Skip to main content

El Cerrito City Council

This is a sample · See your full ballot

✕

City of El Cerrito

El Cerrito City Council

This person would hold one of El Cerrito's five at-large City Council seats. El Cerrito is a charter city in Contra Costa County. An appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. Terms are four years and staggered. Whichever two candidates get the most votes win. El Cerrito does not use ranked-choice voting or a June primary. The Council picks the Mayor from its own members each year. Voters do not elect the Mayor directly. The City Clerk is an appointed official, not an elected one. El Cerrito also has no elected City Treasurer.

Two incumbents and four challengers are running for El Cerrito's two open council seats. Mayor Gabe Quinto and Councilmember Carolyn Wysinger are both seeking reelection. They face Kimberly White, Wally Nowinski, Mary Ann "MJ" Jawili, and Forrest M. Lanning.

This person would hold one of El Cerrito's five at-large City Council seats. The city has a council-manager charter government with an appointed City Manager. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. El Cerrito is in Contra Costa County and has about 26,000 residents. Terms are four years and staggered. The Council picks the Mayor from among its own members each year. Gabe Quinto holds that title now. Voters do not elect a Mayor directly. The City Clerk is an appointed elections official, not a separately elected office. El Cerrito has no elected City Treasurer.

Two seats are open this cycle. Whichever two candidates get the most votes win. No ranked-choice voting or June primary is documented for El Cerrito. Two of the six qualified candidates run together as a self-described joint ticket. Kimberly White and Wally Nowinski share a campaign website. A seventh prospective candidate filed a committee under the name "McDougall" in July 2026. That name never appears among the county's qualified candidates or the city's own official candidate list. That person is not built here as a candidate.

Kimberly White

Kimberly White is a lifelong Bay Area resident. They settled in El Cerrito in the early 2000s. Their ballot title is Executive Advisor. They run their own management consulting agency. They say they once led a team that saved more than $100 million. That was over five years, with no layoffs. White is running on a joint ticket with Wally Nowinski.

Wally Nowinski

Wally Nowinski is a first-time candidate. Their ballot title is Clean Energy Marketer. They run the consumer team at Impulse Labs, a San Francisco electronics company. They say they helped lead opposition to a library parcel tax. Voters defeated that tax by a 70 to 30 margin. Nowinski is running on a joint ticket with Kimberly White.

Mary Ann "MJ" Jawili

Mary Ann "MJ" Jawili is an 18-year resident and homeowner in El Cerrito. Their ballot title is Accessibility Product Manager. They say they have spent over a decade as a product leader in accessible technology. They frame their campaign around listening to residents. They call this the most polarized primary they have seen in the city.

Gabe Quinto

Gabe Quinto is the sitting Mayor, seeking another council term. Their council colleagues chose them for the Mayor title, rather than voters. Their ballot title is simply Incumbent. They grew up in El Cerrito. They credit their tenure with an S&P bond rating upgrade to A+. They also credit it with the state's 2026 Prohousing Community designation.

Carolyn Wysinger

Carolyn Wysinger is an incumbent Councilmember seeking another term. They graduated from El Cerrito High School and are a former high school teacher. Their ballot title is City Councilmember and Educator. They credit their term with strengthening the city's bond rating to A+. They also credit it with more government transparency.

Forrest M. Lanning

Forrest M. Lanning is a first-time candidate and Bay Area native. Their ballot title is Earthquake Resilience Engineer. They hold a degree in Architectural Engineering from Cal Poly. They have worked on earthquake and tsunami recovery for more than two decades. That work took them to New Zealand, Indonesia, and Afghanistan.

Your picks · choose up to 2

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

This is one race on your ballot. Vote or Else shows every contest you will vote on — Congress, the Legislature, your county, city, and school board — each broken down the same way. Enter your address to see your full ballot.