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City of Fairfax · Statewide General Election

Fairfax Town 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 serve a 4-year term as one of Fairfax's five Town Councilmembers, one of the town's seven elected offices. Two seats are up this cycle. Fairfax is a Marin County town of about 7,605 residents (2020 Census); its Council sets town policy and budgets, and chooses one of its own members to serve as Mayor.

Six candidates are running for two seats on the Fairfax Town Council: Susan Adams, Larry Bragman, Aubrey Harmon, Doug Kelly, Cheryl Scorza, and Matt Da Cunha. The two with the most votes win.

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 Council sets town policy and budgets and chooses one of its own members to serve as Mayor.

Both seats up this November are open, not defended by an incumbent. Fairfax's two sitting Councilmembers whose terms expire in 2026, Lisel Blash and Stephanie Hellman, are not on this ballot: Blash pulled papers to seek reelection but withdrew, and Hellman did not file at all. Both had survived 2025 recall petitions that the county certified as sufficient, triggering a special recall election in November 2025; neither was removed. All six 2026 candidates are non-incumbents.

Larry Bragman

Larry Bragman previously served 11 years on the Fairfax Town Council (2003-2014), including two terms as Mayor, and was later elected to the Marin Water board representing District 3 (2014). A civil and criminal attorney practicing since 1982 and a past president of the Marin Trial Lawyers Association, he holds a degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from the University of San Francisco. He co-founded the Fairfax/San Anselmo Food Pantry with his wife Holly in 2011 and has served 18 years on the Fairfax Festival committee, including as chair. On the Council, he is credited with authoring Fairfax's 2010 Smart Meter Moratorium (named that year's Local Ordinance of the Year) and tobacco-control and plastic-bag-ban ordinances, and co-authoring Marin County's 2004 GMO-cultivation-ban ballot measure.

Strengths

The deepest governing record in the field -- 11 years on this exact Council, including two terms as Mayor, plus a specific record of ordinances authored.

Trade-offs

His fullest documented biography comes from a prior campaign (a 2014 Water Board run), not a dedicated 2026 Council platform; no independent 2026 news profile of this candidacy was found.

Keep in mind

He left the Council in 2014 -- a returning, not sitting, former officeholder.

Matt Da Cunha

Matt Da Cunha was born in San Francisco in 1969 and brought home to Fairfax within days, attending Manor School and St. Rita Elementary. He built a 35-year public-safety career: a Ross Valley Fire Department volunteer from 1985 and part-time police dispatcher (1985-1990), then a professional firefighter with Corte Madera (1989-1996) and Santa Rosa (1996-2020) fire departments, retiring in December 2020. His service included responding to the 1991 Oakland Hills fire and the 2017 Tubbs Fire, plus FEMA Urban Search & Rescue deployments to Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Hurricane Irma in the Florida Keys, both in 2017. A Native Sons of the Golden West member, he founded the North Bay Firefighters' Burn Relay in 1997 to benefit the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation, spent five years as a Champ Camp counselor for children with burn injuries, and has coached youth soccer and Little League since 2021.

Strengths

A 35-year public-safety career and lifelong Fairfax roots, plus a specific, sustained record of burn-survivor and youth-coaching volunteer work.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed public office; his platform statements are broad (fiscal responsibility, essential services, public safety) without much specific policy detail.

Keep in mind

His public-safety background is with Ross Valley, Corte Madera, and Santa Rosa fire departments, not Fairfax's own.

Susan Adams

Susan Adams was born in Eureka and raised in the East Bay. She holds a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law and an undergraduate degree from Mills College, and spent more than 30 years in public-service legal and regulatory roles: the California Coastal Conservancy, the Maine Attorney General's Office, New York City's Department of Environmental Protection and Law Department, and more than a decade at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, retiring in 2020. A Fairfax resident since 2007, she has served about two years on the town's Open Space Committee.

Strengths

A long career in environmental and regulatory law and policy, plus direct if brief local committee experience on Fairfax's Open Space Committee.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office; her public-sector legal career was spent outside Fairfax and largely outside California (Maine, New York) before her Bay Area Air Quality Management District years.

Keep in mind

Her background is drawn from her own campaign website; no independent news profile of her candidacy was found.

Aubrey Harmon

Aubrey Harmon works as a therapist and hospital chaplain. In her candidate statement, she describes mediating emotionally fraught situations among competing interests as part of that work. She has lived in Fairfax nine years and the Bay Area for 27, and is the parent of two children who attended Manor, White Hill, and Archie Williams schools. Her stated platform centers on improving communication between the Council and the community, housing affordability, and street and building upkeep, alongside support for Fairfax's Open Space program.

Strengths

A professional background -- therapy and chaplaincy -- centered on mediating conflict between different interests, plus direct experience as a longtime local school parent.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed public office; her only detailed source is her own filed candidate statement, not an independent news profile.

