# Colton City Council, District 3 Compare records and positions simply between Luis S. González or Eugene Valdez for Colton City Council, District 3 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would hold your district's seat on Colton's four-member City Council. All four seats are elected by district. Members vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Terms are four years and staggered, so not every district is up each November. Colton's Mayor is a separate office, elected directly and citywide to a four-year term. The Mayor's race is also on this November's ballot. - Jurisdiction: City of Colton - 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/colton-council-district-3 - 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: September 7, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 91 out of 100 (Very strong), across 6 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Luis S. González** — Retired Educator · Incumbent - **Eugene Valdez** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Incumbent Luis S. González faces challenger Eugene Valdez for Colton's City Council District 3 seat on the November 3, 2026 ballot. Whoever gets the most votes wins outright -- there is no primary or runoff. This person would hold District 3's seat on Colton's 4-member, district-elected City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Terms are four years, staggered so only some districts are up in any given November -- Colton's Mayor is separately, directly elected citywide (also on this November's ballot). González, a councilmember since 2014 and a 40-year music and world-history educator, is running on continuity and a long record of local civic-founding work. Valdez, a first-time candidate, has no committee or civic-board record found in this pass, beyond a 2024 city planning document naming them behind a proposed community mural in South Colton. ## Luis S. González Luis S. González is Colton's incumbent District 3 councilmember, first elected in 2014 (then representing District 4), re-elected in 2018, and re-elected again in 2022 to the renumbered District 3. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati (1981) and spent 40 years as a music and world-history educator. He founded "City Talk," Colton Area Museum Day, and the Colton Youth Leadership Program, has authored two books on local history, and writes regularly for the Colton Courier. His filed ballot designation is "Retired Educator." **Strengths:** Three terms on the council since 2014, plus a long record of local civic-founding work (a museum day, a youth leadership program, local writing) alongside his time in office. **Trade-offs:** No independent news coverage of his voting record on the council was found in this pass; financial info could not be retrieved (see note below). **Keep in mind:** His writing for the Colton Courier and Colton City News is itself local commentary, not independent reporting about him -- useful context, not neutral evaluation. ## Eugene Valdez Eugene Valdez is a first-time candidate challenging incumbent Luis S. González for the District 3 seat. They requested no ballot designation. The only independent record of them found in this pass is a July 2024 city planning document naming them as the person behind a proposed community mural sign for South Colton, aimed at commemorating historical local businesses and deterring graffiti. **Strengths:** A documented, dated instance of community-beautification advocacy in South Colton, distinct from anything tied to their candidacy itself. **Trade-offs:** No occupation, civic-board record, or platform statement was found anywhere in this pass; financial info was likewise unavailable. **Keep in mind:** Declining a ballot designation is their own choice, not necessarily a sign of a thin record -- but combined with the lack of independent coverage, this is a genuinely thin public profile to weigh against a three-term incumbent. ## Sources 1. [San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters -- "Offices Up for Election, November 3, 2026, General Election": lists County Board of Education Areas A, B, and D (under the School category) as the county's only expiring-term seats this cycle -- no Board of Supervisors, row office, or Superior Court seat appears anywhere in the 11-page document](https://uploads.rov.sbcounty.gov/ROV/Elections/2026/1103/Report_OfficesUpForElection.pdf) 2. [San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters -- statewide "Report_CandidateList.pdf" candidate-filing report linked from the county's own November 3, 2026 candidates page: within the San Bernardino County section, only Area B carries any candidates (Rita Fernandez-Loof, Miki R. Inbody, Kimberly L. Watson); Areas A and D, both confirmed expiring this cycle by the county's own Offices Up for Election document, have no candidates anywhere in the report and will not appear on the November ballot](https://uploads.rov.sbcounty.gov/ROV/Elections/2026/1103/Report_CandidateList.pdf) 3. [City of Colton -- City Clerk's "Election Information 2026" page: states "Offices Open for Election: Council Member -- District 3, Council Member -- District 4, Mayor -- City Wide," plus the nomination period (July 13 -- August 7, 2026) and candidate eligibility requirements.](https://www.coltonca.gov/1094/Election-Information-2026) 4. [City of Colton -- "Candidate Filing Update (FINAL UPDATE)" for the week of August 7-12, 2026: names all seven qualified candidates across the city's three November 2026 offices with their nomination-paper pull/file/qualify dates -- John Echevarria and Frank J. Navarro for Mayor; Luis S. González and Eugene Valdez for District 3; Joseph Paulino, Adrianna Escarcega, and Lawrence "Larry" Rivas for District 4 -- in full agreement with the county's own candidate-filing report.](https://www.coltonca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/10189) 5. [City of Colton -- "City Council" page: names each sitting member by seat (Frank J. Navarro, Mayor; David J. Toro, District 1; Kelly J. Chastain, District 2; Luis S. González, District 3; John R. Echevarria, District 4) and each one's term-expiration date -- Mayor, District 3, and District 4 all expire December 2026 (this cycle); District 1 and District 2 expire December 2028 (not on this ballot).](https://www.coltonca.gov/118/City-Council) 6. [City of Colton -- District 3's own official bio page for Councilmember Luis S. González: first elected in 2014 representing then-District 4, re-elected 2018, re-elected again in 2022 to the renumbered District 3; a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati (1981); a 40-year career as a music and world-history educator; founder of "City Talk," Colton Area Museum Day, and the Colton Youth Leadership Program; author of two books; a regular writer for the Colton Courier and Colton City News.](https://www.coltonca.gov/700/District-3) ## The rest of the ballot Colton City Council, District 3 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, "Colton City Council, District 3 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/colton-council-district-3 (sources last retrieved September 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.