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Coachella Mayor

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City of Coachella

Coachella Mayor

This person is Coachella's directly elected, citywide Mayor. They preside at City Council meetings and vote as a full member of the 5-person council that sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use. The term is two years.

Four candidates are on the November 3, 2026 ballot for Coachella's directly elected Mayor. They are appointed incumbent Frank Figueroa and Councilmember Denise Delgado. The others are political consultant Jesus Ahkin Gonzalez and community activist Francisco Molina. Whoever gets the most votes wins outright, with 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 they're now asking voters for a full term of their 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an active effort to recall Councilmembers Denise Delgado and Yadira Perez over the council's initial approval -- since rescinded after public opposition -- of a utility agreement tied to a proposed data-center project.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. They work as an academic resources manager at UC Riverside. They were first elected to the City Council in 2022. They lost the 2024 mayoral race to then-incumbent Steven Hernandez. The Council later appointed Figueroa to finish Hernandez's term. Hernandez had resigned in 2026 after a guilty plea to a felony conflict of interest charge. They are now seeking a full term of their own.

Denise Delgado

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

Jesus Ahkin Gonzalez

Jesus Ahkin Gonzalez has worked as a political consultant, including for former Mayor Steven Hernandez. He co-hosts the "More than Politics CV" podcast. With Vicente Aliseo Zamora, he co-leads an effort to recall two Councilmembers. They are Denise Delgado and Yadira Perez.

Francisco Molina

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

Your pick

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

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