Keep in mind

Nine years in Fairfax specifically, a shorter local tenure than several other candidates in the field.

Cheryl Scorza

Cheryl Scorza, 40, works as a hospital nursing assistant and describes herself as a lifelong Marin County resident. In her candidate statement, she cites raising a son who is blind as informing her advocacy on accessibility issues, and frames her candidacy around hands-on community experience as a frontline healthcare worker.

Strengths

A specific, personally grounded policy focus -- accessibility -- plus lifelong Marin County roots.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed public office found; her own campaign website did not resolve when checked, leaving her filed candidate statement as the only detailed source.

Keep in mind

Her statement is comparatively brief next to some other candidates' in this field.

Doug Kelly

Doug Kelly's candidate statement describes eight years on the San Anselmo Parks and Recreation Commission, where he says he was elected chair three times, and eight years coaching youth baseball. He also cites a prior term on the San Anselmo Town Council and a prior seat on the Ross Valley Sanitary District board, where he credits himself with securing three credit-rating upgrades and fully funding the district's pension and retiree-health obligations, plus further service on the Central Marin Sanitation Agency, the Marin Emergency Radio Authority, and the Ross Valley Fire Board. He describes current involvement with the Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers and a 35-year California career as a restaurant-technology provider. His stated platform emphasizes cutting the town's attorney spending and prioritizing road repair.

Strengths

The most extensive prior-office record in the field outside Bragman's -- multiple special-district boards plus a past San Anselmo Council term -- and a specific fiscal platform.

Trade-offs

His prior elected service was in San Anselmo, not Fairfax; his campaign site is a bare placeholder, leaving his candidate statement as the only detailed source.

Keep in mind

He also ran for Fairfax Council in 2024 and was not elected.

