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City of Fairfax · Statewide General Election

Fairfax Town Clerk

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 serve a 4-year term as Fairfax's directly elected Town Clerk -- one of the town's seven elected offices (five Town Councilmembers, a Town Treasurer, and a Town Clerk). The town's own staff report calls the role "ceremonial," with no adopted job description; in practice the Clerk handles election filings, public-records requests, and official document management, and may attend Town Council meetings but does not vote with the Council. Fairfax is a Marin County town of about 7,605 residents (2020 Census).

Two candidates are running for Fairfax's open Town Clerk seat: Deborah Benson and Bruce Ackerman, a former Town Councilmember. Whoever gets more votes wins.

Fairfax is a Marin County town of about 7,605 residents (2020 Census) with seven elected officials serving four-year terms: five Town Councilmembers (elected in staggered two- and three-seat cycles), a Town Treasurer, and a Town Clerk. The town's own staff report calls the Clerk role "ceremonial," with no adopted job description; in practice it covers election filings, public-records requests, and official document management. The Clerk may attend Town Council meetings but does not vote with the Council.

This seat is open because the elected Town Clerk, Michele Gardner, resigned in December 2024. Rather than call a special election (estimated at over $50,000), the Town Council voted 3-2 in February 2025 to appoint Linda Kenton to serve out the remainder of the term through December 2026; a November 2024 measure that would have made the Clerk position permanently appointed rather than elected, Measure H, had already failed. Kenton, the sitting appointed Clerk, did not file to keep the seat in this November's election, leaving it open between two non-incumbents.

Bruce Ackerman

Bruce Ackerman is a former Town Councilmember, elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2020, who lost his bid for a third term in November 2024. He studied chemistry, biology, physics, and electrical engineering at Baylor University and MIT, then co-founded and ran a Mountain View product-development company for about a decade, with earlier work and residence across Mexico, Central and South America, Germany, New Zealand, and Australia. A Fairfax resident since 1993 with his wife Diane, a healthcare provider and community midwife, he served on the town's General Plan Advisory Committee (2003-2013, as Secretary then Chair, and formed its Climate Action Committee) and Planning Commission (2015-2017) before his Council tenure, and currently chairs the Flood Zone 9 Advisory Board and sits on the Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District board. On the Council, he coordinated the town's conversion to LED streetlights and worked with Marin Clean Energy.

Strengths

Seven years on the Town Council (2017-2024), plus a decade of prior committee service (General Plan Advisory Committee, Planning Commission) -- direct familiarity with Fairfax town government.

Trade-offs

His fullest bio is from his 2024 council campaign site, not a dedicated 2026 Clerk platform; no independent news profile of this candidacy was found. He lost his 2024 reelection bid.

Keep in mind

The Clerk position is limited and largely administrative -- this is not a policymaking seat, whatever a candidate's council background.

Deborah Benson

Deborah Benson has not held elected office in Fairfax, but has a documented history of seeking to serve the town in this specific role: she was one of four applicants for the same Town Clerk vacancy when the Town Council filled it by appointment in February 2025, passed over 3-2 in favor of Linda Kenton -- the Marin Independent Journal separately named her "the alternative candidate supported by residents" for that appointment. In her own application, she described 50-plus years self-employed across roughly 90 small and medium-sized businesses, more than 20 audits prepared for and attended before the IRS, the California Franchise Tax Board, and the CDTFA, four years as partner and managing broker for a property-management firm overseeing 350 properties, and experience preparing local campaign-finance paperwork, including "participat[ing] in one election as a candidate" previously. She has volunteered on Fairfax's Tree Committee for years, was reappointed to it in April 2025, and spoke at a November 2025 Town Council meeting about PG&E's approach to fire prevention.

Strengths

Decades of bookkeeping, tax-audit, and trust-accounting experience relevant to the role's paperwork, plus active multi-year Tree Committee service and a prior bid for this exact office.

