City of Compton · Statewide General Election
Mayor of Compton
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
- Emma Sharif — Incumbent
- Andre A. Spicer
This person is Compton's directly elected chief executive, serving a 4-year term: the budget, public-safety leadership, and economic-development priorities for the city. Day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager.
No candidate cleared a majority in the June 2 primary, so the two leading finishers face off on November 3: incumbent Mayor Emma Sharif, who led with about 42% of the vote, against District 2 councilmember Andre Spicer, who took about 18%. Spicer is not seeking reelection to his own council seat.
Compton's Mayor serves a 4-year term as the city's directly elected chief executive: proposing the budget, setting public-safety priorities, and leading economic-development efforts, while day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. The Mayor also chairs City Council meetings and is one vote on the five-member body that includes four district councilmembers.
The choice is between continuity and change: keep the incumbent who has held the office since 2021, or hand it to a sitting district councilmember who argues a citywide role would extend the corridor and public-safety work he has pursued on the council to the rest of the city.
Emma Sharif
Emma Sharif is Compton's incumbent Mayor, in office since 2021 after previously serving on the City Council. She is running on continued investment in public safety, street and infrastructure repairs, small-business support, youth programs, and affordable housing. She led the June primary field with about 42% of the vote and carries endorsements including Rep. Maxine Waters, LA Mayor Karen Bass, and several labor unions.
Strengths
Sitting Mayor with prior council experience; broad institutional and labor backing; led the June field by a wide margin.
Trade-offs
Four years of incumbency means the city's current pace of street repairs and public-safety results are hers to defend, not promise.
Keep in mind
Endorsed by an array of sitting Democratic officeholders and unions (Waters, Bass, several building-trades and public-safety unions) — a sign of institutional support voters may read as continuity or as ties to insiders.
Andre A. Spicer
Andre Spicer holds Compton's District 2 council seat, seated in 2022 after a Superior Court found illegal votes had been cast against him in a disputed 2021 election. He is running for Mayor on corridor revitalization, small-business support, and expanding homeownership and wealth-building in Compton. He finished second in the June primary with about 18% of the vote, behind incumbent Mayor Sharif.
Strengths
Sitting District 2 councilmember since 2022; won a court fight over illegal votes cast against him in 2021; advanced to the runoff from second place.
Trade-offs
He's vacating the District 2 seat to run citywide, so a vote for him trades a known council record for an untested citywide role.
Keep in mind
A court found four illegal votes were cast against him in 2021 and declared him the rightful winner in 2022, a resolved but well-documented dispute over his first election (LA Times).
June 2 primary — how they advanced
Source review: Strong (86/100) · 8 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.
Review note: Andre Spicer for Mayor of the City of Compton (campaign site) may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.
- results.lavote.gov (opens in a new tab)LA County RRCC — Certified June 2, 2026 Primary Nominating Election results, City of Compton (Mayor and Member of the City Council, 2nd District)
- comptoncity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Compton Clerk — General Election Information
- comptoncity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Compton — Elected Officials
- losangelescountypolitics.com (opens in a new tab)LA County Politics — LA County Municipal Primary Results (2026-06-04)
- ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia — Emma Sharif, Andrew A. Spicer, Bennie Tinson, and Anthony Perry (Compton, California, candidates 2026)
- andrespicer4mayor.com (opens in a new tab)Andre Spicer for Mayor of the City of Compton — campaign site
- latimes.com (opens in a new tab)Los Angeles Times — Compton City Council election overturned (2022-05-30)
- comptoncity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Compton Clerk — 410/460 Campaign Statements
Last updated August 31, 2026.