# Chula Vista City Council, District 2 Compare records and positions simply between Jose Preciado or Angelica S. Martinez for Chula Vista City Council, District 2 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Chula Vista's 5-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the directly elected Mayor. The term is four years. - Jurisdiction: City of Chula Vista - 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/chula-vista-council-2 - 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: October 7, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 89 out of 100 (Strong), across 9 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Jose Preciado** — Incumbent - **Angelica S. Martinez** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Incumbent Councilmember Jose Preciado faces Angelica S. Martinez, an educator, after Preciado led June's four-candidate primary with a plurality — 48.6% to Martinez's 27.2% — just short of a majority. Chula Vista's charter sends the top two from any 3-or-more-candidate primary to a November runoff regardless of the leader's share, so the race continues even though two other candidates were eliminated in June. This seat holds one of Chula Vista's four district seats on a council that also includes the directly elected Mayor: city ordinances, the budget, and land-use decisions. The term is four years. Preciado, elected in 2022 by fewer than 200 votes, is a San Diego State University educator endorsed by the local Democratic Party and several labor unions; Martinez, a first-time candidate, is endorsed by the county Republican Party and gun-rights groups. ## Jose Preciado The incumbent, on the council since December 2022 and an educator at San Diego State University. He previously served over a decade on a regional water district board (2008-2022), per Ballotpedia. His campaign cites 289 new affordable homes approved and the opening of Fire Station 12 during his term, and he supports a city policy barring ICE agents from city properties (per his campaign site). In his Vote411 questionnaire he describes 28 years as director of undergraduate studies at San Diego State, 20 years of civic volunteering, and a decade on the board of a fair-housing nonprofit. He also lists an appointment by the Assembly Speaker to the California Coastal Commission and several Council subcommittees. His three stated priorities are more funding for community policing; economic-development infrastructure and tools to build job centers; and a tourism ecosystem meant to expand hotel development. His climate answer is one sentence pointing to the city's existing sustainability strategy, which he says covers climate change, sea-level rise and public health. For the long-term question he describes a monthly senior-center meeting and weekly City Hall office hours. **Strengths:** On the council since 2022; by his own account 28 years at San Diego State and a Coastal Commission appointment. His campaign cites 289 affordable homes approved. **Trade-offs:** He won his 2022 election by fewer than 200 votes out of over 15,000 cast, the closest council race in the city that cycle. **Keep in mind:** His record claims, such as the homes approved, come from his campaign. He and Martinez are the top two of four June candidates; his 48.6% share fell just short of a majority. ## Angelica S. Martinez A challenger and educator, endorsed by the San Diego County Republican Party, Reform California, and San Diego County Gun Owners. Their campaign's stated priorities are public safety, addressing homelessness, and keeping Chula Vista affordable for working families (per their campaign site). They unsuccessfully ran for the Sweetwater Union High School District board in 2024. In their Vote411 questionnaire they describe living in Chula Vista since 1991, more than 24 years working in a local school district, experience as a real estate professional, and seats on the Sweetwater district parent advisory committee and the Hilltop High community schools steering committee. They hold a bachelor's degree in liberal studies from Point Loma Nazarene University. Their priorities answer names five: public safety through full police staffing and prevention; homelessness, with services tied to accountability; affordability through fewer unnecessary fees; small-business permitting reform; and youth career pathways with schools, unions and employers. On climate they focus on drainage and street upkeep to prevent flooding and on pressing state and federal agencies over Tijuana sewage odors. For the long term they say public safety is an investment, citing "boots on the ground" near the trolley, Broadway and the Sweetwater River. **Strengths:** An educator with 24-plus years at a local school district and a real estate background, by their own account, running on public safety, homelessness and affordability. **Trade-offs:** No elected government experience; a 2024 run for the Sweetwater Union High School District board ended in defeat to the incumbent. **Keep in mind:** Their account of their 2024 school-board result is their own. They placed second in June with 27.2%, over 21 points behind Preciado, ahead of two other challengers. ## Review notes - San Diego County Democratic Party -- Democratic Candidates in the 2026 General Election: Imperial Beach Mayor, Matthew Leyba-Gonzalez; City Council District 1, Jose Lopez Eguino; City Council District 3, O'mar Diallo may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [County of San Diego Registrar of Voters — Candidate List, November 3, 2026 General Election](https://www.sdvote.com/content/dam/rov/en/election/nov-3-2026-gubernatorial-general-election/candidate-list.pdf) 2. [City of Chula Vista, City Clerk — Elections (November 3, 2026 General Election candidates: Mayor, City Council Districts 1 and 2, City Attorney)](https://www.chulavistaca.gov/departments/city-clerk/elections) 3. [California Secretary of State — CAL-ACCESS committee search (Chula Vista Mayor, Council Districts 1/2, and City Attorney candidates, 2026)](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/list.aspx) 4. [Ballotpedia — Jose Preciado](https://ballotpedia.org/Jose_Preciado) 5. [Ballotpedia — Angelica Martinez](https://ballotpedia.org/Angelica_Martinez) 6. [San Diego Union-Tribune — Four candidates compete for Chula Vista's District 2 council seat (2026-05-03)](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/05/03/four-candidates-compete-for-chula-vistas-district-2-council-seat/) 7. [San Diego County Democratic Party — Democratic Candidates in the 2026 General Election](https://www.sddemocrats.org/candidates-2026g) 8. [City of Chula Vista NetFile — public campaign-disclosure search](https://netfile.com/public/CCV/campaign/search-entities) 9. [League of Women Voters -- Vote411 voter guide, 'City of Chula Vista City Council Member, District 2' race (statewide All Races list): each candidate's self-submitted ballot designation and campaign contacts, plus answers to the League's questions -- If elected, what are your top three priorities?; What background, experience and/or education qualify you for this elected office?; What actions, if any, would you take to address the threats facing the City due to climate change, including actions to reduce the effects of climate change on public health?; Give at least one other example of how you would use your time in this office to position the City to meet a long-term challenge, while still responding to immediate crises.? Answers on file from Jose Preciado, Angelica S. Martinez. Capture in data/nov-2026/sources/vote411/chula-vista-council-2.json.](https://www.vote411.org/plan-your-vote) ## The rest of the ballot Chula Vista City Council, District 2 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, "Chula Vista City Council, District 2 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/chula-vista-council-2 (sources last retrieved October 7, 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.