Trade-offs

No campaign website or independent news profile of her candidacy was found; her fullest background is a Jan. 2025 application for a different appointment process, not a 2026 statement.

Keep in mind

The Clerk position is limited and largely administrative -- this is not a policymaking seat.

Source review: Strong (81/100) · 15 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Bruce Ackerman's own campaign website, "Biography" page: chemistry, biology, physics, and electrical-engineering studies at Baylor University and MIT; international work and residence in Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, and other countries; a Fairfax resident since 1993 with wife Diane, a Point Reyes Community Health Clinic healthcare provider and community midwife; co-founder of a Mountain View product-development company he ran about a decade; General Plan Advisory Committee 2003-2013 (Secretary, then Chair; formed the town's Climate Action Committee); Planning Commission 2015-2017; Town Council 2017-present at the time of writing (elected 2017, reelected 2020); Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District board seat; current chair of the Flood Zone 9 Advisory Board; and coordination of the town's LED streetlight conversion and work with Marin Clean Energy. and Bruce Ackerman's own campaign website, "Why I'm Running" page (dated to his unsuccessful 2024 Town Council reelection bid, not a dedicated 2026 Town Clerk page, but the only detailed personal-platform source found this pass): his own stated reasons for public service -- climate change and resilience, housing affordability, giving voice to residents who don't attend public meetings -- and "I love Fairfax and cherish the outsized influence for good that we have in the County and beyond." may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • marincounty.gov (opens in a new tab)Marin County Elections Department -- official "Status of local candidates for office 11/03/26" page: a table of contents of every county-administered and city/town contest in the county, listing "Town of Fairfax Member Town Council / Town Clerk / Town Treasurer" as a verified, filed contest line -- no candidate names appear on this page, only office titles. Retrieved via a Chrome browser workaround in a prior session (2026-08-29); direct WebFetch attempts this session returned HTTP 403.
  • townoffairfaxca.gov (opens in a new tab)Town of Fairfax -- official "November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election" page: names the qualified candidates directly for all three offices -- Town Council ("Vote for no more than two": Susan Adams, Aubrey Harmon, Cheryl Scorza, Matt Da Cunha, Doug Kelly, Larry Bragman), Town Clerk ("Deborah Benson, Bruce Ackerman"), and Town Treasurer ("Talia Friedman," unopposed, "Vote for one -- 1 candidate," no unopposed-appointment language) -- states the nomination period ran July 13-Aug. 12, 2026 (extended because incumbent Lisel Blash withdrew after filing and Richard Hamer pulled but never filed Town Clerk papers), and links directly to Resolution 2026-23. Fully reachable by direct WebFetch this session, unlike Marin County's own site.
  • storage.googleapis.com (opens in a new tab)Town of Fairfax -- July 1, 2026 Town Council staff report and Resolution No. 2026-23, "Calling for a General Municipal Election to be held on November 3, 2026, for the Election of Certain Officers": states, in the Council's own adopted words, that the election is called "for the purpose of electing two (2) Members of the Town Council, one (1) Town Treasurer, and one (1) Town Clerk, each for the full term of four (4) years" -- confirming three separate contests before the filing period even opened, with no mention anywhere of an Elections Code Section 10229 cancellation option for any office. Fetched and read in full as a PDF.
  • marinij.com (opens in a new tab)Marin Independent Journal -- Richard Halstead, "Slew of Marin offices up for grabs in November election" (July 27, 2026, an early-filing-period roundup): reports "In Fairfax, three municipal seats are contested this November. Council members Lisel Blash and Stephanie Hellman's terms are expiring, and town clerk Talia Freedman must also decide whether to seek another term" -- an early piece that mischaracterizes Freedman/Friedman as the Clerk (she is the appointed Treasurer); every later, dated source corrects this, so it is not carried into this dataset's content, only cited for the confirmed council-term context. Retrieved via a Google Translate proxy this session after marinij.com direct fetches were refused by this session's tooling.
