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City of Escalon · Statewide General Election

Escalon City Council

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 would hold one of three at-large seats up this cycle on Escalon's 5-member City Council, elected to a 4-year term: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this San Joaquin County city of about 7,472 residents per the 2020 Census. The city runs under a council-manager government -- day-to-day operations are handled by an appointed City Manager -- and rather than voters directly electing a Mayor, the Council appoints two of its own members as Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem every two years.

Four candidates are running for three at-large seats on Escalon's City Council: Mayor Andrew T. Hagan, Mayor Pro-Tem Malinda Walker, and Council Member Jeremy Engle -- all elected together in 2022 and now finishing that term -- face one challenger, Jason Perruquet, whose ballot designation is "Parent." None of the four filed a candidate statement, and no local news coverage of the race was found this session.

Escalon, a San Joaquin County city of about 7,472 residents per the 2020 Census, runs under a council-manager form of government: all five City Council members are elected at large to staggered 4-year terms, and day-to-day operations run through an appointed City Manager under Council direction. Rather than voters directly electing a Mayor, the Council appoints two of its own members -- a Mayor and a Mayor Pro Tem -- to those titles every two years. Three of the five seats are up this cycle, all held since 2022 by Hagan, Walker, and Engle; Council Members Shawn Strohman and Jeff Kay, elected in 2024, are not up again until 2028.

Nomination papers were available beginning July 13, 2026. The initial filing deadline was August 6, 2026 at 5:00 p.m., with an automatic extension through August 12 only if a sitting officeholder failed to file; all three incumbents filed before the initial deadline; Perruquet, the only non-incumbent, filed August 4 and was certified qualified August 6. San Joaquin County's Registrar of Voters and the City of Escalon each independently certified the same final field of four: Walker, Perruquet, Engle, and Hagan.

Andrew T. Hagan

The city's current Mayor, one of two leadership titles Escalon's Council fills from within its own ranks every two years rather than voters choosing directly. His ballot designation is "Incumbent." He filed for re-election July 31, 2026, the first of the four candidates to do so, and was certified qualified August 7. No independent biography, occupation, or stated platform was found for him this session -- neither the city's own site nor any local news source this dataset could reach named him beyond his Council role.

Strengths

Nearly four years of Council service, including his colleagues' choice of him for Mayor.

Trade-offs

No candidate statement, no reachable news coverage, and no campaign-finance filings located this session leave real uncertainty about what a second term would prioritize.

Keep in mind

His ballot designation, "Incumbent," describes his current office rather than an outside job -- he chose not to list an occupation, unlike some candidates in other San Joaquin County cities this cycle.

Malinda Walker

The city's current Mayor Pro-Tem, the other Council-appointed leadership title. Her ballot designation is "Incumbent." She filed for re-election July 29, 2026 and was certified qualified August 5 -- the earliest of the four candidates on both counts. No independent biography, occupation, or stated platform was found for her this session.

Strengths

Nearly four years of Council service, including time as her colleagues' choice for Mayor Pro-Tem.

Trade-offs

Like Hagan, no candidate statement, no reachable news coverage, and no located campaign-finance filings.

Keep in mind

Her ballot designation, "Incumbent," is the same choice Hagan and Engle made -- describing current office rather than an outside occupation.

Jeremy Engle

A Council Member since 2022, without a rotating leadership title. His ballot designation is "Incumbent." He filed August 4, 2026 and was certified qualified August 6 -- later than his two incumbent colleagues, though still within the initial filing window. No independent biography, occupation, or stated platform was found for him this session.

Strengths

Nearly four years of Council service, on the same timeline as Hagan and Walker.

Trade-offs

No candidate statement, no reachable news coverage, and no located campaign-finance filings.

Keep in mind

Unlike Hagan and Walker, he has not held one of the Council's two rotating leadership titles during this term, based on what the city's own site shows.

Jason Perruquet

The only non-incumbent in the race. His ballot designation is "Parent." He filed his nomination papers August 4, 2026 and was certified qualified August 6, the same day as Engle. No independent biography, occupation beyond his stated designation, or news coverage was found for him this session.

