# Ceres City Council, District 1

Compare records and positions simply between Gary M. Condit or Dorie Perez for Ceres City Council, District 1 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would represent one of Ceres's four City Council districts. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. Ceres is a Stanislaus County city of about 49,302 residents. A professional city manager runs day-to-day operations. The elected council sets city policy. The Mayor is elected citywide to a 4-year term. Javier Lopez won the Mayor's race in 2024. The Mayor's seat is not on this ballot. The four council seats are elected by district for staggered 4-year terms. Districts 1 and 2 are up this November.

- Jurisdiction: City of Ceres
- 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/ceres-council-1
- 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: 88 out of 100 (Strong), across 13 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Gary M. Condit** — Sheriff's Office Analyst
- **Dorie Perez** — Educator

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

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. A Mayor is elected citywide. Councilmembers vote on the city's budget, ordinances, and land use. A professional city manager runs day-to-day operations. 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 sitting officeholders furnished papers this cycle. Only District 2's incumbent, Rosalinda Vierra, is on that list.

Both candidates already sit together on Ceres's 5-member Planning Commission. Condit is Chair and Perez is a commissioner. So whoever wins keeps one seat on that body vacant while gaining a City Council vote. Casey filed a state candidate-intention statement in October 2025, signaling he might run again. But he 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. Their filed ballot designation is "Educator." They filed their 2026 candidate-intention statement in November 2025 -- the earliest of any 2026 Ceres council candidate -- and organized their own self-treasured committee, "Dorie Perez for Ceres City Council District 1," in July 2026. No Form 460 financial disclosure was on file for their 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 Perez a checkable land-use record alongside their opponent, and they declared their 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 Perez beyond their Planning Commission service and their 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.

## Sources

1. [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.](https://www.stanvote.gov/pdf/candidate-list.pdf)
2. [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.](https://www.ceres.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6971/CERES-CITY-COUNCIL-SIGNUP-CHART)
3. [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.](https://www.ceres.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7013/Notice-of-Offices-and-Nominations)
4. [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.](https://www.ceres.gov/281/City-Council)
5. [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.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres,_California)
6. [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.](https://www.ceres.gov/274/Planning-Commission)
7. [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.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Condit)
8. [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.](https://www.ceres.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8103/James-Casey_501_GE-2026)
9. [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.](https://www.ceres.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8410/GCondit_Form-501_Redacted)
10. ["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.](https://www.ceres.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8601/Neighbors-for-Condit_Form-410)
11. [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.](https://www.ceres.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8118/Dorie-Perez_501_GE-2026_redacted)
12. ["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.](https://www.ceres.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8587/DPerez_Form-410_Qualified)
13. [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.](https://www.ceres.gov/583/Election-Campaign-Statements)

## The rest of the ballot

Ceres City Council, District 1 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, "Ceres City Council, District 1 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/ceres-council-1 (sources last retrieved September 1, 2026).

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