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City of Ferndale · Statewide General Election

Ferndale 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 two seats up this cycle on Ferndale's 4-member City Council, elected to 4-year terms: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this 2020-population-1,398 dairy and agricultural town, alongside a separately, directly elected 2-year-term Mayor. Ferndale (incorporated Aug. 28, 1893) is a general-law city under a council-manager government, where an appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations.

Three candidates filed for Ferndale's two open City Council seats: incumbent Jennifer Fisk-Becker, retired city planner Stephen Avis, and Brent Chase. The two highest vote-getters win the seats.

Ferndale's 4-member City Council serves 4-year terms setting city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this small (2020 population 1,398) dairy and agricultural town, alongside a separately, directly elected 2-year-term Mayor. It's a general-law city under a council-manager government, where an appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations rather than the Council itself.

With three candidates for two seats, this is a genuinely contested race, not an Elections Code Section 10229 cancellation-and-appointment: Humboldt County's own certified "Qualified Candidate List" lists all three in the same format used for every contested race elsewhere in the same document, and having more candidates than seats rules out an appointment in lieu of an election on its own.

Jennifer Fisk-Becker

Jennifer Fisk-Becker is a sitting Ferndale Councilmember, per the city's own official Council roster, which lists her as first elected in 2022 and now running for a new 4-year term. Beyond her current officeholding, this dataset found no independently verifiable biography, campaign website, or 2026 candidate statement for her: Humboldt County's own certified filing lists no occupation, email, or website for her beyond her "Incumbent" designation, and a genuine search this pass -- the Ferndale Enterprise's own site search, Lost Coast Outpost's site search, and general web search -- returned nothing further on point.

Strengths

Already a sitting Councilmember, so a vote here continues a known status quo rather than installing someone new.

Trade-offs

This dataset found no stated platform or priorities for a second term beyond her continued candidacy.

Keep in mind

This is a small city (2020 population 1,398), and this dataset found no 2026 election coverage of this race from Ferndale's own local paper or nearby outlets -- a documented sourcing gap common to small local races, not a sign anything is being withheld.

Stephen Avis

Stephen Avis is a non-incumbent candidate who self-reported his occupation as "Retired City Planner" on Humboldt County's own certified candidate filing -- the only independently verifiable detail this dataset found for him. A genuine search this pass (the Ferndale Enterprise's own site search, Lost Coast Outpost's site search, and general web search) found no campaign website, public statement, or further biographical detail beyond that self-reported occupation.

Strengths

A self-reported career in city planning, for voters who weight relevant professional background on its own.

Trade-offs

As a non-incumbent, this dataset found no platform, prior public role, or public statement beyond that one self-reported occupation.

Keep in mind

This is a small city (2020 population 1,398), and this dataset found no 2026 election coverage of this race from any outlet -- a documented sourcing gap common to small local races, not a sign anything is being withheld.

Brent Chase

Brent Chase is a non-incumbent candidate for Ferndale City Council. Humboldt County's own certified filing lists no occupation, email, or website for him. He does run his own dedicated 2026 campaign Facebook page (created Aug. 25, 2026, listing a Ferndale, CA 95536 address that matches his county filing's mailing address, plus a phone number and email), where he posted this first-person statement of his own: "Ferndale is more than where we live. It's our community, our agricultural heritage, our local businesses, our families and our future. I'm running for Ferndale City Council because I want to help protect what makes our community special while making responsible decisions about the future." No further coverage, biography, or occupation was found for him this pass.

Strengths

A stated, Ferndale-specific reason for running, in his own words, centered on the town's agricultural heritage, local businesses, and families.

Trade-offs

As a non-incumbent with no county-filed occupation, his only public material is this one campaign-page post; no independent reporting, prior public role, or further platform detail was found.

Keep in mind

This is a small city (2020 population 1,398), and this dataset found no 2026 election coverage of this race from any outlet beyond Chase's own campaign page -- a documented sourcing gap common to small local races, not a sign anything is being withheld.

This dataset could not independently verify biographical detail for any of the three candidates beyond what's noted above: Humboldt County's own certified filing, the city's own Council roster, and (for Chase only) his own campaign Facebook page. Ferndale's own local paper (the Ferndale Enterprise) and Lost Coast Outpost carry no 2026 coverage of this race. This is a documented sourcing gap common to a city this small, not a sign anything is being withheld.

Source review: Strong (82/100) · 5 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: "Brent Chase for Ferndale City Council 2027" -- Brent Chase's own dedicated 2026 campaign Facebook page, including his first-person "Why I'm Running" post may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • humboldtgov.org (opens in a new tab)Humboldt County Office of Elections -- "Qualified Candidate List - City Contests" (3-page PDF, fetched directly and text-extracted locally with pypdf): names Randall Cady as the sole qualified candidate for Ferndale City Mayor, and Stephen Avis, Brent Chase, and incumbent Jennifer Fisk-Becker as the three qualified candidates for the two Ferndale City Councilmember seats.
  • humboldtgov.org (opens in a new tab)Humboldt County Office of Elections -- "2026 [General Election] Candidate Openings" (7-page pre-filing PDF): confirms Ferndale Mayor is a 1-seat, 2-year term (2027-2029) and Ferndale City Council is a 2-seat, 4-year term (2027-2031); separately confirms Eureka's four seat openings (Mayor plus Council Wards 1, 3, and 5, each a 4-year term), with Wards 2 and 4 not up this cycle.
  • ci.ferndale.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of Ferndale -- its own City Council department page: lists Mayor Randy Cady ("Elected: 2022, Term Expires: 2026") alongside the four sitting Councilmembers.
  • facebook.com (opens in a new tab)"Brent Chase for Ferndale City Council 2027" -- Brent Chase's own dedicated 2026 campaign Facebook page (created Aug. 25, 2026, reached via a live browser session after a bare HTTP client's search-engine access was bot-walled): a Ferndale, CA 95536 address matching his county filing, a phone/email, and his first-person "Why I'm Running" post.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "Ferndale, California": used narrowly for the fixed, dated 2020 Census population figure (1,398), the Aug. 28, 1893 incorporation date, and the 2004 ballot measure (defeated, 78.8% against) that would have replaced the directly elected Mayor with a council-selected one; does not cover the 2026 election.

Last updated September 2, 2026.