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City of Citrus Heights · Statewide General Election

Citrus Heights City Council, District 5

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

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 hold one of three Citrus Heights City Council seats up this cycle: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, under a council-manager government with an appointed City Manager, for a 4-year term. The five-member council selects one of its own to serve as Mayor for a one-year term -- this is a district council seat, not a separately elected mayor's office.

Only one candidate qualified for this seat. Incumbent Vice Mayor Porsche Middleton runs unopposed for another term -- so this contest is settled and your vote here does not change the outcome.

Citrus Heights' City Council has five members, each elected from one of five districts, under a council-manager government with an appointed City Manager. Councilmembers set city ordinances, the budget, and land-use decisions. A 4-year term. The council itself selects one member to serve a rotating, one-year term as Mayor.

The only other person who attempted to run for this seat, David Anderson, failed to submit a valid nomination petition and did not qualify for the ballot, leaving Middleton unopposed. This is the second consecutive cycle a Citrus Heights council seat has drawn no opposition, after Tim Schaefer's unopposed District 3 race in 2024.

Porsche Middleton

The incumbent Vice Mayor, unopposed for another term; her filed ballot designation is "Incumbent." She was first elected to the council at-large in Nov. 2018, after serving on the city's Planning Commission in 2017, and was re-elected in Nov. 2022 to represent the newly drawn District 5 -- a genuinely close race that year, narrowly won by 26 votes out of nearly 4,000 cast against challenger Natalee Price (the two tied at one point during counting). She is a Governor's appointee to the California Housing Partnership board and represents Citrus Heights on the Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Television Commission, the Sacramento Transportation Authority, and three council 2x2 committees (Education & Community Programs, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, Arts & Cultural).

Strengths

Eight years on the council, a full term representing this district, current service as Vice Mayor, and a state-level board appointment (California Housing Partnership).

Trade-offs

This dataset found no independent (non-official, non-campaign-finance) reporting evaluating her current term's record.

Keep in mind

State law lets the council appoint an unopposed candidate directly rather than hold an election -- but the county's own live roster, re-checked for this pass, still lists this seat as on the ballot, so it is authored here as a real contest.

Source review: Strong (84/100) · 5 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • elections.saccounty.gov (opens in a new tab)Sacramento County Voter Registration & Elections — Roster of Candidates, November 3, 2026 General Election
  • citrusheightssentinel.com (opens in a new tab)Citrus Heights Sentinel — "Interested in serving on Citrus Heights' City Council? Candidate filing begins July 13" (2026-07-07): names the three seats up this cycle (Districts 2, 4, 5) and each sitting holder, the July 13–Aug. 7 filing window, and candidate eligibility rules.
  • citrusheightssentinel.com (opens in a new tab)Citrus Heights Sentinel — "Five candidates to run for Citrus Heights City Council" (2026-08-07): names all five qualified candidates across the three districted races, distinguishing the three incumbents from the two first-time challengers.
  • citrusheightssentinel.com (opens in a new tab)Citrus Heights Sentinel — "Citrus Heights Vice Mayor running for reelection unopposed" (2026-08-11): reports Vice Mayor Porsche Middleton's District 5 seat drew only one attempted challenger, David Anderson, who failed to submit a valid nomination petition, plus her 2022 race margin and background.
  • citrusheights.net (opens in a new tab)City of Citrus Heights — official biography page for Vice Mayor Porsche Middleton (District 5): first elected 2018, prior Planning Commission service, Governor's appointee to the California Housing Partnership board, and city board/authority assignments.

Last updated September 1, 2026.