Skip to main content

City of Fortuna · Statewide General Election

Fortuna 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 three at-large seats up this cycle on the Fortuna City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Humboldt County city of about 12,500 residents (2020 census). Fortuna is a council-manager city with a five-member council elected at-large to 4-year terms; the council -- not voters directly -- chooses a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem from among its own members every two years.

Exactly three candidates qualified for Fortuna's three at-large City Council seats this cycle, so all three will be seated regardless of how the vote splits: incumbents Mike Johnson and appointed incumbent Abe Stevens, plus newcomer Tina Christensen. No fourth filer challenged them, and Humboldt County's own certified candidate list confirms the field is final.

Fortuna (2020 Census population 12,516, up from 11,926 in 2010) runs under a council-manager government. Its five-member City Council -- elected at large, not by district, to 4-year terms -- sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use, and appoints a City Manager to run day-to-day operations along with the City Attorney and the city's boards and commissions. Every two years the Council chooses a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem from among its own members; Johnson currently holds the Mayor title under that rotation.

With exactly three candidates for three seats, nobody loses this race -- but the three aren't identical. Johnson and Stevens are already on the Council: Johnson since 2018, and Stevens as an appointed incumbent whose appointment date this dataset could not confirm (Humboldt County's own filing designates him only "Appointed Incumbent," and no city record found this pass explains when or why). Christensen is the newcomer, a sitting Fortuna Planning Commissioner making her first run for Council. Two sitting Council members, Mayor Pro Tem Tami Trent and Kyle Conley, aren't candidates in either of Fortuna's two November races -- whether that's because their own terms don't expire until a later election or they simply didn't seek this term isn't stated in any document this dataset found, and isn't guessed here.

Mike Johnson

Mike Johnson is the incumbent, on the City Council since 2018 and currently serving as its rotating Mayor. His own filed candidate statement points to 25-plus years working in Fortuna's Public Works department, including 10 years as General Services Superintendent, and to board roles with the Fortuna Rodeo Association and the Fortuna Redwood AutoXpo Committee, which he says have given him experience coordinating with community stakeholders on public events. His statement frames his priorities broadly: continuing to "support jobs, economic development, businesses and the small-town atmosphere," following the city's recently adopted Strategic Plan as it begins a General Plan update, and voting for what he calls the most benefit to the city within its budget.

Strengths

The longest institutional history of the three, both inside city government (25-plus years in Public Works before his council service) and in local civic organizations.

Trade-offs

As the longest-serving of the three, he owns the most of the status quo; his statement offers broad continuity priorities rather than specific new proposals for this term.

Keep in mind

The Mayor title he currently holds is reassigned by the Council from among its own members every two years, so reelection to Council doesn't by itself guarantee he keeps it next cycle.

Abe Stevens

Abe Stevens is an appointed incumbent -- Humboldt County's own filing designates him this way, though neither his own candidate statement nor any city record this dataset found explains when or why the seat he holds became vacant. He describes himself in his statement as a small-business owner, born and raised in Humboldt, a graduate of Fortuna Union High School with a daughter currently in Fortuna schools. His statement is informal and personal in tone -- he opens by saying he tries "to be a decent person" and jokes about donating enough blood for a novelty license-plate cover -- before turning to a specific, modest platform: with the local economy "slow" and tough budget choices ahead, his stated priorities are core services -- clean, open parks, safe tap water and properly treated sewage, professional police response, and maintained roads and sidewalks. Separately, the City Council's own Sept. 29, 2025 meeting record shows Stevens cast the lone dissenting vote against a temporary moratorium on mobilehome-space rent increases, which passed 4-1; neither his statement nor any other record found this pass explains that vote.

Strengths

Deep personal roots in Fortuna (raised there, schooled there, raising his own child there) and a narrowly scoped, concrete set of priorities focused on core city services rather than broad promises.

Trade-offs

This dataset couldn't confirm why his seat was vacant or when he was appointed; he also cast the lone dissenting vote on a 2025 tenant-protection ordinance, unexplained in his own statement.

Keep in mind

His statement is the most personal and least policy-dense of the three regular-race candidates -- worth weighing against Johnson's and Christensen's more platform-oriented statements.

Tina Christensen

Tina Christensen, 78, is the only newcomer in the race. Her filed candidate statement describes more than 50 years in real estate and two decades of service on unnamed local boards and committees, and says she currently serves on the Fortuna Planning Commission -- direct land-use experience relevant to a Council seat, though this dataset found no independent confirmation of her Planning Commission service beyond her own statement. She describes deep multi-generational family roots in Fortuna (children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren) and frames her candidacy around "responsible stewardship": supporting economic growth that "strengthens local businesses, expands our tax base" while protecting what she calls the city's character.