  • marinij.com (opens in a new tab)Marin Independent Journal -- Keri Brenner, "Marin candidate list lengthens for November election" (Aug. 8, 2026, published as the initial filing deadline closed): reports "In Fairfax, council terms are expiring for Lisel Blash and Stephanie Hellman. Blash has filed to seek reelection. Susan Adams, Aubrey Harmon, Cheryl Scorza and Matt Da Cunha have filed to run for council" and "Deborah Benson has filed to run for town clerk. Talia Friedman has filed to run for town treasurer" -- the first source to correctly and specifically place Friedman in the Treasurer race. Retrieved via a Google Translate proxy this session.
  • marinij.com (opens in a new tab)Marin Independent Journal -- Keri Brenner, "More contenders pile into Marin's fall elections" (published Aug. 13, 2026, updated Aug. 15, 2026, after the extended filing deadline closed): the final post-deadline roster, reporting for Fairfax that "Blash filed to seek reelection but withdrew. Susan Adams, Larry Bragman, Aubrey Harmon, Doug Kelly, Cheryl Scorza and Matt Da Cunha filed to run" for council, plus "Talia Friedman filed to run for town treasurer" and "Deborah Benson and Bruce Ackerman filed to run for town clerk" -- independently confirming no further filings or withdrawals occurred in the extension window, and exactly matching the town's own official election page. Retrieved via a Google Translate proxy this session.
  • storage.googleapis.com (opens in a new tab)Town of Fairfax -- Feb. 5, 2025 Town Council staff report, "Interview and Consider Appointments for the Town Clerk and Town Treasurer Positions," and its attached applications (a public meeting-packet record, fetched and read in full as a PDF): confirms both elected positions became vacant in December 2024 following the resignations of Michele Gardner (Clerk) and Janet Garvin (Treasurer), and reproduces each applicant's own submitted application. Deborah Benson applied for both vacancies (Jan. 25, 2025): 50-plus years self-employed across roughly 90 small/medium businesses, 20-plus audits before the IRS, California Franchise Tax Board, and CDTFA, four years as partner/managing broker for a 350-property management firm, prior local campaign-finance-form experience, and having "participat[ed] in one election as a candidate" previously. Talia Friedman applied for Treasurer (Jan. 28, 2025): Treasurer for the YES Foundation 2015-2018 (a budget over $1.1 million), Membership Committee Chair for the West Point Inn Association since 2021, Client Success Manager at Primary.Health 2021-2023, a 15-year Fairfax resident, site-council/PTA volunteer at Manor and White Hill schools, and Fairfax Festival/Food Pantry volunteer work. Linda Kenton and three other candidates also applied for Clerk; none of the four Clerk applicants besides Benson is on the 2026 ballot. Personal contact details (addresses, phone numbers, personal emails) in this public record are not reproduced in this dataset's content.
  • marinij.com (opens in a new tab)Marin Independent Journal -- Krissy Waite, "Fairfax gets new town clerk and treasurer" (Feb. 15, 2025): reports the Town Council's Feb. 5, 2025 votes, each 3-2 (Councilmembers Frank Egger and Michael Ghiringhelli opposed both), appointing Linda Kenton as Town Clerk and Talia Friedman as Town Treasurer to fill out the current terms through December 2026, rather than calling a special election estimated at $50,000-plus; names Deborah Benson as "the alternative candidate supported by residents" for Clerk; and independently confirms a November 2024 ballot measure (Measure H) that would have made the Clerk position appointed rather than elected had failed. Retrieved via a Google Translate proxy this session.
