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City of El Monte · Statewide General Election

El Monte 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 one of six single-member districts on El Monte's City Council, voting alongside the separately elected Mayor -- a 7-member body in all -- on the budget, land use, and city ordinances. A 4-year term; day-to-day city operations run through an appointed city manager.

Dr. Julia Ruedas was the only candidate to qualify for El Monte's District 3 council seat, so she runs unopposed on the November 3 ballot for a second term.

The winner takes a 4-year term on El Monte's 7-member City Council: one vote alongside the separately elected Mayor and five other district councilmembers on the budget, land use, and city ordinances. Day-to-day city operations run through an appointed city manager, not the council directly.

With no opponent, this isn't really a choice between candidates — the meaningful information is how Ruedas has already used the seat and the civic track record, including three earlier school-board campaigns, that she brought to it.

Dr. Julia Ruedas

Dr. Julia Ruedas, MPA, Ed.D., is the incumbent District 3 councilmember, first elected in November 2022 and now seeking a second term unopposed. State campaign-finance records show three previous campaigns for the El Monte City School District governing board, in 2015, 2017, and 2018, before she ran for council; the city's own biography page adds only her degrees beyond her term dates.

Strengths

A full term of council incumbency plus an earlier campaign history for the El Monte City School District board — a longer civic track record than her thin official bio shows alone.

Trade-offs

Neither the school-board campaigns nor her current council record are described anywhere in public-facing detail — no platform and no independent news coverage were found.

Keep in mind

Ruedas was not one of the two dissenting votes on the council's January 2026 vote to study eliminating El Monte's elected Mayor, Clerk, and Treasurer offices, and joined the council's unanimous February 2026 vote to table the idea instead.

Source review: Very strong (90/100) · 7 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • ci.el-monte.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of El Monte — Notice of Election, November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election (one Mayor at-large, 2-yr term; Council Districts 2, 3, 6; City Clerk and City Treasurer at-large — all four 4-yr terms)
  • ci.el-monte.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of El Monte — Interested Candidate List, Status of Candidate Pulling & Filing Nomination Papers (current through the extended Aug. 12, 2026 filing deadline; all three Mayor filers reached 'Date Qualified')
  • ci.el-monte.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of El Monte — City Council (official roster: the Mayor plus six single-member district councilmembers, a 7-member body in all; links to each member's biography page)
  • ci.el-monte.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of El Monte — Councilmember Dr. Julia Ruedas, MPA, Ed.D., District 3 (official biography page: elected Nov. 2022, term expires Nov. 2026; no biographical narrative posted beyond term dates and degrees)
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)CA Secretary of State — Cal-Access filer search, 'Ruedas' (shows 'Ruedas for El Monte City Council 2026' active, 'Ruedas for El Monte City Council 2022' terminated, and — under the same entity ID — three earlier 'Ruedas for El Monte City School Board' committees from 2015, 2017, and 2018, corroborating a school-board campaign history before her 2022 council win; Cal-Access alone does not confirm she won any of the school-board races)
  • sgvtribune.com (opens in a new tab)San Gabriel Valley Tribune (Southern California News Group) — El Monte City Council tables vote on making city clerk, city treasurer, mayor appointed roles (unanimous Feb. 25, 2026 vote to indefinitely table the restructuring; effort never reached the Nov. 2026 ballot)
  • midvalleynews.com (opens in a new tab)The Mid Valley News — Council Advances Plan to Restructure Offices (names the Jan. 14, 2026 5-2 council vote to begin outreach on eliminating the elected Mayor/Clerk/Treasurer offices, with Ancona and Herrera voting no; superseded by the SGV Tribune's Feb. 25, 2026 tabling)

Last updated August 31, 2026.