City of Colusa · Statewide General Election
Colusa City Council
This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.
On the ballot
- Ryan Codorniz — Incumbent
- Jerry Gonzales
- Dave Markss — Incumbent
- John Martin
This person would hold one of Colusa's two open City Council seats up this cycle, out of five at-large seats total, for a 4-year term: city ordinances, the budget, and land use in the Colusa County seat (incorporated June 16, 1868; population about 6,411 as of the 2020 Census). No separately elected 'Mayor of Colusa' is on this ballot -- the City's own Council roster page states that the five Council members serve staggered 4-year terms and the Council itself appoints a Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem from among its own members each November, rather than voters electing either title directly.
Four candidates filed for Colusa's two open City Council seats this cycle: incumbents Ryan Codorniz and Dave Markss (the sitting Mayor Pro-Tem), plus non-incumbents Jerry Gonzales and John Martin. With four candidates for two seats, this is a genuinely contested race that goes to the ballot -- not a case where the city could appoint winners and skip the election.
This person would hold one of Colusa's two open City Council seats for a 4-year term, one of five at-large seats on the Council of the Colusa County seat (incorporated June 16, 1868; population about 6,411 as of the 2020 Census). No separately elected 'Mayor of Colusa' appears anywhere in the City's own election documents -- only City Council seats are up for election.
Colusa is governed by a five-person, at-large City Council, and the Mayor isn't a separately elected office. The City's own live Council roster page states it directly: "The citizens of Colusa elect five City Council members to staggered four-year terms. In turn, the City Council appoints a Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem each November." The City's own live roster currently lists Denise Conrado as Mayor, Dave Markss as Mayor Pro-Tem, and Greg Ponciano, Ryan Codorniz, and Daniel Vaca as the other Council Members -- meaning two of this race's four candidates (Codorniz and Markss) are sitting officeholders seeking reelection to seats they already hold.
Colusa is the Colusa County seat, so this dataset separately checked whether any county-level office shares this specific ballot. It doesn't: the county's own Notice of Election exhaustively lists every office up countywide and contains no county row office (Assessor, Auditor-Controller, Clerk-Recorder, Sheriff, District Attorney, Treasurer-Tax Collector), no Board of Supervisors seat, and no Superior Court Judge seat. The county's separate Candidate Filing Status Report also confirms the three Colusa County Board of Education trustee-area seats up this cycle (Trustee Areas 3, 4, and 5) are each unopposed, single-incumbent filings -- so even setting aside that those are county, not city, offices, none of them present a contested choice.
Ryan Codorniz
Ryan Codorniz is a sitting Colusa Council Member seeking reelection to a new 4-year term, confirmed by the City's own current Council roster page. No further independent record of his occupation, background, or platform was found in this pass -- the City Clerk's own qualified-candidate list gives his name and a contact email only, and no dedicated news coverage of his 2026 candidacy turned up among the sources reachable this pass.
Strengths
Sitting incumbent with current Council experience, confirmed by the City's own live roster page.
Trade-offs
No independent record of his occupation, platform, or voting record was found in this pass -- his incumbency is confirmed, but nothing else about him is.
Keep in mind
The absence of coverage reflects Colusa's thin local-news environment for a routine council race, not anything unusual about this candidate -- all four candidates in this race have an equally bare public record beyond incumbency status.
Dave Markss
Dave Markss is the sitting Mayor Pro-Tem of Colusa, seeking reelection to his Council seat for a new 4-year term, confirmed by the City's own current Council roster page (which also shows the Council appointed him to the Mayor Pro-Tem role, not voters). No further independent record of his occupation, background, or platform was found in this pass. Note: the City Clerk's own qualified-candidate list spells his name "Dave Markss," though the email address filed alongside it ("dmarko352@gmail.com") suggests the surname may be "Marko" -- this dataset uses the spelling on the City Clerk's official document, unconfirmed against any other source.
Strengths
Sitting incumbent and current Mayor Pro-Tem, confirmed by the City's own live roster page.
Trade-offs
No independent record of his occupation, platform, or voting record was found in this pass -- his incumbency is confirmed, but nothing else about him is.
