# Encinitas City Council, District 4 Compare records and positions simply between Marco San Antonio or Brad Lefkowits for Encinitas City Council, District 4 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Encinitas's 4-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the directly elected Mayor. The term is four years. - Jurisdiction: City of Encinitas - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/encinitas-council-4 - 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: August 31, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 92 out of 100 (Very strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Marco San Antonio** — Appointed Councilmember/Businessman · Incumbent - **Brad Lefkowits** — Small Business Owner A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Appointed incumbent Marco San Antonio faces challenger Brad Lefkowits for Encinitas City Council District 4. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright. There's no runoff. This person holds District 4's seat on Encinitas's 4-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land-use decisions, alongside the directly elected Mayor. The term is four years. This race is a rematch of sorts. When Bruce Ehlers vacated the District 4 council seat after winning the Mayor's race in November 2024, the City Council filled the vacancy by appointment rather than a costly special election. Eight residents applied, including both San Antonio and Lefkowits; after a failed initial motion for Lefkowits and another for a third applicant, the council appointed San Antonio on a 3-1 vote in January 2025, with then-Councilmember Joy Lyndes dissenting. Now the two run-up finalists from that process are on the same ballot, this time before voters directly. ## Marco San Antonio They are the appointed incumbent, seated in January 2025 after the council's 3-1 vote. They own One Day Signs, their family's downtown sign business. It was established in 1989 under the historic Encinitas sign on Coast Highway 101. They moved to the Village Park area of New Encinitas as a first-grader in 1980. They were elected to the Olivenhain Municipal Water District board in 2022. They won 71% of the vote in their district. They serve as a volunteer reserve firefighter with the Orange County Fire Authority. Their appointment carried real controversy. A former city Public Health and Safety Commission member and then-Councilmember Lyndes both commented on their application resume. They said it described their firefighting role as a "firefighter engineer" rather than a reserve firefighter. San Antonio's supporters argued that didn't diminish their willingness to serve. The council weighed it alongside their other qualifications before appointing them. At their appointment, San Antonio said their interest in Encinitas politics goes "no further than here." They said they have no plans to seek higher office. **Strengths:** About a year and a half of hands-on experience already in this seat. They also have a locally rooted small business and an elected water-district record predating their council appointment. **Trade-offs:** They arrived in the seat by appointment, not election. That process included a dispute over how they described their firefighting background. Voters can weigh that alongside San Antonio's record. **Keep in mind:** They have an ACTIVE Cal-Access committee for 2026. See Financial info. ## Brad Lefkowits They own a landscape-design business, Waves Landscape Design. They have served on the city's Urban Forest Advisory Commission since 2023. The Olivenhain Municipal Water District has recognized their work for water-smart landscaping. They were a runner-up applicant for the same District 4 council appointment San Antonio won in January 2025. The council's initial motion favored Lefkowits before it failed. The seat went to San Antonio instead. They were a founding member of the advocacy group Parents of EUSD. They spoke out in support of the LGBTQ+ community during the city's "Boo Bash" controversy. "Encinitas is at a pivotal moment," they said in a statement. "I am running to bring common sense and collaboration back to City Hall." They want that "so we can protect our coastal character, plan responsibly for growth." They also want to "protect the most vulnerable members of our community." And to "make decisions that are both legally sound and fiscally responsible." **Strengths:** A sustained record on the Urban Forest Advisory Commission since 2023. They also have outside recognition for water-conscious landscaping directly related to policy they would help set. **Trade-offs:** They hold no elected office to date. They already came up short once in the council's own January 2025 selection process for this same seat. **Keep in mind:** They have an ACTIVE Cal-Access committee for 2026. See Financial info. ## Sources 1. [County of San Diego Registrar of Voters — Candidate List, November 3, 2026 General Election](https://www.sdvote.com/content/dam/rov/en/election/nov-3-2026-gubernatorial-general-election/candidate-list.pdf) 2. [City of Encinitas — Municipal Elections (November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election: Mayor short-term seat, City Council Districts 3 and 4, current officeholders and term-expiration dates)](https://www.encinitasca.gov/government/municipal-elections) 3. [The Coast News Group — Election 2026: Encinitas City Council (Cameron Adams, 2026-05-19; profiles Ehlers, Viskanta, Golden, Sprague, and Lefkowits with direct quotes on priorities)](https://thecoastnews.com/election-2026-encinitas-city-council/) 4. [California Secretary of State — CAL-ACCESS filer search (Encinitas Mayor and City Council District 3/4 candidates, 2026)](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx) 5. [The Coast News Group — Encinitas appoints small business owner to District 4 council seat (Walker Armstrong, 2025-01-23; documents the 3-1 council vote appointing Marco San Antonio and the dispute over his firefighting-role resume language)](https://thecoastnews.com/encinitas-appoints-small-business-owner-to-district-4-council-seat/) 6. [The Ballot Book — City of Encinitas, City Council District 4 candidates (Brad Lefkowits, Marco San Antonio)](https://theballotbook.com/jurisdictions/candidates) 7. [California Secretary of State — CAL-ACCESS filer search: Lefkowits for City Council 2026 (Filer ID 1485880, ACTIVE)](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Lefkowits) 8. [California Secretary of State — CAL-ACCESS filer search: San Antonio for City Council 2026 (Filer ID 1494444, ACTIVE)](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=San+Antonio) ## The rest of the ballot Encinitas City Council, District 4 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, "Encinitas City Council, District 4 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/encinitas-council-4 (sources last retrieved August 31, 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.