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City of Coachella · Statewide General Election

Coachella City Council

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 holds one of two at-large seats up this cycle on Coachella's 5-person City Council (Mayor plus 4 at-large councilmembers): city ordinances, the budget, and land use citywide. A 4-year term.

Five candidates are on the November 3, 2026 ballot for two at-large seats on Coachella's City Council: appointed incumbent Juan M. Martinez, MMA fighter Ambar De La Herran, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Andrew Gallegos, recall organizer Vicente Aliseo Zamora, and financial-aid specialist Yavonne Zapata. The two highest vote-getters win; there is no primary or runoff.

The two winners each serve a 4-year term on Coachella's 5-person City Council (Mayor plus 4 at-large councilmembers): city ordinances, the budget, and land use citywide, with day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. Both seats up this cycle are open in different ways: incumbent Stephanie Virgen did not file for reelection, and the second seat is a mid-term vacancy -- created when then-Councilmember Frank Figueroa moved up to Mayor -- that the city filled through a separate 11-applicant appointment process in May-June 2026, seating Juan M. Martinez for the balance of the term. Martinez is now one of the five candidates asking voters for a full term.

Two of the five candidates, Vicente Aliseo Zamora and (in the Mayor's race, above) Jesus Ahkin Gonzalez, co-lead an active effort to recall Councilmembers Denise Delgado and Yadira Perez -- neither of whom is on this ballot, since neither's council term is up this cycle -- over the council's initial approval, since rescinded after public opposition, of a utility agreement tied to a proposed data-center project. Zamora and Gonzalez have criticized that initial approval directly; the recall itself is a separate process from this general election.

Juan M. Martinez

Juan M. Martinez is a real estate broker who was appointed to the City Council in June 2026, filling the vacancy created when Frank Figueroa moved up to the Mayor's office; he was one of 11 applicants for the seat. He is now seeking a full term.

Strengths

Already serving in the seat, which gives him institutional continuity and name recognition heading into the election.

Trade-offs

He holds the seat by Council appointment rather than having won it in a direct election -- this is his first time asking voters for it themselves.

Keep in mind

No independent reporting beyond his appointment, real-estate background, and current officeholder status was found for him.

Ambar De La Herran

Ambar De La Herran is a professional mixed martial arts fighter who has competed in local and regional competitions.

Strengths

None could be independently confirmed in this research pass beyond her background as a professional MMA competitor.

Trade-offs

No independent biography, prior public office, or stated platform was found beyond that background description.

Keep in mind

With no public record of her priorities beyond that background, this is a vote based on the Desert Sun's brief description alone, not a documented record.

Andrew Gallegos

Andrew Gallegos is a member of the city's Parks & Recreation Commission who has volunteered for local nonprofit groups.

Strengths

Existing service on the city's Parks & Recreation Commission and a record of nonprofit volunteering.

Trade-offs

No independent biography, professional background, or stated platform beyond that commission service and volunteering was found.

Keep in mind

With no public record of his priorities beyond that background, this is a vote based on the Desert Sun's brief description alone, not a documented record.

Vicente Aliseo Zamora

Vicente Aliseo Zamora co-hosts the "More than Politics CV" podcast and is, with Jesus Ahkin Gonzalez, a co-leader of the active effort to recall Councilmembers Denise Delgado and Yadira Perez. He has criticized the council's initial approval of a proposed data-center utility agreement, since rescinded.

Strengths

An active, organized recall campaign already underway gives him name recognition and a stated policy grievance heading into the race.

Trade-offs

His candidacy is tied to the recall he co-leads against a sitting councilmember not on this ballot and a mayoral candidate in this same election, which that candidate has called a political attack.

Keep in mind

The city's own Elections page spells his first name "Vincente"; his FPPC filings and news coverage both use "Vicente." Both spellings come from the city's own records.

Yavonne Zapata

Yavonne Zapata is a financial aid specialist at College of the Desert. She was one of 11 applicants for the Council vacancy the city filled by appointment in June 2026, but was not the one appointed.

