# Del Mar City Council Compare records and positions simply between Meghan O. Spieker, Jeff Sturgis, Terry Gaasterland, or Jas Grewal for Del Mar City Council at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds one of Del Mar's five at-large City Council seats. They vote on the budget, land use, and city laws for a four-year term. The council does not elect its mayor directly. Members choose one of their own to be mayor each year. Another member becomes deputy mayor. The mayor runs meetings but gets only one vote, like everyone else. A city manager appointed by the council handles daily operations. Del Mar is a general-law city under state rules. - Jurisdiction: City of Del Mar - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Seats: 2 - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/del-mar-council - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: September 7, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 85 out of 100 (Strong), across 9 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Meghan O. Spieker** — Planning Commissioner - **Jeff Sturgis** — Biotech Executive - **Terry Gaasterland** — City Councilmember/Professor · Incumbent - **Jas Grewal** — Planning Commissioner/Banker A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Two of Del Mar's five at-large City Council seats are on the November 3 ballot. Incumbent Terry Gaasterland faces two sitting or recent Planning Commissioners, Meghan O. Spieker and Jas Grewal, plus Finance Committee veteran Jeff Sturgis. Voters can back one candidate or two; the top two vote-getters win the seats outright, with no runoff. Whoever wins joins a five-member council that sets the budget, land-use decisions, and city ordinances. The council doesn't elect its mayor directly. Members choose one of their own to serve as mayor each year, and another as deputy mayor. The mayor presides over meetings but casts only one vote, like every other member. Day-to-day operations run through a city manager the council appoints. The term is four years. Two seats are open at once for different reasons. One has been vacant since former Councilmember Dwight Worden resigned in September 2024. His reason for resigning is not confirmed here. The other is Gaasterland's own seat. She was first elected in 2018, re-elected in 2022, and is now seeking a third term. Spieker and Grewal both served together on the Planning Commission, currently or recently. They are now running against each other for the same two seats. ## Meghan O. Spieker Meghan O. Spieker is a Del Mar Planning Commissioner and a 25-year Del Mar resident who raised four sons there with their husband. They earned their undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and graduated with honors from Georgetown Law, then spent 16 years in business litigation before leading nonprofit organizations serving survivors of human trafficking and advancing environmental and educational initiatives. They say they informed all four sitting Councilmembers of their decision to run before announcing their candidacy, and are endorsed by the Del Mar Firefighters & Deputy Sheriffs' Association, the Sierra Club, and Congressman Mike Levin. Their stated priorities are preserving local control, protecting Del Mar's interests in rail relocation, improving roads and infrastructure, strengthening fire and flood safety, and managing taxpayer dollars wisely. **Strengths:** A law and business litigation background. They have lived in Del Mar for two and a half decades. They serve on the Planning Commission now, direct exposure to the city's land-use questions. **Trade-offs:** They have no prior elected office. Their career outside Del Mar civic life has been litigation and nonprofit leadership, not city government. **Keep in mind:** Their campaign is by far the most financially active of the four. See Financial info. ## Jeff Sturgis Jeff Sturgis is a third-generation Del Mar resident who has served on multiple city committees for more than 20 years, including over a decade as a Finance Committee appointee and past chair. The county's candidate list gives their occupation as Biotech Executive. They are a member of Friends of Del Mar Bluffs, which has led legal challenges against NCTD and SANDAG over bluff and rail issues, and they say they are dedicated to maintaining beach and bluff access. Their stated priorities include undergrounding utilities citywide, preventing eminent domain and tunneling during rail realignment, repairing streets and infrastructure, a vibrant walkable downtown, ensuring beach access and clean beaches, making sure North Bluff development fits Del Mar, building affordable housing that works for the city, and upholding the Community Plan. **Strengths:** More than a decade chairing the Finance Committee gives them direct familiarity with the city budget. Their family goes back three generations in Del Mar. **Trade-offs:** They have no prior elected office. No independent news profile of their candidacy was found beyond their own statement and campaign site. **Keep in mind:** As of their July 30, 2026 filing, their campaign reported $0 raised and $0 spent. See Financial info. ## Terry Gaasterland Terry Gaasterland is the only incumbent in this race, seeking a third term after being first elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. A 20+ year Del Mar resident, she works as a scientist and professor of computational genomics, developing computer tools to analyze DNA, assess disease risk, and enable personalized medicine. Before her council service she chaired the city's Finance Committee and its Sea Level Rise Technical Advisory Committee and served on the Design Review Board. She points to utility undergrounding completed along south Stratford (with more underway or in design for Crest Canyon, north Stratford, and Beach Colony), an updated Scenic View ordinance, rejecting proposed railroad fencing on the Del Mar Bluffs, rejecting a 'managed retreat' approach to sea-level rise in favor of beach nourishment, advancing affordable-housing plans at the Fairgrounds, and creating a fire evacuation plan for Crest Canyon as accomplishments from her time on the council. If re-elected, her stated priorities include undergrounding utilities citywide, relocating the railroad without tunneling under homes, keeping land-use decisions under local control per the Community Plan, affordable housing, beach maintenance, safe railroad crossings, and preserving Del Mar's bluffs, beach, and lagoon. **Strengths:** Two terms of council experience with a record voters can check. It includes completed undergrounding, a passed Scenic View ordinance, and