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City of Coachella · Statewide General Election

Coachella Mayor

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 is Coachella's directly elected, citywide Mayor: presides at City Council meetings and votes as a full member of the 5-person council that sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use. A 2-year term.

Four candidates are on the November 3, 2026 ballot for Coachella's directly elected Mayor: appointed incumbent Frank Figueroa, Councilmember Denise Delgado, political consultant Jesus Ahkin Gonzalez, and community activist Francisco Molina. Whoever gets the most votes wins outright -- there is no primary or runoff.

Coachella elects its Mayor citywide, separately from the City Council -- unlike most nearby Coachella Valley cities, where the mayor's title rotates yearly among sitting councilmembers. It's a 2-year term: the Mayor presides at Council meetings and votes as a full member of the 5-person body (Mayor plus 4 at-large councilmembers) that sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use; day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager.

The seat is open this way because of a mid-term vacancy: longtime Mayor Steven Hernandez resigned in 2026 after pleading guilty to a felony conflict-of-interest charge. The City Council appointed Councilmember Figueroa -- who had lost the 2024 mayoral race to Hernandez -- to serve out the remainder of the term, and he's now asking voters for a full term of his own. Separately, two of Figueroa's three opponents, Gonzalez and (in the City Council race, below) Vicente Aliseo Zamora, are the co-leaders of an active effort to recall Councilmembers Denise Delgado and Yadira Perez over the council's initial approval -- since rescinded after public opposition -- of a utility agreement tied to a proposed data-center project. Neither Delgado's nor Perez's council term is actually up this November; that recall is a separate process from this election. But it's the backdrop for two of this race's four candidacies: Delgado is running for Mayor rather than defending her own (safe) seat, and Gonzalez is running for the office that would preside over the council he's trying to partly recall.

Frank Figueroa

Frank Figueroa is the incumbent, an academic resources manager at UC Riverside who was first elected to the City Council in 2022. He lost the 2024 mayoral race to then-incumbent Steven Hernandez, and was appointed by the Council to fill out Hernandez's term after Hernandez resigned in 2026 following a guilty plea to a felony conflict-of-interest charge. He is now seeking a full term of his own.

Strengths

Incumbency by appointment, plus two years of prior Council experience.

Trade-offs

He reached the office by appointment after losing the 2024 mayoral race outright -- this is his first time winning it directly from voters.

Keep in mind

No independent reporting beyond his appointment and prior council term was found. His 2026 filings run through his original 2022 council committee, not a new Mayor committee.

Denise Delgado

Denise Delgado is an educator who has served on the Coachella City Council since 2020; her council term runs through 2028; she is not up for reelection to that seat this cycle. She previously ran for Mayor in 2022, losing to then-incumbent Steven Hernandez.

Strengths

Six years of Council experience by this election, plus a prior mayoral campaign already run.

Trade-offs

She is one of two councilmembers (with Yadira Perez, not on this ballot) targeted by an active recall over a since-rescinded data-center utility deal.

Keep in mind

Delgado calls the recall a "political faction" attack, on the record. One of its co-leaders, opponent Jesus Ahkin Gonzalez, is the son of a former Mayor with a now-dismissed 1990s case -- see his profile.

Jesus Ahkin Gonzalez

Jesus Ahkin Gonzalez has worked as a political consultant, including for former Mayor Steven Hernandez, and co-hosts the "More than Politics CV" podcast. He is the co-leader, with Vicente Aliseo Zamora, of an active effort to recall Councilmembers Denise Delgado and Yadira Perez.

Strengths

A political-consulting background and an organized, signature-gathering recall campaign already underway.

Trade-offs

His candidacy is tied to the recall he co-leads against opponent Delgado and a councilmember not on this ballot, which Delgado has called a political attack.

Keep in mind

Gonzalez is the son of a former Mayor indicted on felony charges in 1993; the case was reduced, then vacated and dismissed after probation in 2004. That record is his father's, not his own -- it's included because Delgado's on-record response to the recall points directly at it.

Francisco Molina

Francisco Molina is a community activist whose background spans construction, business strategy, and consumer research.

Strengths

None could be independently confirmed in this research pass beyond his background in construction, business strategy, and consumer research.

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 his priorities beyond that background, this is a vote based on the Desert Sun's brief description alone, not a documented record.

Source review: Very strong (91/100) · 9 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 — "Coachella Councilmember Denise Delgado appears to be positioning for Mayoral run while facing recall effort" (July 21, 2026): reports Delgado filed a Form 501 and Form 410 to pursue the Mayor's office; quotes Mayor Figueroa on the record confirming "this November they'll have the ability to vote for a mayor and two city council members"; and reports Delgado ran for Mayor once before, against then-incumbent Steven Hernandez, in 2022
  • 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.