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City of Concord · Statewide General Election

Concord City Council, District 3

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 holds your district's seat on Concord's 5-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, plus appointing the city manager who runs day-to-day government. Concord's council elects its own Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its five district members each year (a 1-year term) rather than voters choosing a separate citywide mayor -- there's no 'Mayor of Concord' contest on this ballot. Council seats are staggered: Districts 1, 3, and 5 are up this cycle; Districts 2 and 4 follow in 2028. A 4-year term.

Four candidates are running for Concord City Council District 3: Don Seta, Robyn Kuslits, Dena Acosta Beere, and Douglas Lezameta. This is an open seat -- none of the four is the sitting District 3 incumbent. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff.

This person holds District 3's seat on Concord's 5-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, plus appointing the city manager who runs day-to-day government. Concord's council elects its own Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its five district members each year rather than voters choosing a separate citywide mayor. A 4-year term.

Seta is running largely on a long civic-service and military resume -- a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel with multiple advanced degrees and several current director-level roles in local civic organizations -- built around a three-part platform of fiscal discipline, public safety, and parks. Kuslits, Acosta Beere, and Lezameta's campaigns could not be independently characterized in this pass beyond each candidate's filed occupation.

Don Seta

A retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel with a Doctorate in Business Administration (Alliant International University), a Master's in Systems Management (USC), and a Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (UC Berkeley), according to his own campaign site. He lists current director or officer roles with the Concord Ambassadors, the Concord Historical Society, the Concord Diablo Rotary Club, and the American Legion's Aerospace Commission of California, plus vice chair of the city's Measure X Community Advisory Board. His platform has three parts: fiscal discipline and transparency ("Serve the Community"), support for police and emergency services with a specific focus on street safety along the Monument corridor ("Safety Today"), and park maintenance, especially at Lake Ellis, paired with environmental stewardship ("Green Future").

Strengths

A specific, multi-organization civic record (Concord Ambassadors, Historical Society, Rotary Club) and an advanced-degree, retired-military background.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office, so no voting record to weigh; no independent (non-campaign) reporting on his candidacy was found in this pass.

Keep in mind

His civic and military background here is his own campaign's account, not independently verified beyond his filed ballot designation.

Robyn Kuslits

The county's own candidate roster lists her occupation as "Substitute Teacher." No campaign website, news coverage, or further biography was located for her in this pass despite a real search effort -- domain guesses, a Ballotpedia lookup, and repeated search-engine queries all failed to surface anything more.

Strengths

Not established by any source found in this pass.

Trade-offs

No stated platform, prior public service, or news coverage was reachable in this pass -- an honest gap, not a claim she lacks one.

Keep in mind

No Cal-Access or NetFile committee could be verified for her in this pass -- see Financial info.

Dena Acosta Beere

The county's own candidate roster lists her occupation as "Community Volunteer." A domain guess at a likely campaign-site address (denaacostabeere.com) resolves but redirects to a parked-domain landing page, not a working site. No other campaign website, news coverage, or further biography was located for her in this pass despite a real search effort.

Strengths

Not established by any source found in this pass.

Trade-offs

No stated platform, prior public service, or news coverage was reachable in this pass -- an honest gap, not a claim she lacks one.

Keep in mind

No Cal-Access or NetFile committee could be verified for her in this pass -- see Financial info.

Douglas Lezameta

The county's own candidate roster lists his occupation as "Small Business Owner." No campaign website, news coverage, or further biography was located for him in this pass despite a real search effort -- domain guesses, a Ballotpedia lookup, and repeated search-engine queries all failed to surface anything more.

Strengths

Not established by any source found in this pass.

Trade-offs

No stated platform, prior public service, or news coverage was reachable in this pass -- an honest gap, not a claim he lacks one.

Keep in mind

No Cal-Access or NetFile committee could be verified for him in this pass -- see Financial info.

Source review: Very strong (90/100) · 7 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: Don Seta's own campaign site for Concord City Council District 3: his USAF Lt. Colonel (Retired) career, education, civic-board roles, and three-part platform may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • contracostavote.gov (opens in a new tab)Contra Costa County Elections Division -- "Positions Up for Election, November 3, 2026, General Election": the only county-section contest in the document is County Board of Education Areas 2, 4, and 5 (under Schools) -- no Board of Supervisors, row office, or Superior Court seat appears anywhere, consistent with both Supervisor seats up this cycle (Districts 1 and 4) having been decided outright in the June 2026 primary
  • cityofconcord.org (opens in a new tab)City of Concord -- "November 2026 Candidates" official roster (cityofconcord.org/1394): every qualified candidate for City Council Districts 1, 3, and 5 and City Treasurer, with filing and qualification dates and an incumbent flag -- Laura Hoffmeister*, Maria Bagley, and Trish Brazil for District 1; Don Seta, Robyn Kuslits, Dena Acosta Beere, and Douglas Lezameta for District 3; Laura Nakamura* and Aeysha Corio for District 5; Edith Patricia "Patti" Barsotti*, unopposed, for Treasurer
  • cityofconcord.org (opens in a new tab)City of Concord -- "Elections" page (cityofconcord.org/226): confirms the 5-member, district-elected City Council structure with staggered 4-year terms (three seats one cycle, two the next -- Districts 1, 3, 5 this cycle), that the Council chooses its own Mayor and Vice Mayor each year from among its five members (a 1-year term, no separate directly-elected mayoral contest), and that the City Treasurer is elected citywide for a 4-year term, paid $600 a month, and does not serve full-time
  • cityofconcord.org (opens in a new tab)City of Concord City Clerk -- individual "Candidate Information Packet" PDFs for all nine qualified Nov. 2026 candidates (cityofconcord.org/DocumentCenter/View/<id>/, linked from the candidates roster; parsed locally with pypdf): supplies each candidate's filed ballot designation -- Hoffmeister "City Council Member," Bagley "Government Finance Manager," Brazil "Business Owner," Seta "Retired Lt. Colonel," Kuslits "Substitute Teacher," Acosta Beere "Community Volunteer," Lezameta "Small Business Owner," Nakamura "City Council Member," Barsotti "Incumbent" -- and confirms none of the nine submitted the optional Candidate Statement of Qualifications
  • contracosta.news (opens in a new tab)Contra Costa News -- "November Ballot Taking Shape in Contra Costa County" (Aug. 7, 2026): independent local-news roundup of the county's own candidate filings, listing the same three-candidate Area 2 field, Mike Maxwell alone for Area 4, and Clyde Lewis, Jr. alone for Area 5
  • votedonseta.com (opens in a new tab)Don Seta for Concord City Council District 3 -- campaign site (votedonseta.com): his own account of his USAF Lt. Colonel (Retired) career, his Doctorate in Business Administration (Alliant International University), Master's in Systems Management (USC), and Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (UC Berkeley), his director/officer roles with the Concord Ambassadors, Concord Historical Society, Concord Diablo Rotary Club, Measure X Community Advisory Board (vice chair), and American Legion Aerospace Commission of California, and his three-part platform (Serve the Community, Safety Today, Green Future)
  • contracostavote.gov (opens in a new tab)Contra Costa County Elections Division -- "Positions Up for Election, November 3, 2026, General Election": lists Concord's four city-government contests (Treasurer, Districts 1/3/5) with no separate Mayor line

Last updated September 1, 2026.