# Mayor of Chula Vista Compare records and positions simply between John McCann or Francisco Tamayo for Mayor of Chula Vista at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. Chula Vista's Mayor is directly elected by voters. The Mayor leads City Council meetings. The Mayor also casts one of five votes on the city budget and laws. An appointed city manager runs day-to-day operations. The term is four years, with a limit of two terms in a row. A mayor who reaches that limit can run again after a four-year break. - 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-mayor - 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 10 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **John McCann** — Incumbent - **Francisco Tamayo** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Incumbent Mayor John McCann faces Francisco Tamayo, a Chula Vista Elementary School District trustee, after McCann led June's three-way primary with a majority — 56.1% to Tamayo's 39.5%, with Yair Gersten taking the remaining 4.4%. Chula Vista's charter still sends the top two from any 3-or-more-candidate primary to a November runoff, regardless of the leader's primary share, so McCann's majority didn't end the race. Chula Vista's mayor is a full-time job, elected by the whole city. The mayor casts one of five council votes on the budget and city ordinances. Every other council member is elected by a district instead. The mayor also presides over meetings and represents Chula Vista in public. The term is four years, with a limit of two terms in a row. McCann was first elected in 2022. He is seeking his second and final consecutive term under that limit. McCann is a Republican and a member of the San Diego County GOP central committee. Tamayo, the challenger, is vice president of the Chula Vista Democratic Club. McCann also ran for San Diego County Supervisor, District 1 in a 2025 special election. He led that April primary, then lost the July runoff to Paloma Aguirre. That defeat returned him to a race for mayor instead of a seat on the county board. ## John McCann The incumbent, first elected mayor in 2022 after defeating Ammar Campa-Najjar, and previously a two-term Chula Vista City Council member representing District 1. A Republican and San Diego County GOP central committee member (per his own campaign-finance filings), his campaign credits the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center — which he says added about 4,000 jobs — as a signature achievement (per his campaign site). **Strengths:** Two council terms in District 1 before he won the mayoralty in 2022. He also ran countywide for County Supervisor in 2025 and led that April primary. **Trade-offs:** That Supervisor bid ended in a runoff loss in July 2025. He returned to seek re-election as mayor rather than the county board he had sought. **Keep in mind:** He led June's three-way primary with a majority, yet the charter sends him to a November runoff because three candidates filed. ## Francisco Tamayo A challenger and Chula Vista Elementary School District trustee, on the board since 2014 (Area 1, then Area 4 since 2024) and an education administrator for Sweetwater Union High School District. He serves as vice president of the Chula Vista Democratic Club and a board member of the Chicano Democratic Association of San Diego. His campaign centers on housing affordability, public-safety response times, and lowering the cost of living for families, per his campaign site. In his Vote411 questionnaire he describes a day job as a technology and cybersecurity director at Calbright College, an online community college, degrees from Colorado State and Pittsburgh State, and a stint as a school-employee union chapter president. By his own account he now serves as school board president. His three stated priorities are public safety and workforce housing, including a police substation on the east side, a fully staffed Fire Station 10, and entry-level ownership homes on city land for police, firefighters, teachers and nurses; support for seniors through rental assistance, scam protection and transportation; and faster small-business permitting with a single point of contact. On climate he says he would update the city's Climate Action Plan with annual public reporting, move city and police vehicles to electric, and add tree canopy and heat protocols in west Chula Vista. For the long term he proposes reforming how Mello-Roos financing is structured and planning a university innovation district with San Diego State. **Strengths:** A decade on the Chula Vista Elementary School District board, now as president by his own account, plus technology management at a community college and local labor experience. **Trade-offs:** He has no city-government experience. His elected record is entirely on the school board, not the City Council or any city commission. **Keep in mind:** His school-district results and housing plans are his own account. He trailed McCann by 16.6 points in June's primary field of three. ## 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 — Mayoral election in Chula Vista, California (2026)](https://ballotpedia.org/Mayoral_election_in_Chula_Vista,_California_(2026)) 5. [Ballotpedia — John McCann (California)](https://ballotpedia.org/John_McCann_(California)) 6. [Ballotpedia — Francisco Tamayo](https://ballotpedia.org/Francisco_Tamayo) 7. [Voice of San Diego — Chula Vista's Mayor Is Suddenly Fighting on All Fronts to Keep His Job (2026-05-14)](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2026/05/14/chula-vistas-mayor-is-suddenly-fighting-on-all-fronts-to-keep-his-job/) 8. [San Diego County Democratic Party — Democratic Candidates in the 2026 General Election](https://www.sddemocrats.org/candidates-2026g) 9. [City of Chula Vista NetFile — public campaign-disclosure search](https://netfile.com/public/CCV/campaign/search-entities) 10. [League of Women Voters -- Vote411 voter guide, 'City of Chula Vista Mayor' 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 Francisco Tamayo. Capture in data/nov-2026/sources/vote411/chula-vista-mayor.json.](https://www.vote411.org/plan-your-vote) ## The rest of the ballot Mayor of Chula Vista 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, "Mayor of Chula Vista — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/chula-vista-mayor (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.