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City of Fontana · Statewide General Election

Fontana 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 Fontana's 5-member City Council (a directly elected Mayor plus four district Council Members): city ordinances, the budget, and land use, under a council-manager government where an appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. A 4-year term. Fontana's four council districts elect in staggered pairs -- Districts 1 and 4 this cycle, Districts 2 and 3 next in 2028.

Incumbent Phillip Cothran, first elected in 2018, seeks a second term representing Fontana City Council District 1 against Nubia Diaz, who is running as part of the five-candidate Fontana United reform slate. Whichever candidate gets the most votes wins outright; there is no runoff.

This seat is one of Fontana's four district Council seats, alongside the directly elected Mayor, on the 5-member City Council that sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Day-to-day operations are run by an appointed City Manager under Fontana's council-manager government. A 4-year term. Fontana's four districts elect in staggered pairs -- Districts 1 and 4 this cycle, Districts 2 and 3 next in 2028.

Cothran, a lifelong Fontana resident and small-business owner, is seeking a second term; Diaz is a first-time candidate running with the outside-organized Fontana United slate, which also backs candidates for Mayor, City Council District 4, City Clerk, and City Treasurer this cycle on a shared platform opposing further warehouse development, expanding language access, and police accountability.

Phillip Cothran

Phillip Cothran is Fontana's incumbent District 1 Council Member, first elected in 2018. A lifelong Fontana resident, he began as a teenage volunteer with the Fontana Police Explorers, holds a bachelor's degree and an MBA from California Baptist University, and has run his own local business since 2015, per the city's own biography.

Strengths

Eight years on the council plus deep local roots -- a teenage police-explorer volunteer who has run his own small business in the district since 2015.

Trade-offs

No independent reporting evaluating his record was found in this pass; financial info for this race could not be retrieved in this pass (see note below).

Keep in mind

His campaign site emphasizes local development wins ("Fontana Fridays") without naming specific votes or ordinances he authored.

Nubia Diaz

Nubia Diaz is a first-time candidate for Fontana City Council District 1, running as part of the Fontana United slate. Her filed ballot designation is "Businesswoman / Volunteer Coordinator"; no independent, non-slate information about her background was found in this research pass.

Strengths

Running with organized outside campaign support (the Fontana United slate) and its shared platform, which names specific positions voters can weigh directly.

Trade-offs

No independent, non-slate reporting on her background or platform was found in this pass; financial info could not be retrieved in this pass (see note below).

Keep in mind

The platform described above comes from the slate's own site, not an independent evaluation of it or of her individually.

Source review: Strong (85/100) · 8 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Fontana United -- coalition campaign site naming a coordinated 5-candidate slate across this cycle's Fontana races: Joz Sida (Mayor), Nubia Diaz (Council District 1), Ben Vasquez (Council District 4), Joe Alvanez (City Clerk), and Kamal Namou (City Treasurer); self-describes as "an inclusive alternative" to incumbent leadership with a shared platform opposing warehouse expansion, backing evening meeting times and language access, and supporting police accountability and opposing "federal immigration abuses" and Phillip Cothran for Fontana City Council 2026 -- campaign site: "Building a better Fontana, for a better tomorrow," a "Fontana Fridays" series highlighting city developments, and a description of Fontana as a diverse, family-oriented city may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • uploads.rov.sbcounty.gov (opens in a new tab)San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters -- statewide "Report_CandidateList.pdf" candidate-filing report (the same document as sb-candidate-list-2026 above, a different section): within its "City of Fontana" section (pp. 133-142 of 249), five contests appear, each "Number to be elected: 1" -- Mayor (7 candidates on the ballot, 2 with a candidate statement filed), Member of the City Council District 1 (2), District 4 (3), City Clerk (3), and City Treasurer (2); Districts 2 and 3 do not appear anywhere in the Fontana section
  • fontanaca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Fontana -- "Candidate List, November 3, 2026 Election" (public record, DocumentCenter #50272): alphabetical-by-office roster of all 17 qualified candidates with each candidate's own filed mailing address, phone, email, and campaign website where provided; matches the county's statewide filing report exactly
  • fontanaca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Fontana -- "Notice of Nominees for Public Office," dated August 18, 2026 and published in the Fontana Herald Newspaper August 28, 2026 (signed by Chief Deputy City Clerk Christina Rudsell, City Elections Official): the certified, randomized ballot order for all five contests, matching the candidate roster exactly
  • fontanaca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Fontana -- "November 3, 2026 Municipal Election" page: lists Mayor, Council District 1, Council District 4, City Treasurer, and City Clerk as the offices on the ballot (noting Council Districts 2 and 3 next go before voters in 2028) and gives the July 13 - August 7, 2026 candidate-nomination period
  • fontanaca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Fontana -- "District Elections" page: the by-district system was adopted in 2017, with the current 4-district map adopted April 12, 2022 after 2020 Census redistricting; states the staggered schedule directly -- Districts 1 and 4 elected November 2022 (up again 2026), Districts 2 and 3 elected November 2024 (up again 2028) -- while Mayor, City Clerk, and City Treasurer remain elected at-large
  • fontanaca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Fontana -- Council Member Phillip W. Cothran's official bio page: District 1, first elected 2018, lifelong Fontana resident, former Fontana Police Explorer, MBA from California Baptist University, local small-business owner since 2015
  • phillipcothran.com (opens in a new tab)Phillip Cothran for Fontana City Council 2026 -- campaign site: "Building a better Fontana, for a better tomorrow," a "Fontana Fridays" series highlighting city developments, and a description of Fontana as a diverse, family-oriented city
  • fontanaunited.com (opens in a new tab)Fontana United -- coalition campaign site naming a coordinated 5-candidate slate across this cycle's Fontana races: Joz Sida (Mayor), Nubia Diaz (Council District 1), Ben Vasquez (Council District 4), Joe Alvanez (City Clerk), and Kamal Namou (City Treasurer); self-describes as "an inclusive alternative" to incumbent leadership with a shared platform opposing warehouse expansion, backing evening meeting times and language access, and supporting police accountability and opposing "federal immigration abuses"

Last updated August 31, 2026.