City of Encinitas

Mayor of Encinitas (Short Term)

Encinitas's Mayor is directly elected. The Mayor presides over City Council meetings. The Mayor casts one of five votes on the budget and city laws. An appointed city manager runs day-to-day operations. This term is a short two-year term, not the usual four years. It resyncs the Mayor's seat to the city's regular election calendar.

Incumbent Mayor Bruce Ehlers faces challenger Rimga Viskanta. Viskanta is a San Dieguito Union High School District trustee. Whoever gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright. There is no runoff. This term is short. The winner serves only 2 years, through November 2028. After that, the office returns to Encinitas's normal 4-year mayoral cycle.

Encinitas's directly elected Mayor presides over City Council meetings and represents the city publicly, but votes as one of five members on the budget and city ordinances -- the same as any other councilmember. Day-to-day government runs through an appointed city manager, not the mayor's office. It's the only council seat elected citywide rather than by district.

The short term traces back to how Ehlers got here: they were a District 4 councilmember elected to a full 4-year term in 2022, then won the Mayor's seat outright in November 2024, unseating incumbent Tony Kranz. That mid-cycle jump left the Mayor's office one cycle out of step with the city's normal even-year election calendar -- this November's 2-year term resyncs it, and the seat goes back to a standard 4-year term starting in 2028.

Bruce Ehlers

Bruce Ehlers is the incumbent Mayor of Encinitas. They are seeking a second term. They defeated Tony Kranz in November 2024. They have lived in Encinitas, in Olivenhain, for 42 years. They trained as an engineer at Purdue. They founded a company that was later sold to Blackstone Equity. They spent decades in local civic life before running for office. They managed former Councilmember Maggie Houlihan's campaigns. They served two stints on the Planning Commission, including as chairman. Those stints were 2002 to 2004 and 2017 to 2022. They sat on the Olivenhain Town Council from 1998 to 2003. They were elected to the City Council itself in 2022. They wrote 2013's Proposition A, a growth-management initiative. It required a public vote on zoning density and height increases. The City Council later sued to overturn it. Ehlers testified to defend it successfully. In their first term, 15 miles of roads were paved in 2025. 18 more miles are planned. They also point to Leucadia flood mitigation work. They point to lowered speed limits with more enforcement. They point to reductions in several categories of crime. They are campaigning for a second term on local control. Their focus is land use, infrastructure, and public safety.

Rimga Viskanta

Rimga Viskanta is a San Dieguito Union High School District trustee since 2022. Before that, they were an Encinitas Union School District trustee from 2016 to 2020. That is a decade of school board service, but no prior city office. They are an Old Encinitas resident. They told The Coast News their campaign centers on safer streets and traffic. They also focus on housing solutions and climate resilience. They want to address homelessness from a regional perspective. They say they are holding off on specific promises this early. They want their campaign to bring together different voices, not dictate one solution. They have framed their run as a response to a divisive online political climate. They contrast that with the more cordial conversations Viskanta has with residents in person.

Your pick

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

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