 2026, per Elections Code 10224.5): certifies the two one-seat, 4-year-term District 1 and District 2 offices and states City Clerk Fallon Martin furnished nomination papers to only one sitting incumbent -- "Councilmember, District 2 -- Rosalinda L. Vierra" -- confirming District 1's incumbent James Casey did not pull papers to seek reelection.
  • ceres.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Ceres -- own live "City Council" page: names the current roster -- Mayor Javier Lopez (at-large), District 1 James Casey, District 2 Rosalinda L. Vierra, District 3 Cerina Otero, District 4 Vice Mayor Daniel A. Martinez -- confirming the district structure and that Districts 3 and 4 aren't up this cycle.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Ceres, California": used narrowly for the 2020 Census population figure (49,302) and the council-manager government structure (an elected Mayor plus four district council members, a hired City Manager); does not mention the 2026 city council race.
  • ceres.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Ceres -- own live "Planning Commission" page: lists both District 1 candidates as current sitting appointees of that 5-member body -- Gary Condit as Chair (term to Dec. 31, 2027) and Dorie Perez as a commissioner (term to Dec. 31, 2028) -- meaning District 1 pits two sitting Planning Commissioners against each other for the open council seat.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Gary Condit" (citing the Ceres Courier): confirms that District 1 candidate Gary M. Condit is a grandson of the former U.S. Representative, "named after his grandfather," who was "appointed to the Ceres Planning Commission" in 2023 and "ran for Ceres mayor in 2024 but lost the race to the incumbent mayor, Javier Lopez, by a little under 5%" -- used narrowly for that family/biographical detail; the article does not mention the 2026 council race.
  • ceres.gov (opens in a new tab)James Edwin Casey's FPPC Form 501 (Candidate Intention Statement), filed with the City of Ceres 10/30/2025, declaring intent to run for Council Member, District One in 2026 -- an intent he ultimately did not follow through on, per the city's own Notice of Offices and Nominations and Sign-Up chart, neither of which lists him as a qualified 2026 District 1 candidate.
  • ceres.gov (opens in a new tab)Gary M. Condit's FPPC Form 501 (Candidate Intention Statement), filed with the City of Ceres 5/7/2026, declaring candidacy for Councilmember, City of Ceres, District 1, non-partisan, primary/general 2026.
  • ceres.gov (opens in a new tab)"Neighbors for Condit / Ceres City Council District One / Gary M Condit" FPPC Form 410 (Statement of Organization), qualification threshold met 7/11/2026, treasurer James E. Casey -- the outgoing District 1 incumbent -- filed with the City of Ceres 8/3/2026.
  • ceres.gov (opens in a new tab)Dorie Perez's FPPC Form 501 (Candidate Intention Statement), filed with the City of Ceres 11/6/2025, declaring candidacy for City Council of Ceres, District One, non-partisan, primary/general 2026.
  • ceres.gov (opens in a new tab)"Dorie Perez for Ceres City Council District 1" FPPC Form 410 (Statement of Organization), qualification threshold met 7/27/2026, self-treasurer, filed with the City of Ceres 7/30/2026.
  • ceres.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Ceres -- own "Election Campaign Statements" index page: as of this retrieval, lists Form 501/410 filings for all 5 qualified 2026 candidates but no FPPC Form 460 (periodic contribution/expenditure disclosure) for any of Condit, Perez, Guerrero, or Guzman -- a documented absence because their committees (where formed at all) qualified too recently to owe a periodic report yet, not a claim about any of their actual fundraising.

Last updated September 1, 2026.