# Escondido City Council, District 2 Compare records and positions simply between Anthony DiMartino or Joe Garcia for Escondido City Council, District 2 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Escondido's 5-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the citywide-elected mayor. The term is four years. - Jurisdiction: City of Escondido - 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/escondido-council-2 - 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: 93 out of 100 (Very strong), across 7 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Anthony DiMartino** - **Joe Garcia** — Incumbent A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. 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. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land-use decisions. The term is four years. 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 He is the incumbent Deputy Mayor. He has been a church pastor for more than 30 years, 13 of them in Escondido. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Pacific Union College, earned in 1989. He also holds a Master of Divinity from Andrews University Seminary, earned in 1994. He was first elected to the council in 2020, representing District 3. He was 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. He belongs to the Escondido Rotary Club and the Police Chief's Faith Council. He is campaigning on public safety, cost of living, and infrastructure. That means roads, sidewalks, and traffic. He describes his approach as bipartisan leadership. **Strengths:** Six years of prior council service across two district numbers. He also has years of pre-council civic experience on the Community Services Commission and as Planning Commission Vice-Chair. **Trade-offs:** An incumbent's record over two terms is the fullest one on this ballot. Voters can weigh it, for better or worse. **Keep in mind:** He has an ACTIVE Cal-Access committee for 2026. See Financial info. ## Anthony DiMartino He is a lifelong North County resident with a Master of Social Welfare from UCLA. He is currently government affairs director for Californians for Safety and Justice. He has about 15 years of local and state government experience. That includes work as an administrative analyst for the City of Long Beach. He was also a grant writer in the Los Angeles Mayor's Office. He served as legislative director for California Assemblymember Shirley Weber. He says his campaign was motivated in part by opposition to Escondido's ICE contract. He lists community safety, homelessness, housing, small businesses, transparency, and infrastructure among his priorities. **Strengths:** 15 years of state and local government policy experience. That includes 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. See Financial info. ## Sources 1. [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](https://www.sdvote.com/content/dam/rov/en/election/nov-3-2026-gubernatorial-general-election/candidate-list.pdf) 2. [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](https://escondido.gov/188/Elections) 3. [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)](https://www.escondido.gov/776/City-Council) 4. [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](https://www.escondido.gov/m/directory/employee?eid=114) 5. [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](https://thecoastnews.com/election-2026-escondido-city-council/) 6. [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](https://www.times-advocate.com/articles/its-a-two-man-mayors-race/) 7. [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](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Joe%20Garcia) ## The rest of the ballot Escondido City Council, District 2 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, "Escondido City Council, District 2 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/escondido-council-2 (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.