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City of Costa Mesa · Statewide General Election

Costa Mesa 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 Costa Mesa's 6-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the citywide-elected mayor. A 4-year term, capped at two consecutive terms.

Cara Stewart and Daniel Morgan are running for Costa Mesa City Council District 3's open seat -- incumbent Andrea Marr is term-limited and can't run again. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff.

This person holds District 3's seat on Costa Mesa's 6-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the citywide-elected mayor. A 4-year term, capped at two consecutive terms.

Both candidates already sit on city advisory committees and campaign on similar priorities -- public safety, fiscal responsibility, and support for local business -- but bring different professional backgrounds: Stewart's is communications and consulting, Morgan's is real estate and finance. Morgan has also staked out an opposition position on the Fairview Developmental Center Specific Plan, citing traffic and emergency-response concerns; no comparable position from Stewart on that plan was found in this pass.

Cara Stewart

Founder and CEO of WunderMarx, a strategy consulting firm, with more than 30 years across government, business, media, and nonprofit work; she previously worked as a reporter for the Orange County Register. She chairs the city's Animal Services Committee, is Vice Chair of the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen board, and serves on the Golden West College Foundation board. Her campaign centers on transparency, fiscal responsibility, and community engagement. "As a journalist, I learned that accountability protects people, and that asking the right questions matters," she says of her approach, describing herself as a 'connector' among government, business, nonprofit, and resident stakeholders.

Strengths

A journalism background paired with three decades of consulting work gives her both an investigative habit and hands-on experience translating policy into practice across sectors.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office; her public track record is committee and nonprofit-board service rather than a voting record.

Keep in mind

No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for her campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.

Daniel Morgan

Managing Principal of Marterra Real Estate and Marterra Properties, a Costa Mesa real-estate firm; a husband and father of two daughters in local schools. He serves on the city's Finance and Pension Advisory Committee and previously served as an Orange County Planning Commissioner. His campaign emphasizes reducing barriers for new local businesses, strengthening neighborhood quality of life, and responsible city budgeting without added resident fees. He opposes the Fairview Developmental Center Specific Plan, citing traffic delays and potential impacts on emergency-response times. "Local government works best when it listens before it lectures," he says.

Strengths

A finance-committee seat and a prior county planning-commission appointment give him direct exposure to both budgeting and land-use review before running for council.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office; his real-estate business could be read either as relevant housing-market expertise or as a potential conflict of interest on development votes, depending on a voter's view.

Keep in mind

No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for his campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.

Source review: Strong (80/100) · 6 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: Cara Stewart's own campaign site ("Cara Stewart for City Council"): her own framing of her District 3 candidacy, background, and platform and Daniel Morgan's own campaign site ("Morgan for Costa Mesa"): his own framing of his District 3 candidacy, background, and platform may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • ocvote.gov (opens in a new tab)OC Registrar of Voters — Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election 11/3/2026 (169 contests, 430 candidates filed)
  • costamesaca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Costa Mesa — Mayor & City Council page: term limits (Mayor, 2-year terms, 2-term cap; Council, 4-year terms, 2-term cap) and the sitting roster (Mayor John Stephens; Council Members Mike Buley D1, Loren Gameros D2, Andrea Marr D3, Manuel Chavez D4/Mayor Pro Tem, Arlis Reynolds D5, Jeff Pettis D6)
  • latimes.com (opens in a new tab)LA Times/Daily Pilot — "Costa Mesa Council race will see 8 candidates square off for 4 open seats, including mayor": confirms 4 council members terming out in December and 8 total candidates across the 4 open seats, all already serving in city civic roles; retrieved as search-engine snippets, latimes.com itself is not directly fetchable in this pass
  • ocregister.com (opens in a new tab)Orange County Register — "Candidate fields take shape for city council elections in Orange County": names Mike Buley and Loren Gameros for Costa Mesa Mayor and Cara Stewart and Daniel Morgan for the open District 3 seat; retrieved as a search-engine snippet, ocregister.com itself is not directly fetchable in this pass
  • caraforcostamesa.com (opens in a new tab)Cara Stewart's own campaign site ("Cara Stewart for City Council"): her own framing of her District 3 candidacy, background, and platform
  • morganforcostamesa.com (opens in a new tab)Daniel Morgan's own campaign site ("Morgan for Costa Mesa"): his own framing of his District 3 candidacy, background, and platform

Last updated August 31, 2026.