Strengths

None independently confirmed beyond a completed, certified nomination filing.

Trade-offs

No campaign committee, no candidate statement, and no news coverage were found -- meaningfully less to go on than for a typical first-time local candidate.

Keep in mind

A thin public record isn't itself a red flag in a city this size, but it means voters have almost nothing beyond his name and "Parent" designation to weigh against three incumbents with actual Council records.

Source review: Very strong (90/100) · 9 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • sjgov.org (opens in a new tab)San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters -- "Qualified Candidate List" (report CFMR009, "November 3 2026 General Election," printed 8/20/2026, two weeks after the Aug. 6 filing deadline): confirms contest 3520, "Escalon City Council, On Ballot: Yes, Vote For: 3," with four qualified candidates -- Malinda Walker ("Incumbent"), Jason Perruquet ("Parent"), Jeremy Engle ("Incumbent"), and Andrew T. Hagan ("Incumbent") -- each marked "Candidate Stmt Filed? No."
  • sjgov.org (opens in a new tab)San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters -- "Offices Up for the 2026 General Election": lists "City of Escalon -- Member of City Council -- Vote for 3," a 4-year term, elected At Large, requiring 20 nominations, with a $240 Statement of Qualifications estimate.
  • sjgov.org (opens in a new tab)San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters -- official "Notice of General Election" (2026gen): independently corroborates "Escalon City Council, Vote for three (3)" among the county's November 2026 city offices.
  • escalon.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Escalon -- own "Candidate List, General Municipal Election, Tuesday, November 3, 2026" (last updated August 7, 2026, 1:00 PM): a second, independently issued certified roster that matches the county's exactly -- Malinda Walker ("Incumbent," issued 7/29, qualified 8/5), Jason Perruquet ("Parent," issued 8/4, qualified 8/6), Jeremy Engle ("Incumbent," issued 8/4, qualified 8/6), Andrew T. Hagan ("Incumbent," issued 7/31, qualified 8/7) -- for "City Council, 3 Seats Available, Full Four-Year Terms."
  • escalon.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Escalon -- own "Notice of Election" (dated July 8, 2026, signed by Deputy City Clerk Michele Bates): "For three (3) Members of the City Council (Full Term of Four Years)," with the nomination period (July 13 - Aug. 6/7, 2026) and the Elections Code Section 10229 appointment clause for an under-filed office (not triggered here).
  • escalon.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Escalon -- own City Council page: names the current 5-member Council -- Andrew Hagan (Mayor, 2022-2026), Malinda Walker (Mayor Pro-Tem, 2022-2026), Jeremy Engle (Council Member, 2022-2026), Shawn Strohman (2024-2028), Jeff Kay (2024-2028) -- and states the Council-Manager structure directly: all five seats are elected at large to 4-year terms, with the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem appointed by the Council itself every two years, not elected directly by voters.
  • escalon.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Escalon -- own Elections page: confirms the Nov. 3, 2026 "Consolidated General Municipal Election" is selecting three City Council seats to 4-year terms, gives the nomination period (July 13 - Aug. 6, 2026), and states that the specific method for filing required campaign statements with the City Clerk was "to be posted when available" as of this retrieval -- no NetFile or other electronic portal is named.
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)A negative-result local campaign-finance check: two plausible URLs for a San Joaquin County NetFile public portal covering Escalon (public.netfile.com/pub2/?AID=ESC and netfile.com/public/ESCALON/campaign) both resolve to the same client-rendered "Public Portal" shell with no static content, candidate list, or filings reachable -- and the city's own Elections page (escalon-elections-page-2026) does not name or link any electronic filing portal at all. Documents the absence of a reachable local financial-disclosure source, not any candidate's actual finances.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "Escalon, California": used narrowly for its 2020 Census population figure (7,472) after a direct census.gov fetch was blocked this session; the article's claim about who currently serves as Mayor is stale and is not used -- the city's own City Council page is this shard's source for that.

Last updated September 1, 2026.