a Crest Canyon fire evacuation plan. **Trade-offs:** She has held the same seat for two terms. Voters are largely weighing more of her existing record and priorities, not a new direction. **Keep in mind:** Her committee reported a single $200 contribution and no spending as of her July 30, 2026 filing. See Financial info. ## Jas Grewal Jas Grewal is a 34-year Del Mar resident and a retired banker with 23-25 years in the industry, reaching Vice President level. The county's candidate list lists her current occupation as Planning Commissioner/Banker, though her own campaign site describes her Planning Commission service in the past tense; this dataset could not confirm whether she still holds that seat. She previously chaired the city's Housing Element Task Force and has held leadership roles with the San Diego Museum of Art, TiE San Diego, and Soroptimist International. She is endorsed by Congressmen Mike Levin and Scott Peters and the San Diego County Democratic Party. Her stated priorities center on fiscal discipline -- she warns against borrowing to speed up projects the city is already paying for over time -- alongside rebuilding relationships with regional agencies, meeting state housing requirements practically, moving the train off the bluffs without tunneling under homes or businesses, protecting emergency response times, and addressing wildfire and sea-level-rise risk without managed retreat. **Strengths:** More than two decades in banking, plus committee work on both Finance and Planning. That gives her a focus on money that sets her apart from the other three. **Trade-offs:** She has no prior elected office. It is not clear whether she still sits on the Planning Commission. That is an open question, not a claim either way. **Keep in mind:** She filed her candidacy paperwork on the last day of the filing period. She has no campaign finance statement on file. See Financial info. ## Review notes - Jas Grewal's own campaign site (Jas4DelMar.com): 34-year Del Mar resident, 23-25 years in banking (to Vice President level, per the site; 'retired banker' per her own candidate statement), chaired the city's Housing Element Task Force, and lists leadership roles with the San Diego Museum of Art, TiE San Diego, and Soroptimist International; endorsed by Reps. Mike Levin and Scott Peters and the San Diego County Democratic Party and Jeff Sturgis's own campaign site (jgsturgis.com): confirms his status as a third-generation Del Mar resident and more than a decade as a Finance Committee appointee and past chair; contact information only beyond what his candidate statement already covers may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [San Diego County Registrar of Voters -- Candidate List, November 3, 2026 General Election (current through the 8/24/2026 2:44pm snapshot): confirms Mayor, City Council Districts 1 and 3, City Clerk, and City Treasurer as Carlsbad's five November 2026 races, and Mayor plus City Council Districts 1 and 3 as Poway's three November 2026 races, each Vote for 1](https://www.sdvote.com/content/dam/rov/en/election/nov-3-2026-gubernatorial-general-election/candidate-list.pdf) 2. [City of Del Mar -- Resolution No. 2026-32, calling the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election: confirms two City Council seats up for election, each a full 4-year term, held under the state's general-law-city election provisions; adopted May 19, 2026](https://www.delmar.ca.us/DocumentCenter/View/12536/2026-32) 3. [City of Del Mar -- November 2026 Election page: confirms two City Council seats are up (one vacant since former Councilmember Dwight Worden's September 2024 resignation, one from Terry Gaasterland's expiring term), names all four qualified candidates in the city's own randomized ballot order -- Meghan O. Spieker, Jeff Sturgis, Terry Gaasterland, Jas Grewal -- and links each one's filed candidate statement](https://www.delmar.ca.us/944/November-2026-Election) 4. [City of Del Mar -- the four candidates' own filed Candidate Statements (PDFs hosted on the city's November 2026 Election page): each candidate's first-person account of their background and platform](https://www.delmar.ca.us/944/November-2026-Election) 5. [City of Del Mar -- Campaign Filings page: Form 501/410/460 filings for all four candidates; Spieker's semi-annual Form 460 (filed 7/29/2026) reports $17,360.33 in total contributions against $2,840.72 in expenditures ($14,519.61 cash on hand); Gaasterland's (filed 7/30/2026) reports a single $200 contribution and no expenditures; Sturgis's (filed 7/30/2026) reports $0 raised and $0 spent for the same window; Grewal's Form 501 (8/7/2026) and Form 410 (8/11/2026) were both filed after the 6/30/2026 semi-annual cutoff, so no Form 460 was on file for her as of this retrieval](https://www.delmar.ca.us/945/Campaign-Filings) 6. [City of Del Mar -- Council Member Directory profile for Terry Gaasterland: describes her as "a scientist and professor of computational genomics," a Del Mar resident of 20+ years, first elected November 2018 and re-elected 2022 (current term through December 2026), and lists her prior service chairing the Finance Committee and the Sea Level Rise Technical Advisory Committee and serving on the Design Review Board](https://www.delmar.ca.us/directory.aspx?EID=13) 7. [Wikipedia -- Del Mar, California: describes a five-member City Council, all elected at-large, that chooses a new mayor from among its own members each year -- cited only for this general civic-structure fact, never a candidate-specific claim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Mar,_California) 8. [Jas Grewal's own campaign site (Jas4DelMar.com): 34-year Del Mar resident, 23-25 years in banking (to Vice President level, per the site; "retired banker" per her own candidate statement), chaired the city's Housing Element Task Force, and lists leadership roles with the San Diego Museum of Art, TiE San Diego, and Soroptimist International; endorsed by Reps. Mike Levin and Scott Peters and the San Diego County Democratic Party](https://www.jas4delmar.com) 9. [Jeff Sturgis's own campaign site (jgsturgis.com): confirms his status as a third-generation Del Mar resident and more than a decade as a Finance Committee appointee and past chair; contact information only beyond what his candidate statement already covers](https://www.jgsturgis.com) ## The rest of the ballot Del Mar City Council is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Del Mar City Council — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/del-mar-council (sources last retrieved September 7, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.