  • townoffairfaxca.gov (opens in a new tab)A negative-result local campaign-finance check: the Town of Fairfax's own "Campaign Statements" page (unlike most NetFile jurisdictions in this dataset, this page links directly to individual filed FPPC PDFs rather than gating them behind a client-rendered portal) was fetched and read in full this pass -- every filing listed is from the 2024 election cycle; none of the three 2026 Fairfax Clerk/Treasurer candidates (Ackerman, Benson, Friedman) has a 2026-cycle filing posted there as of this retrieval. Bruce Ackerman's most recent filing on the page is his 2024 council campaign's termination-cycle Form 460 (period 10/31/24-12/17/24, fetched and read in full): calendar-year-to-date contributions of $9,499.41 and expenditures of $9,499.41 (a zero-balance termination), including a $5,314.63 self-loan he later forgave; Schedule A lists his occupation as "engineer, self-employed," independently matching his own campaign-site biography. Documents a real, dated absence for the 2026 cycle, not a blocked or inaccessible source.
  • efile.townoffairfaxca.gov (opens in a new tab)A negative-result access check: the Town of Fairfax's own campaign-finance e-filing portal, efile.townoffairfaxca.gov, returns only a bare client-rendered single-page-application shell on direct fetch, with no server-rendered candidate or filer content -- the same access gap documented dataset-wide for NetFile-style jurisdictions. Documents an access gap, not a claim about any candidate's actual campaign finances.
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)A negative-result access check: California's statewide Cal-Access campaign-finance filer/candidate search was queried directly this pass and returned only a near-empty, content-free response, consistent with the Cal-Access bot-wall documented elsewhere in this dataset. Local candidates for seats like these typically file with the town rather than the state in any case. Documents an access gap, not a claim about any candidate's actual state-level filings.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "Fairfax, California": used narrowly for the fixed, dated 2020 Census population figure (7,605) and as background on a 2025 recall effort against outgoing Mayor Lisel Blash over her approval of a 243-unit apartment building -- consistent with, though not the stated reason for, her withdrawal from this cycle's council race -- not for any 2026 election content.
  • bruceackermanforfairfax.com (opens in a new tab)Bruce Ackerman's own campaign website, "Why I'm Running" page (dated to his unsuccessful 2024 Town Council reelection bid, not a dedicated 2026 Town Clerk page, but the only detailed personal-platform source found this pass): his own stated reasons for public service -- climate change and resilience, housing affordability, giving voice to residents who don't attend public meetings -- and "I love Fairfax and cherish the outsized influence for good that we have in the County and beyond."
  • bruceackermanforfairfax.com (opens in a new tab)Bruce Ackerman's own campaign website, "Biography" page: chemistry, biology, physics, and electrical-engineering studies at Baylor University and MIT; international work and residence in Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, and other countries; a Fairfax resident since 1993 with wife Diane, a Point Reyes Community Health Clinic healthcare provider and community midwife; co-founder of a Mountain View product-development company he ran about a decade; General Plan Advisory Committee 2003-2013 (Secretary, then Chair; formed the town's Climate Action Committee); Planning Commission 2015-2017; Town Council 2017-present at the time of writing (elected 2017, reelected 2020); Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District board seat; current chair of the Flood Zone 9 Advisory Board; and coordination of the town's LED streetlight conversion and work with Marin Clean Energy.
  • townoffairfaxca.gov (opens in a new tab)Town of Fairfax -- official "November 2024 Election" page: confirms three Town Council seats were on that ballot, with Bruce Ackerman listed among four incumbents/candidates -- Cindy Swift, Bruce Ackerman (incumbent), Barbara Coler (incumbent), Michael Ghiringhelli, Chance Cutrano (incumbent), Frank Egger, Doug Kelly -- for the three seats ultimately won by Coler, Egger, and Ghiringhelli (Fairfax's current council, per the town's own Town Council page), independently confirming Ackerman lost his 2024 reelection bid; and confirms Measure H (a Town Clerk elected-to-appointed conversion measure) appeared on that same ballot, corroborating its failure as reported by the Marin IJ's Feb. 2025 appointment coverage.

Last updated September 2, 2026.