Strengths

Direct prior interest in the seat, having already applied for the same Council vacancy this past spring.

Trade-offs

No independent biography, prior office, or stated platform beyond her occupation and unsuccessful vacancy application was found.

Keep in mind

Her only 2026 campaign-finance filing on record is a Form 470, the short form for minimal or no committee activity -- consistent with a late-forming campaign.

Source review: Very strong (92/100) · 8 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

  • coachella.org (opens in a new tab)City of Coachella — "Elections" page: states the Nov. 3, 2026 General Municipal Election is "for two (2) Council Member seats and one (1) Mayor seat," with the Council serving 4-year terms and the Mayor a 2-year term; gives the July 13-Aug. 7, 2026 nomination filing window (extended to Aug. 12 for a non-filing incumbent) and links each 2026 candidate's own Candidate Statement
  • coachella.org (opens in a new tab)City of Coachella — "City Council" page: current roster with each member's term-end date — Mayor Frank Figueroa and Councilmembers Stephanie Virgen and Juan M. Martinez each "Term End Date: December 2026"; Mayor Pro Tem Yadira Perez and Councilmember Denise Delgado each "Term End Date: December 2028"
  • coachella.org (opens in a new tab)City of Coachella — "City Councilmember Vacancy" page: documents an 11-applicant appointment process (application deadline May 26, 2026) to fill a mid-term Council vacancy, for a seat whose "unexpired term" runs "ending in November 2026"; applicants include eventual appointee Juan M. Martinez and 2026 Council candidate Yavonne Zapata
  • coachella.org (opens in a new tab)City of Coachella — "Candidate & Committee Statements (Form 501, 460, 410)" page: lists every 2026 Form 501/410/460/470 filing by name, naming all nine 2026 candidates (Figueroa, Delgado, Gonzalez, Molina, Martinez, Gallegos, De La Herran, Zamora, Zapata) plus a "Coachella Families Supporting the Recall of Councilmembers Delgado & Perez" committee; underlying PDFs (statements, dollar figures) returned HTTP 403 on every attempt
  • voteinfo.net (opens in a new tab)Riverside County Registrar of Voters — 2026 Annual Election Calendar (lists every November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election office by city, including "City of Cathedral City: City Council District 3 / District 4 / District 5 / City Treasurer")
  • dispatch.com (opens in a new tab)The Desert Sun / USA Today Network — "See who's running for mayor and city council in Coachella Valley" (Tom Coulter and Sam Morgen, Aug. 13, 2026; "Who's running in Coachella?" section names all four 2026 Mayor candidates and all five 2026 Council candidates with a one-line occupation/background note each, and reports Stephanie Virgen did not file for reelection). desertsun.com itself returned an HTTP 302 to a subscriber/consent wall on every attempt; the identical staff-bylined article was instead read in full via a USA Today Network syndication mirror carrying no such gate
  • kesq.com (opens in a new tab)KESQ News Channel 3 — "Recall effort leaders enter City of Coachella election races" (Tommy Gallegos, July 22, 2026): reports Jesus Ahkin Gonzalez filed for Mayor and Vicente Zamora filed for City Council per the City Clerk's own candidate-intent list; identifies both as co-hosts of the "More than Politics CV" podcast and co-leaders of the recall effort against Delgado and Perez; and, in an editor's-note-flagged addition, reports Gonzalez is the son of former Coachella Mayor Jesus R. Gonzalez, who was indicted in 1993 on felony bribery/conspiracy charges over a land deal, had the case reduced to one count in 2000, and had his pleas vacated and the case dismissed entirely in 2004 after completing probation
  • ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia — "Yadira Perez and Denise Delgado recall, Coachella, California (2026)": reference page on the recall effort against Councilmembers Perez and Delgado (status "Underway," ~4,000-signature requirement); cites the councilmembers' initial support for a Stronghold Power Systems data-center utility agreement (since rescinded) as the stated grounds, and quotes Delgado's on-record response calling the effort an attack by "a political faction comprised of convicted former mayors and their unethical cronies"

Last updated August 31, 2026.