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City of Escondido · Statewide General Election

Escondido City Council, District 2

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 your district's seat on Escondido's 5-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the citywide-elected mayor. A 4-year term.

Incumbent Deputy Mayor Joe Garcia faces challenger Anthony DiMartino for Escondido City Council, District 2. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff.

This person holds District 2's seat on Escondido's 5-member City Council, alongside the citywide-elected mayor: city ordinances, the budget, and land-use decisions. A 4-year term.

Garcia is campaigning on continuity, a long record of local civic involvement, and what he calls "bipartisan leadership" and "bridging differences." DiMartino, a first-time candidate for this office, brings a career in state and local government policy work and says his campaign was motivated in part by opposition to the city's ICE contract and concerns about the council's direction.

Joe Garcia

The incumbent Deputy Mayor, a church pastor for more than 30 years (13 of them in Escondido) with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Pacific Union College (1989) and a Master of Divinity from Andrews University Seminary (1994). He was first elected to the council in 2020 representing District 3, then reelected in 2022 as District 2 after redistricting moved his seat's number; before that he served as a Community Services Commissioner and Vice-Chair of the Planning Commission, and belongs to the Escondido Rotary Club and the Police Chief's Faith Council. He's campaigning on public safety, cost of living, and infrastructure -- roads, sidewalks, and traffic -- describing his approach as bipartisan leadership.

Strengths

Six years of prior council service across two district numbers, on top of years of pre-council civic-commission experience (Community Services Commission, Planning Commission Vice-Chair).

Trade-offs

An incumbent's record over two terms is the fullest one on this ballot, for better or worse, for voters to weigh.

Keep in mind

He has an ACTIVE Cal-Access committee for 2026 -- see Financial info.

Anthony DiMartino

A lifelong North County resident with a Master of Social Welfare from UCLA, currently government affairs director for Californians for Safety and Justice. He has about 15 years of local and state government experience, including as an administrative analyst for the City of Long Beach, a grant writer in the Los Angeles Mayor's Office, and legislative director for California Assemblymember Shirley Weber. He says his campaign was motivated in part by opposition to Escondido's ICE contract, and lists community safety, homelessness, housing, small businesses, transparency, and infrastructure among his priorities.

Strengths

15 years of state and local government policy experience, including a legislative office and a big-city mayor's office.

Trade-offs

No prior experience specifically in Escondido city government or on an elected body.

Keep in mind

No Cal-Access committee was found under his name as of this retrieval -- see Financial info.

Source review: Very strong (93/100) · 7 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • sdvote.com (opens in a new tab)County of San Diego Registrar of Voters — Candidate List, November 3, 2026 General Election (current through the 8/24/2026 2:44pm snapshot): confirms Mayor, City Council District 1, and City Council District 2 as Escondido's three November 2026 races, each Vote for 1 Candidate, and gives each candidate's stated ballot occupation
  • escondido.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Escondido — Elections: names all six qualified candidates across Mayor, District 1, and District 2 for the November 3, 2026 General Election, and states outright that Districts 3 and 4 plus the City Treasurer are not on this ballot -- those seats run on a staggered 4-year cycle and are next up in 2028
  • escondido.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Escondido — City Council: an elected mayor plus four district-elected council members; names Mayor Dane White, Councilmember Consuelo Martinez (District One), Deputy Mayor Joe Garcia (District Two), Councilmember Christian Garcia (District Three), and Councilmember Judy Fitzgerald (District Four)
  • escondido.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Escondido — Deputy Mayor Joe Garcia, District Two (official directory profile): a church pastor for over 30 years (13 in Escondido), BA in Theology (Pacific Union College, 1989) and M.Div. (Andrews University Seminary, 1994), and prior service as a Community Services Commissioner and Planning Commission Vice-Chair
  • thecoastnews.com (opens in a new tab)The Coast News Group — "Election 2026: Escondido City Council": candidate backgrounds, priorities, and platform quotes largely in their own words for all six qualified candidates across Mayor, District 1, and District 2, plus one additional District 1 hopeful (Alisa Nicholson Rice) who does not appear on the county's later certified list or the Times-Advocate's Aug. 13 final-field roundup
  • times-advocate.com (opens in a new tab)Escondido Times-Advocate (David Ross) — "It's a two-man mayor's race": reports Kathie Phillips' withdrawal ahead of the Aug. 7 filing deadline and lists the final, complete six-candidate field across Mayor, District 1, and District 2 -- matching the county's own certified Candidate List exactly
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS — filer search: an ACTIVE "Garcia for City Council 2026; Joe" committee (plus a terminated 2022 committee from his prior council run); no committee found under Anthony DiMartino's name

Last updated August 31, 2026.