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City of Fontana · Statewide General Election

Fontana Mayor

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 is Fontana's directly elected, citywide Mayor: presides at City Council meetings and votes as a full member of the 5-member Council (the Mayor plus four district Council Members) that sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this general-law, council-manager city -- an appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. A 4-year term.

Four-term incumbent Mayor Acquanetta Warren, first elected in 2010, seeks a fifth term against six challengers on the November 3, 2026 ballot, including community organizer Jocelyn "Joz" Sida, who is running as part of a five-candidate reform slate called Fontana United. Whichever candidate gets the most votes wins outright; there is no runoff.

Fontana's Mayor is directly elected citywide and presides over City Council meetings, casting a full vote alongside four district Council Members on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Day-to-day city operations are run by an appointed City Manager, not the Mayor, under Fontana's general-law, council-manager government. A 4-year term.

Of the seven candidates, only Warren has held elected office before. Five of the six challengers -- Nicholas Ortega, Mylinda Carrillo, Jackie Heredia, Lourdes Goñi Garcia, and Sal Casillas -- filed for the first time this cycle with no discoverable public record beyond their filed ballot designation. Sida is the only challenger who filed a paid candidate statement and the only one running with outside organizing support, as part of the Fontana United slate, which also backs candidates for City Council District 1, District 4, City Clerk, and City Treasurer this cycle on a shared platform opposing further warehouse development.

Jackie Heredia

Jackie Heredia is a challenger for Fontana Mayor, filing under the ballot designation "Community Engagement Coordinator." No independent information about her background or platform was found in this research pass beyond her filed ballot designation.

Strengths

None could be documented in this research pass.

Trade-offs

No campaign site, news coverage, or independent profile was found beyond the filed ballot designation.

Keep in mind

A first-time candidate with no public record yet is not necessarily weaker -- only less documented; weigh the ballot designation on its own.

Acquanetta Warren

Acquanetta Warren is Fontana's incumbent Mayor, first elected in 2010 and now seeking a fifth term. She holds a bachelor's degree in political science and urban studies from Occidental College and is the first woman and first African American to serve as Fontana's mayor, per the city's own biography.

Strengths

Sixteen years as Mayor -- more experience than any other candidate in this race -- plus stated regional water and land-use leadership roles.

Trade-offs

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

Keep in mind

Sixteen years in the same office is a long tenure -- worth weighing against the continuity and name recognition it has built for her among voters.

Sal Casillas

Sal Casillas is a challenger for Fontana Mayor, filing under the ballot designation "Business Owner." No independent information about his background or platform was found in this research pass beyond his filed ballot designation.

Strengths

None could be documented in this research pass.

Trade-offs

No campaign site, news coverage, or independent profile was found beyond the filed ballot designation.

Keep in mind

A first-time candidate with no public record yet is not necessarily weaker -- only less documented; weigh the ballot designation on its own.

Mylinda Carrillo

Mylinda Carrillo is a challenger for Fontana Mayor, filing under the ballot designation "Community Outreach Volunteer." No independent information about her background or platform was found in this research pass beyond her filed ballot designation.

Strengths

None could be documented in this research pass.

Trade-offs

No campaign site, news coverage, or independent profile was found beyond the filed ballot designation.

Keep in mind

A first-time candidate with no public record yet is not necessarily weaker -- only less documented; weigh the ballot designation on its own.

Nicholas Ortega

Nicholas Ortega is a challenger for Fontana Mayor, filing under the ballot designation "Account Representative." No independent information about his background or platform was found in this research pass beyond his filed ballot designation.

Strengths

None could be documented in this research pass.

Trade-offs

No campaign site, news coverage, or independent profile was found beyond the filed ballot designation.

Keep in mind

A first-time candidate with no public record yet is not necessarily weaker -- only less documented; weigh the ballot designation on its own.

Jocelyn "Joz" Sida

Jocelyn "Joz" Sida is a community organizer running for Fontana Mayor as "The People's Mayor," and as the lead candidate of the five-person Fontana United slate. Her campaign platform opposes further warehouse development and truck traffic, favors affordable housing over developer-friendly deals, and frames core city services as a baseline, per her own campaign site.

Strengths

The only Mayor challenger with organized outside campaign support (the Fontana United slate) and a specific, stated platform voters can weigh directly.

Trade-offs

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

Keep in mind

Endorsements and platform claims described above come from her own campaign site and the slate's site, not an independent evaluation of either.

Lourdes Goñi Garcia

Lourdes Goñi Garcia is a challenger for Fontana Mayor, filing under the ballot designation "Music Director / Businesswoman." No independent information about her background or platform was found in this research pass beyond her filed ballot designation.

Strengths

None could be documented in this research pass.

Trade-offs

No campaign site, news coverage, or independent profile was found beyond the filed ballot designation.

Keep in mind

A first-time candidate with no public record yet is not necessarily weaker -- only less documented; weigh the ballot designation on its own.

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 Jocelyn "Joz" Sida for Fontana Mayor -- campaign site: a community organizer running as "The People's Mayor" on a platform opposing further warehouse development and truck traffic, prioritizing affordable housing over developer deals, and treating core city services as a baseline; states endorsements from the mayors of Moreno Valley and Lemon Grove and from HonorPAC and Run for Something 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 -- Mayor Acquanetta Warren's official bio page: first elected 2010 (seeking a fifth term), first woman and first African American mayor in Fontana's history, priorities including logistics/manufacturing economic development, the city's 2019 education State of Emergency declaration, and the Healthy Fontana initiative
  • jozsidaforfontana.com (opens in a new tab)Jocelyn "Joz" Sida for Fontana Mayor -- campaign site: a community organizer running as "The People's Mayor" on a platform opposing further warehouse development and truck traffic, prioritizing affordable housing over developer deals, and treating core city services as a baseline; states endorsements from the mayors of Moreno Valley and Lemon Grove and from HonorPAC and Run for Something
  • 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.