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City of Folsom · Statewide General Election

Folsom City Council, District 1

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 Folsom's 5-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, plus appointing the city manager who runs day-to-day government. Folsom's council elects its own Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its five district members each year rather than voters choosing a separate citywide mayor -- there's no 'Mayor of Folsom' contest on this ballot. A 4-year term.

Three candidates are running for Folsom City Council District 1: incumbent Mike Kozlowski faces challengers Chad Vander Veen and Paul Kerfeld. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff.

This person holds District 1's seat on Folsom's 5-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, plus appointing the city manager who runs day-to-day government. Folsom's council elects its own Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its five district members each year rather than voters choosing a separate citywide mayor. A 4-year term.

Kozlowski is running on two prior terms of institutional experience and a specific record of regional funding wins through his seat on the Sacramento Area Council of Governments board. Vander Veen, a first-time candidate, is running largely on a deep local volunteer record across Folsom's schools, sports leagues, and city commissions, with a detailed platform built around fiscal transparency and neighborhood-level fixes. Kerfeld's campaign could not be independently characterized in this pass beyond his filed occupation.

Mike Kozlowski

The incumbent, first elected to the council in 2018 (at-large, before Folsom's 2022 shift to district elections) after previously serving as a Folsom utility commissioner. He holds a Master's degree in Architecture, has worked on design and construction projects across the country, and is a member of the American Institute of Architects. He represents Folsom on the boards of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) and the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, and has coached track and field at Vista del Lago High School since 2008, including 10 years as head coach, with the boys' and girls' teams combining for 20 section and league championships under his leadership.

Strengths

Two prior council terms and a seat on SACOG give him more institutional experience and outside funding wins (cited $20M+ for Hwy 50 projects) than either challenger.

Trade-offs

His record is the fullest on this ballot to weigh; growth priorities from his 2022 campaign were still in progress as of that account, not delivered.

Keep in mind

No 2026 platform statement or campaign website was found for him in this pass; his background here draws on a 2022 candidate Q&A, attributed and dated in text.

Chad Vander Veen

A 23-year Folsom resident (three neighborhoods: Ruth Court, American River Canyon South, and Sutter Woods) and senior consultant at Folsom-based Kiefer Consulting, where he helps government agencies adopt cost-saving technology after an earlier career as a technology journalist. He has an extensive local volunteer record: Folsom National Little League coach and board member, Folsom Soccer Club/Lake Surf coach, Folsom Junior Bulldogs board member, Carl Sundahl PTA president (2019-2021), and city appointments to the Architecture Review Commission and the Arts & Culture Commission (chair). His platform, "Trust. Transparency. Follow-Through," centers on fiscal responsibility, honest budgeting, housing affordability, and traffic and pedestrian safety, with District 1-specific commitments to safer school crossings, Historic District investment, and attracting a grocery store to underserved parts of the district.

Strengths

A dense, specific record of hands-on civic volunteering across Folsom's schools, sports leagues, and appointed commissions gives him direct, checkable local exposure.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office, so no voting record to compare against Kozlowski's two council terms.

Keep in mind

No Cal-Access committee could be verified for him in this pass -- see Financial info.

Paul Kerfeld

The county's own candidate roster lists his occupation as "Retired." No campaign website, news coverage, or further biography was located for him in this pass despite a real search effort -- domain guesses, a Wayback Machine check, a Ballotpedia lookup, and repeated search-engine queries all failed to surface anything more.

Strengths

Not established by any source found in this pass.

Trade-offs

No stated platform, prior public service, or news coverage was reachable in this pass -- an honest gap, not a claim he lacks one.

Keep in mind

No Cal-Access committee could be verified for him in this pass -- see Financial info.

Source review: Strong (85/100) · 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: Chad Vander Veen's own campaign site for Folsom City Council District 1: a 23-year Folsom resident and Kiefer Consulting senior consultant, his "Trust. Transparency. Follow-Through" platform, and his local volunteer record may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • elections.saccounty.gov (opens in a new tab)Sacramento County Voter Registration & Elections — Roster of Candidates, November 3, 2026 General Election
  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)City of Folsom — City Councilmembers directory (archived via Wayback Machine, Jan. 1, 2025 snapshot; folsom.ca.us itself 403s direct fetches): District 1 Councilmember Mike Kozlowski, District 2 Vice Mayor Justin Raithel, District 3 Mayor Sarah Aquino, District 4 Councilmember Barbara Leary, District 5 Councilmember Anna Rohrbough
  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)City of Folsom — City Councilmembers directory (archived via Wayback Machine, Feb. 15, 2026 snapshot; folsom.ca.us itself 403s direct fetches): names, districts, terms ("Current Term ends November, 2026" for Kozlowski/D1, Aquino/D3, and Rohrbough/D5; "...2028" for Raithel/D2 and Leary/D4), and contact info for all five sitting councilmembers, with Raithel shown as Mayor and Rohrbough as Vice Mayor
  • chadforfolsom.com (opens in a new tab)Chad Vander Veen's own campaign site for Folsom City Council District 1: a 23-year Folsom resident and Kiefer Consulting senior consultant, his "Trust. Transparency. Follow-Through" platform, and his local volunteer record (Little League, PTA, city Arts & Culture and Architecture Review commissions)
  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)Gold Country Media (The Folsom Telegraph) — "Q&A: Meet your 2022 Folsom City Council candidates, 7 vie for 3 seats" (archived via Wayback Machine): Mike Kozlowski's own account of his background — elected to the council in 2018, prior utility commissioner, Master's degree in Architecture, AIA member, SACOG and Greater Sacramento Economic Council board seats, and 2008–2022 Vista del Lago High School track and field coach

Last updated September 1, 2026.