Keep in mind
A minor spelling discrepancy exists between the City Clerk's candidate list ("Markss") and his filed email address, which suggests "Marko" -- unresolved against another primary source, so treat it as a documented uncertainty, not a claim about his name.
Jerry Gonzales
Jerry Gonzales is a non-incumbent candidate for Colusa City Council -- he does not appear on the City's current Council roster. No occupation details, platform, or civic background for him were found on any city or county source, in local news, or in the sources reachable this pass beyond his name and filed contact email on the City Clerk's qualified-candidate list.
Strengths
None independently confirmed beyond his qualifying to appear on the ballot.
Trade-offs
No platform, civic background, or news coverage was found for his 2026 candidacy.
Keep in mind
A bare public record is the norm in this race, not a red flag specific to him -- both non-incumbent candidates in this same contest have an equally thin one.
John Martin
John Martin is a non-incumbent candidate for Colusa City Council -- he does not appear on the City's current Council roster. No occupation details, platform, or civic background for him were found on any city or county source, in local news, or in the sources reachable this pass beyond his name and filed contact email on the City Clerk's qualified-candidate list.
Strengths
None independently confirmed beyond his qualifying to appear on the ballot.
Trade-offs
No platform, civic background, or news coverage was found for his 2026 candidacy.
Keep in mind
A bare public record is the norm in this race, not a red flag specific to him -- both non-incumbent candidates in this same contest have an equally thin one.
Candidate background for this contest is genuinely thin across all four names, not lopsided: beyond the two incumbents' confirmed Council seats, none of the four has an independently verifiable occupation, platform, or civic record in this pass. The City Clerk's own qualified-candidate list carries no ballot-designation field (unlike some other California cities' candidate lists), and general search engines returned no usable results for any of the four names this pass -- this session's separate WebSearch tool budget was already exhausted before this jurisdiction's research began. This reflects thin local coverage of a routine council race in a small city, not anything being withheld.
Source review: Strong (83/100) · 7 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.
- cityofcolusa.com (opens in a new tab)City of Colusa -- "November 3, 2026 General Election, List of Qualified Candidates" (posted by City Clerk Shelly Kittle, 8/11/26): names Ryan Codorniz, Jerry Gonzales, Dave Markss, and John Martin as the four qualified candidates for "City Council (4-year term – 2 seats)."
- cityofcolusa.com (opens in a new tab)City of Colusa -- "Notice of Election" (signed by City Clerk Shelly Kittle, dated July 6, 2026): states the sole office up is "Two Members of the City Council (Full term of four years)" -- confirming no separately elected Mayor is on this ballot.
- cityofcolusa.com (opens in a new tab)City of Colusa -- official "Council, City Clerk & City Treasurer" roster page: names the sitting Council (Mayor Denise Conrado, Mayor Pro-Tem Dave Markss, Council Members Greg Ponciano, Ryan Codorniz, and Daniel Vaca) and states directly that the Council itself appoints the Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem each November rather than voters electing either title.
- countyofcolusaca.gov (opens in a new tab)Colusa County -- "Notice of Election Tuesday November 3, 2026 General Election" (signed by Registrar Cristy Jayne Edwards, dated July 2, 2026): an exhaustive list of every office up countywide, confirming no county row office, Board of Supervisors seat, or Superior Court Judge seat shares this ballot, and independently corroborating "City of Colusa Council — 2 seats 4yr" with no separate Mayor line.
- countyofcolusaca.gov (opens in a new tab)Colusa County -- "Candidate Filing Status Report" (updated 8/13/26): confirms Colusa County Board of Education Trustee Areas 3, 4, and 5 are each unopposed, single-incumbent filings, and independently confirms this county document does not cover either city's council race at all -- the City of Colusa's roster had to come from the City's own records instead.
- en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "Colusa, California": used narrowly for the June 16, 1868 incorporation date and the 2020 Census population figure (6,411).
- cityofcolusa.com (opens in a new tab)City of Colusa's own "2026 Election Info" page: links only to Form 700 statements of economic interests for sitting officeholders (not campaign committee filings) and to the FPPC's general site, hosting no local campaign-finance disclosure portal of its own -- a documented negative result for all four City Council candidates, not a claim about their actual finances.
Last updated September 2, 2026.