Source review: Mixed (77/100) · 19 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: Susan Adams' own campaign website, 'Meet Susan' page (adamsforfairfax.com/meetsusan, FPPC #1494075): born in Eureka, CA, raised in the East Bay; a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law and undergraduate degree from Mills College; a 30-plus-year public-service legal career -- the California Coastal Conservancy, the Maine Attorney General's Office, New York City's Department of Environmental Protection and Law Department, and more than a decade at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, retiring in 2020; a Fairfax resident since 2007; and about two years on the town's Open Space Committee., Green Party of California -- official 'Larry Bragman' officeholder biography page: describes him as a Fairfax Town Council member since 2003 who served two terms as Mayor, chair of the Ross Valley Paramedic Authority, director of the Marin Telecommunications Authority, a board member of the Community Media Center of Marin, and Fairfax's representative to the Transportation Authority of Marin; a civil and criminal attorney since 1982 and past president of the Marin Trial Lawyers Association; a University of Pennsylvania graduate with a law degree from the University of San Francisco; raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and living in Fairfax with his wife Holly Bragman and two step-sons. Also credits him with authoring Fairfax's 2010 'Smart Meter Moratorium' (named 2010's Local Ordinance of the Year), tobacco-control and plastic-bag-ban ordinances, and co-authoring Marin County's 2004 GMO-cultivation-ban Measure B., Larry Bragman's own 'Larry Bragman for Marin Water Board' campaign website, 'About Larry' page (dated to a prior campaign, not a 2026 Town Council page, but a first-person biographical source consistent with the Green Party's officeholder page): confirms 11 years on the Fairfax Town Council with two mayoral terms, election as Marin Water District 3 Director in 2014, a University of Pennsylvania degree and University of San Francisco law degree, his own San Rafael law practice and past presidency of the Marin Trial Lawyers Association, co-founding the Fairfax/San Anselmo Food Pantry with wife Holly in 2011, and 18 years on the Fairfax Festival committee, chairing it for the two years before this bio was written., and Matt Da Cunha's own campaign website, 'About' page (mattforfairfax.com/about): born at Children's Hospital in San Francisco in 1969 and brought home to Fairfax within days; attended Manor School for kindergarten and St. Rita Elementary for grades 1-8; a Ross Valley Fire Department volunteer/explorer from 1985, part-time police dispatcher 1985-1990, Corte Madera Fire Department firefighter 1989-1996, and Santa Rosa Fire Department firefighter 1996-2020 (retiring Dec. 2020), including deployments to the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, the 2017 Tubbs Fire, and FEMA Urban Search & Rescue deployments to Hurricane Harvey (Texas, Aug. 2017) and Hurricane Irma (Florida Keys, Sept. 2017); a Native Sons of the Golden West member (Fairfax Parlor #307); founder of the North Bay Firefighters' Burn Relay (1997) benefiting the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation and a five-year Champ Camp counselor for children with burn injuries; and a youth soccer/Little League coach since 2021. 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.
  • cagreens.org (opens in a new tab)Green Party of California -- official "Larry Bragman" officeholder biography page: describes him as a Fairfax Town Council member since 2003 who served two terms as Mayor, chair of the Ross Valley Paramedic Authority, director of the Marin Telecommunications Authority, a board member of the Community Media Center of Marin, and Fairfax's representative to the Transportation Authority of Marin; a civil and criminal attorney since 1982 and past president of the Marin Trial Lawyers Association; a University of Pennsylvania graduate with a law degree from the University of San Francisco; raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and living in Fairfax with his wife Holly Bragman and two step-sons. Also credits him with authoring Fairfax's 2010 "Smart Meter Moratorium" (named 2010's Local Ordinance of the Year), tobacco-control and plastic-bag-ban ordinances, and co-authoring Marin County's 2004 GMO-cultivation-ban Measure B.
  • larrybragmanformarinwaterboard.org (opens in a new tab)Larry Bragman's own "Larry Bragman for Marin Water Board" campaign website, "About Larry" page (dated to a prior campaign, not a 2026 Town Council page, but a first-person biographical source consistent with the Green Party's officeholder page): confirms 11 years on the Fairfax Town Council with two mayoral terms, election as Marin Water District 3 Director in 2014, a University of Pennsylvania degree and University of San Francisco law degree, his own San Rafael law practice and past presidency of the Marin Trial Lawyers Association, co-founding the Fairfax/San Anselmo Food Pantry with wife Holly in 2011, and 18 years on the Fairfax Festival committee, chairing it for the two years before this bio was written.
  • mattforfairfax.com (opens in a new tab)Matt Da Cunha's own campaign website, "About" page (mattforfairfax.com/about): born at Children's Hospital in San Francisco in 1969 and brought home to Fairfax within days; attended Manor School for kindergarten and St. Rita Elementary for grades 1-8; a Ross Valley Fire Department volunteer/explorer from 1985, part-time police dispatcher 1985-1990, Corte Madera Fire Department firefighter 1989-1996, and Santa Rosa Fire Department firefighter 1996-2020 (retiring Dec. 2020), including deployments to the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, the 2017 Tubbs Fire, and FEMA Urban Search & Rescue deployments to Hurricane Harvey (Texas, Aug. 2017) and Hurricane Irma (Florida Keys, Sept. 2017); a Native Sons of the Golden West member (Fairfax Parlor #307); founder of the North Bay Firefighters' Burn Relay (1997) benefiting the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation and a five-year Champ Camp counselor for children with burn injuries; and a youth soccer/Little League coach since 2021.
  • adamsforfairfax.com (opens in a new tab)Susan Adams' own campaign website, "Meet Susan" page (adamsforfairfax.com/meetsusan, FPPC #1494075): born in Eureka, CA, raised in the East Bay; a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law and undergraduate degree from Mills College; a 30-plus-year public-service legal career -- the California Coastal Conservancy, the Maine Attorney General's Office, New York City's Department of Environmental Protection and Law Department, and more than a decade at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, retiring in 2020; a Fairfax resident since 2007; and about two years on the town's Open Space Committee.
  • townoffairfaxca.gov (opens in a new tab)Town of Fairfax -- official "Candidates & Candidate Statements" page (California Elections Code Section 13307 statements filed by local candidates for the sample ballot/voter guide; page footer dated "last updated: September 2, 2026"): publishes the filed statements for the 2026 Town Council candidates, including Aubrey Harmon, Cheryl Scorza, and Doug Kelly. Harmon's statement lists her occupation as "Therapist" and describes work as a therapist and hospital chaplain, two children who attended Manor, White Hill, and Archie Williams schools, nine years as a Fairfax resident (27 in the Bay Area overall), and a platform on council-community communication, housing affordability, and town upkeep. Scorza's statement lists her age as 40 and occupation as "Nursing Assistant," describing her as a lifelong Marin County resident and hospital nursing assistant raising a blind son, which she cites as informing her advocacy on accessibility. Kelly's statement describes eight years on the San Anselmo Parks and Recreation Commission (elected chair three times) and eight years coaching youth baseball, a prior term on the San Anselmo Town Council, a prior seat on the Ross Valley Sanitary District board (crediting himself with three credit-rating upgrades and fully funding the district's pension/OPEB obligations), further service on the Central Marin Sanitation Agency, Marin Emergency Radio Authority, and Ross Valley Fire Board, current involvement with the Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers, and a 35-year California career as a restaurant-technology provider; his platform emphasizes cutting attorney spending and prioritizing road repair. This page was reachable only via a live browser session (its content loads behind accordion widgets not present in a plain fetch).
  • dougkellyfairfax.com (opens in a new tab)A negative-result check: Doug Kelly's own campaign website, dougkellyfairfax.com, was re-checked live on Sept. 2, 2026 and remains a bare "Coming Soon" placeholder with no biographical content -- his official Elections Code Section 13307 candidate statement (see the town's own "Candidates & Candidate Statements" page) is the only substantive source found for him.
  • 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.