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City of Grass Valley · Statewide General Election

Grass Valley 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 at-large seats up this cycle on Grass Valley's 5-member City Council, elected to a 4-year term: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Nevada County city of about 13,000 residents. Neither sitting officeholder up this cycle -- Mayor Hilary Hodge or Vice Mayor Haven Caravelli -- filed for re-election, so this is an open-seat race between four candidates with no incumbent. The city runs under a council-manager government -- day-to-day operations are handled by an appointed City Manager -- and rather than voters directly electing a Mayor, the Council appoints one of its own members as Mayor and another as Vice Mayor every November.

Four candidates -- Scott Beesley, Bob Branstrom, Edward Peevey, and Paul Wright -- are running for two open at-large seats on Grass Valley's City Council. It's a wide-open race: neither sitting officeholder up this cycle, Mayor Hilary Hodge or Vice Mayor Haven Caravelli, filed for re-election, so the council will have at least two new members after November regardless of who wins.

Grass Valley, a Nevada County city of roughly 13,000 residents, runs under a council-manager government: a professional City Manager handles day-to-day operations while a 5-member City Council, elected entirely at large to 4-year staggered terms with no term limits, sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Grass Valley voters don't elect a Mayor directly -- the council chooses one of its own members as Mayor and another as Vice Mayor each November. Two of the five seats are up this cycle.

This is a genuinely open-seat race rather than an incumbent contest: both Hodge and Caravelli won their current terms in the 2022 election, and neither filed to run again this time. No source found this pass explains why either chose not to run; whatever the reason, it means both winners in November will be new to the council. The county's own qualified-candidate list, current as of Aug. 13, 2026, gives each candidate's own filed occupation but little else -- reflected in how thin each profile below is.

Scott Beesley

Scott Beesley filed as a candidate with the occupation "Financial Planner" on his county ballot filing. No biography, campaign website, or news coverage was found for him this session beyond that filing.

Strengths

None independently confirmed beyond a certified, qualified candidacy filed with Nevada County.

Trade-offs

No prior city office, board, or commission role found in the city's own records; no campaign website or news coverage located this session.

Keep in mind

His filed occupation, financial planner, isn't independently elaborated on anywhere found this session -- it's the only biographical detail on record.

Bob Branstrom

Bob Branstrom filed as a candidate with the occupation "Retired Research Analyst." He is the one candidate in this race with a confirmed city role beyond his ballot filing: the City of Grass Valley's own Committees & Commissions page lists him as a member of the Measure E Oversight Committee, which oversees the city's Measure E sales-tax funding, through a term running to December 2028.

Strengths

A sitting seat on the city's Measure E Oversight Committee, which reviews how the city budgets and spends a dedicated local sales-tax fund -- direct, current exposure to city finances.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office; no campaign website or news coverage located this session beyond his Measure E Oversight Committee role.

Keep in mind

His committee seat runs through December 2028, past this election -- voters can weigh that ongoing city role alongside his council candidacy.

Edward Peevey

Edward Peevey filed as a candidate with the occupation "Retired Detention Officer." No biography, campaign website, or news coverage was found for him this session beyond that filing.

Strengths

None independently confirmed beyond a certified, qualified candidacy filed with Nevada County.

Trade-offs

No prior city office, board, or commission role found in the city's own records; no campaign website or news coverage located this session.

Keep in mind

His filed occupation, retired detention officer, isn't independently elaborated on anywhere found this session -- it's the only biographical detail on record.

Paul Wright

Paul Wright filed as a candidate with the occupation "Special Equipment Operator." No biography, campaign website, or news coverage was found for him this session beyond that filing -- he's also the only one of the four with no phone number or email on file with the county.

Strengths

None independently confirmed beyond a certified, qualified candidacy filed with Nevada County.

Trade-offs

No prior city office, board, or commission role found in the city's own records; no campaign website, news coverage, or even a listed phone/email located this session.

Keep in mind

His filed occupation, special equipment operator, isn't independently elaborated on anywhere found this session -- it's the only biographical detail on record.

Source review: Strong (89/100) · 7 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • grassvalleyca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Grass Valley -- own Elections page: states the two seats up ('Council Member Hilary Hodge -- 4 Year Term[,] Council Member Have[n] Caravelli -- 4 Year Term') and the filed-candidate list -- Scott Beesley, Bob Branstrom, Ed Peevey, Paul Wright -- plus the city's 2022 election-results post confirming both incumbents' current terms (Caravelli 2,875 votes, Hodge 2,951).
  • grassvalleyca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Grass Valley -- own City Council page: states the 5-member City Council is 'elected at large... in November of even-numbered years... to serve a four-year term' with 'two or three seats... open each election cycle' and no term limits; the Mayor and Vice Mayor are 'appointed by the City Council each November,' not elected directly.
  • grassvalleyca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Grass Valley -- own Committees & Commissions page: lists every city committee/commission's membership; checked directly for all four Nov. 2026 Council candidates by name and returning exactly one hit, Bob Branstrom's seat on the Measure E Oversight Committee (term through Dec. 2028).
  • nevadacountyca.gov (opens in a new tab)Nevada County Elections -- official newsflash, "Local Candidates Announced for November Ballot": states the county's local-candidates list 'has been finalized' and names, under 'Grass Valley City Council, vote for TWO,' the same four candidates as the city's own Elections page -- Paul Wright, Edward Peevey, Bob Branstrom, Scott Beesley. A countywide document (also covers Truckee and every other Nevada County local race); partially transcribed at sources/nevada-candidates-nov2026.txt.
  • nevadacountyca.gov (opens in a new tab)Nevada County Elections -- own "Local Offices Up for Election-Nov. 3, 2026 General Election" page: under 'Municipal Nonpartisan Offices,' states 'Grass Valley City Council[:] Two seats, at large[.] Incumbents: Haven Caravelli, 4-year term[;] Hilary Hodge, 4-year term' -- independently confirming the office structure and both incumbents' current terms. A countywide document covering every Nevada County local race up this cycle.
  • nevadacountyca.gov (opens in a new tab)Nevada County Elections -- own "November 3, 2026 Local Contests on the Ballot" page, dated 'Last Updated: 8/13/2026 at 4:15pm': its qualified-candidates table for 'City of Grass Valley, Council Member (2 seats, at large)' gives each candidate's own filed ballot designation -- Scott Beesley (Financial Planner), Paul Wright (Special Equipment Operator), Bob Branstrom (Retired Research Analyst), Edward Peevey (Retired Detention Officer). A countywide document covering every Nevada County local race's qualified-candidate roster.
  • nevadacountyca.gov (opens in a new tab)A negative-result local campaign-finance check: Nevada County's own Campaign Finance Disclosures page links to a NetFile Public Access Portal that loads as a client-rendered single-page app with no static filer data and no discoverable public REST endpoint reachable by this session's fetch tooling. Documents the absence of a reachable, current financial-disclosure source, not any candidate's actual finances. A countywide portal covering every Nevada County local candidate's filings.

Last updated September 2, 2026.