Strengths

The only one of the three with direct land-use experience via the Planning Commission, plus a half-century real-estate background relevant to Council's zoning role.

Trade-offs

Her real-estate career could raise conflict-of-interest questions on housing votes -- no evidence of an actual conflict was found. She's also the only one without prior Council service.

Keep in mind

She's not running against an incumbent for her seat -- with three seats and three filers, her candidacy doesn't unseat anyone on this ballot.

Source review: Strong (87/100) · 12 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • humboldtgov.org (opens in a new tab)Humboldt County Office of Elections -- "Qualified Candidate List - City Contests": the certified, signature-qualified roster naming Mike Johnson (Incumbent), Abe Stevens (Appointed Incumbent), and Tina Christensen (Realtor) for Fortuna's regular 3-seat race, and Carlos Diaz (Appointed Incumbent) alone for the separate 2-year short-term seat.
  • humboldtgov.org (opens in a new tab)Humboldt County Office of Elections -- "2026 [General Election] Candidate Openings" (7-page pre-filing PDF): lists only "Fortuna - City Council, 3 Seats, 4-Year, 2027-2031" for Fortuna -- no short-term seat appears, evidence that opening was declared after this list was published.
  • friendlyfortuna.com (opens in a new tab)City of Fortuna -- its own "Voter & Election Information" page: states the Nov. 3, 2026 election carries "Three (3) Seats -- Four (4) Years Term" and "One (1) Seat -- Two (2) Years Term," names all four candidates by term, and links filed Candidate Statement PDFs for Christensen, Johnson, and Stevens -- none for Diaz.
  • friendlyfortuna.com (opens in a new tab)City of Fortuna -- its own City Council page: "The City Council consists of five members, elected from the City at large, who serve four-year terms. Bi-annually, the City Council appoints a Mayor and a Mayor Pro Tem from its own membership to serve a two-year term." Lists the current five members -- Mayor Mike Johnson, Mayor Pro Tem Tami Trent, and Council Members Kyle Conley, Abe Stevens, and Carlos Diaz.
  • friendlyfortuna.com (opens in a new tab)Mike Johnson's own filed 2026 Candidate Statement (City of Fortuna): 25+ years in Fortuna Public Works including 10 as General Services Superintendent, City Council member since 2018, board member of the Fortuna Rodeo Association and Fortuna Redwood AutoXpo Committee.
  • friendlyfortuna.com (opens in a new tab)Abe Stevens' own filed 2026 Candidate Statement (City of Fortuna), a scanned image PDF with no text layer, hand-transcribed from a locally rendered high-resolution page image: self-described "Small Business Owner," born and raised in Humboldt, a Fortuna Union High School graduate with a daughter currently in Fortuna schools; priorities are core services -- parks, safe tap water and treated sewage, professional police response, and road/sidewalk maintenance.
  • friendlyfortuna.com (opens in a new tab)Tina Christensen's own filed 2026 Candidate Statement (City of Fortuna): age 78, 50+ years in real estate, currently serves on the Fortuna Planning Commission, describes two decades on unnamed local boards/committees and deep multi-generational family roots in Fortuna.
  • towncloud.io (opens in a new tab)City of Fortuna -- City Council Special Meeting agenda and minutes, Sept. 29, 2025: the Council adopted Ordinance 2025-776, a temporary moratorium on mobilehome-space rent increases, on a 4-1 vote with Council Member Stevens dissenting -- all five council members present, confirming Stevens' and Diaz's officeholding by this date.
  • towncloud.io (opens in a new tab)City of Fortuna -- City Council Regular Meeting agenda, Aug. 17, 2026 (the first regular meeting after the county's Aug. 12 extended candidate-filing deadline): a 13-item agenda with no election-cancellation, canvass, or Elections Code Section 10229 appointment item of any kind. The city's July 20, Aug. 3 regular, and Aug. 3 special meetings in the same window were also checked and carry no such item.
  • friendlyfortuna.com (opens in a new tab)City of Fortuna -- its own City Clerk department page: names the City Clerk as the filing officer for campaign and conflict-of-interest disclosure statements under the Political Reform Act; links no online index, NetFile portal, or other public repository of actual filings.
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)A negative-result campaign-finance check: California's statewide Cal-Access campaign-finance filer search, plus this dataset's own previously downloaded CalAccess/FPPC data files, checked directly for "Fortuna" and each of the four candidates' surnames -- no hits tied to Fortuna in any file.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "Fortuna, California": used narrowly for the 2020 Census population (12,516, up from 11,926 in 2010) and general council-manager government description.

Last updated September 2, 2026.