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City of Davis · Statewide General Election

Davis City Council, District 4

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 would represent one of Davis's five council districts on the City Council for a full 4-year term. Davis, a Yolo County general law city of about 66,850 residents (2020 Census), runs under a Council-Manager form of government with a five-member Council elected by district; the Council chooses a Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its own members rather than electing either position directly, so the Mayor's seat is not up this cycle.

Incumbent Gloria Partida is running unopposed for another term representing Davis's District 4 on the City Council -- she is the only candidate who qualified.

Davis is a Yolo County general law city of about 66,850 residents (2020 Census) that runs under a Council-Manager form of government, with a five-member City Council elected by district to staggered 4-year terms. The Council chooses a Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its own members rather than electing either position directly, which is why the Mayor's seat isn't on this November's ballot alongside Districts 1 and 4.

Partida is the sitting District 4 Councilmember and 2026 Vice Mayor, first elected to the Council in June 2018, and she previously served as Mayor from July 2020 through June 2022 before being re-elected to the Council in November 2022. Running unopposed, she is seeking a further term in the seat she already holds.

Gloria Partida

Gloria Partida earned a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from UC Davis and worked 30 years as a neurobiologist before retiring in 2019. First elected to the City Council in June 2018, she served as Mayor from July 2020 to June 2022 and was re-elected in November 2022; she is the city's 2026 Vice Mayor and currently serves as Council liaison to the Civic Arts Commission, the Human Relations Commission, and the Police Accountability Commission, and chairs the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management Board. She co-founded the Davis Phoenix Coalition -- which works to prevent hate-motivated violence and build a more inclusive community -- after her son Mikey was beaten in Davis because of his sexual orientation, and led the organization for a decade as its executive director before stepping down from that role on September 1, 2026 (remaining on its board). On the Council, she has taken on direct policy work, including co-leading a subcommittee researching funding for immigration legal-defense services as part of the city's sanctuary-city ordinance, telling the Davis Enterprise: "I want to make sure that the community understands that we see the fear and we see the concern that is in the community." She has received eight community-service awards since 2014, including a 2019 Ruby Award from the Davis Soroptimist Club and a 2016 Women of the Year Award from Rep. John Garamendi, and helps manage a small business with her son, who has a disability, while helping raise her grandson.

Strengths

Over seven years of council experience including a prior term as Mayor, a decade running a nonprofit she founded, and a currently active policy role on immigration legal-defense funding.

Trade-offs

A vote for a long-serving incumbent is largely a vote to continue current council direction; no independent challenger's platform exists to compare her record against this cycle.

Keep in mind

Running unopposed, she is effectively re-elected regardless of turnout -- this is a vote to confirm her for another term, not a comparison between candidates.

Source review: Strong (85/100) · 10 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)City of Davis -- official "November 3, 2026 - General Municipal Election" page (via Wayback Machine, since the live cityofdavis.org site 403s every direct fetch behind an Akamai edge block): states "City Council members are elected by district for a four year term. There are 2 City Council seats (Districts 1 and 4) open for election in 2026," and lists a candidate table naming exactly one qualified, signature-verified candidate per district: Judy Ennis (District 1; papers issued 7/29/2026, filed 8/6/2026) and Gloria Partida (District 4; issued 7/21/2026, filed 8/3/2026). Links Resolution No. 26-058, quoted on the page as "Calling for the Holding of a General Municipal Election on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, for the Election of Two City Council Members." Snapshot taken after both the initial and extended filing deadlines closed, making this the final, closed roster.
  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)City of Davis -- official City Council "Who's Who" directory page (via the same Aug. 14, 2026 Wayback snapshot method): Gloria Partida (District 4, 2026 Vice Mayor) first elected to the Council in June 2018, served as Mayor from July 2020 through June 2022, re-elected November 2022; a UC Davis Zoology graduate who worked 30 years as a neurobiologist before retiring in 2019; founder and chair of the Davis Phoenix Coalition; Council liaison to the Civic Arts, Human Relations, and Police Accountability Commissions; chair of the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management Board; named recipient of eight community awards 2014-2019. Bapu Vaitla (outgoing District 1 incumbent): elected November 2022, Mayor in 2025.
  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)City of Davis -- official "Government" page (via Wayback Machine, Jan. 1, 2026 snapshot): states "The City of Davis is a municipal corporation operating under the general laws of the State of California" and "Davis operates under the Council-Manager form of government with a five-member council, elected by district by city residents."
  • ace.yolocounty.gov (opens in a new tab)Yolo County Elections Office -- official "Randomized Alphabet Drawing Results for the November 3, 2026, General Election," conducted Aug. 13, 2026 per Elections Code Section 13112 (fetched and read in full as a PDF): confirms City offices use the same randomized-alphabet ballot-order process as every other contested county and state race on the same Nov. 3, 2026 ballot.
  • davisenterprise.com (opens in a new tab)Davis Enterprise -- Rebecca Wasik, "November council races will be walkovers" (Aug. 17, 2026, published after the extended filing deadline closed): "Both races will be uncontested with incumbent Gloria Partida running for re-election in District 4 and Judy Ennis running in District 1. District 1 incumbent Bapu Vaitla previously announced that he will not be running for re-election. Ennis is endorsed by Vaitla ... Ennis is the founder of the Davis Community Action Network and current Social Services Commissioner. Partida is currently the city of Davis vice mayor. She was first elected to the Davis City Council in June 2018. She is the founder and chair of the Davis Phoenix Coalition."
  • southtechhosting.com (opens in a new tab)A negative-result access check: the City of Davis's own eCampaign campaign-finance filing system is a login-walled ASP.NET Web Forms application returning only a login shell on direct fetch; its separate public "CampaignDocs eRetrieval" search tool is a stateful ASP.NET postback form requiring a live browser session to submit -- no server-rendered filer content was reachable for either candidate this pass.
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)A negative-result access check: California's statewide Cal-Access campaign-finance filer/candidate search was queried directly this pass and returned an explicit Incapsula bot-wall block page, consistent with the same block documented elsewhere in this dataset. Local candidates for seats like these typically file with the city rather than the state in any case.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "Davis, California": used narrowly for the fixed, dated 2020 Census population figure (66,850) and the March 28, 1917 incorporation date; does not cover the 2026 Council election.
  • davisenterprise.com (opens in a new tab)Davis Enterprise -- "Davis Phoenix Coalition announces new executive director" (Sept. 1, 2026): reports Partida "co-founded the Davis Phoenix Coalition after her son, Mikey was beaten in Davis due to his sexual orientation," led the organization "for the past decade," and "will remain on its board of directors" after stepping down as executive director Sept. 1, 2026.
  • davisenterprise.com (opens in a new tab)Davis Enterprise -- "Council approves sanctuary-city ordinance" (Mar. 18, 2026): reports a subcommittee of Mayor Donna Neville and Vice Mayor Gloria Partida researching immigration legal-defense funding, and quotes Partida directly on the community's concerns.

Last updated September 2, 2026.