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City of Diamond Bar · Statewide General Election

Diamond Bar City Council, District 1

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 Diamond Bar's 5-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use.

Incumbent Mayor Steve Tye, on the council since 2005 and now serving his fifth term as mayor, faces Ruben Torres, a U.S. Bank employee making his first run for elected office, for the District 1 seat.

This person holds one of five district seats on Diamond Bar's City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land-use decisions. A 4-year term. Council members choose one of their own to serve as mayor and mayor pro tem, presiding over meetings but casting only one vote like any other member.

Tye is campaigning on continuity: two decades on the council, a record fifth term as mayor, and a resume built on prior service on the Planning Commission and Parks and Recreation Commission. Torres is campaigning on six stated priorities — economic development, public safety, infrastructure, open space, homelessness, and civic engagement — framing himself as a first-time candidate who does his homework rather than a career politician.

Steve Tye

Steve Tye is the incumbent, first elected to the council in November 2005 and reelected in 2009, 2013, 2018, and 2022. He's serving his fifth term as mayor (also 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2020). Before joining the council he served four appointed terms on the Planning Commission (1997-2005, twice as chairman) and on the Parks and Recreation Commission (1994-1997). He's a self-employed insurance broker and a graduate of Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Strengths

Two decades of council service plus eight years of prior commission experience give him more institutional knowledge of the city than any other candidate on this ballot.

Trade-offs

His own campaign finance filings show him personally funding almost all of this campaign rather than building a broad donor base — see Financial info.

Keep in mind

He holds five regional committee delegate seats (Foothill Transit, county sanitation, LA County City Selection Committee among them), a workload a sixth term would extend.

Ruben Torres

Ruben Torres works for U.S. Bank and is running on six priorities: economic development, public safety, infrastructure repair without a tax increase, protecting open space and hillsides, a regional approach to homelessness, and monthly office hours for constituents. He describes himself as "not a politician" but "a neighbor who shows up," pledging to read budgets and consult experts before taking positions.

Strengths

A specific six-point platform and a pledge of regular, recurring office hours give voters a concrete standard to hold him to if elected.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed public service — his record is professional (banking) rather than civic administration.

Keep in mind

His donor base draws on family members, local small-business owners, and a personal loan to his own campaign — see Financial info.

Source review: Strong (82/100) · 4 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Ruben Torres for Diamond Bar City Council, District 1 may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

Last updated August 31, 2026.