# Hawaiian Gardens City Council Compare records and positions simply between Dandy De Paula, Luis Roa, Maria Teresa Del Rio, and 2 more for Hawaiian Gardens City Council at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds one of three at-large seats on Hawaiian Gardens' five-member City Council. Terms are four years and staggered. Members vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Each year, the council picks one of its own members as Mayor. It also picks another as Mayor Pro Tem. Neither title is separately elected. - Jurisdiction: City of Hawaiian Gardens - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Seats: 3 - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/hawaiian-gardens-council - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: August 31, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 85 out of 100 (Strong), across 10 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Dandy De Paula** — Incumbent/Consultant · Incumbent - **Luis Roa** — Incumbent/Payroll Specialist · Incumbent - **Maria Teresa Del Rio** — Incumbent - **Luis Gonzalez** — Accounting Technician - **Jesus Mendoza** — UPS Package Handler A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Five candidates are running for three at-large seats on Hawaiian Gardens' City Council. Incumbents Dandy De Paula, Maria Teresa Del Rio and Luis Roa face challengers Luis Gonzalez and Jesus Mendoza. Vote for up to three. There is no primary. Council seats carry 4-year terms, staggered so either two or three seats are up each cycle — this year it's three, matching all three incumbents in the field. Winners join two sitting councilmembers not up this cycle, Victor Farfan and Ernie Vargas, to make five votes on city ordinances, the budget, and land use; the council then selects one of its own to serve as Mayor and another as Mayor Pro Tem — titles that rotate annually rather than being separately elected — and day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. All three incumbents up this cycle are running together, which makes this less a referendum on any single councilmember and more a choice about whether the current council's composition stays intact or one of two political newcomers, neither with prior Hawaiian Gardens officeholding experience, takes a seat instead. ## Dandy De Paula Dandy De Paula is the incumbent Councilmember. They are seeking another 4 year term. Born in the Philippines, they moved to the U.S. in 2000. They spent twelve years as Program Director of a Hawaiian Gardens preschool. They also have two decades in local community outreach and church ministry. They are an appointed commissioner on the LA County Human Relations Commission. **Strengths:** Two decades of Hawaiian Gardens outreach work. Twelve of those years came as a preschool Program Director. They also hold an appointed seat on the LA County Human Relations Commission. **Trade-offs:** Their own campaign and city bio describe their record in general community service terms. No independent source details specific votes, ordinances, or council plans they have authored. **Keep in mind:** A LinkedIn listing and a local video profile both describe De Paula's 2025 role. Both say De Paula held one of the council's two rotating annual leadership titles. Those titles are Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem. Which one De Paula held could not be confirmed. ## Maria Teresa Del Rio Maria Teresa Del Rio is the incumbent Mayor. They are a 30 year Hawaiian Gardens resident seeking another 4 year council term. They work as Project Manager of an outpatient program. It provides rehabilitation services for substance abuse and drug addiction. They hold a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice from Cal State Fullerton. Their parents, Luis and Irma Del Rio, have been active in the Hawaiian Gardens community for more than 20 years. **Strengths:** Sitting Mayor with a full council term served. They also have a Criminal Justice degree and a career managing a substance abuse rehabilitation program. **Trade-offs:** Their own official bio describes their record only in general terms. No independent source details specific votes, ordinances, or plans they have authored on the council. **Keep in mind:** They have lived in Hawaiian Gardens for 30 years. Their parents have been active in the community for more than two decades. Those are deep roots, though not independent officeholding experience before their current term. ## Luis Roa Luis Roa is the incumbent Mayor Pro Tem. They are seeking another 4 year term. They have lived in Hawaiian Gardens since arriving as a toddler in the mid 1980s. They came from the city's own Sister City of Venustiano Carranza, Michoacán. They hold a Master's in Public Administration from Cal State Long Beach. They spent nearly 15 years as the city's own Recreation Leader. They also had stints as a paraprofessional educator, substitute teacher, benefits specialist and payroll technician. **Strengths:** Mayor Pro Tem with a Master's in Public Administration. They spent nearly 15 years as the city's own Recreation Leader. They have roots in Hawaiian Gardens since childhood. **Trade-offs:** Their own city bio describes their record only in general terms. No independent source details specific votes, ordinances, or council plans they have authored. **Keep in mind:** They are one of the longest tenured residents in this field. They arrived in Hawaiian Gardens as a toddler in the mid 1980s. They came from the city's own Sister City in Michoacán, Mexico. ## Luis Gonzalez Luis Gonzalez is a challenger running for a seat on the City Council. Their ballot designation lists them as an Accounting Technician. No campaign statement, website, or independent news coverage was found describing their platform. They have no history in elected Hawaiian Gardens office. **Strengths:** No independent source or campaign material was found describing strengths. Their own filed ballot designation as an Accounting Technician is all there is. **Trade-offs:** No campaign statement, website, or news coverage was found for their council bid. There is no independent record to weigh trade-offs against. **Keep in mind:** No independent source could confirm their employer, prior public service, or platform. Their qualification for the ballot is the only independently confirmed fact of their candidacy. ## Jesus Mendoza Jesus Mendoza is a challenger and repeat candidate. They ran without success for one of Hawaiian Gardens' two open City Council seats. That bid came in the November 2024 general election. Their ballot designation lists them as a UPS Package Handler. The same email address was on file with the city clerk in both 2024 and 2026. That ties this filing to the earlier run, per Ballotpedia's 2024 candidate record. No campaign statement, website, or independent news coverage was found describing their 2026 platform. **Strengths:** A repeat candidate with direct experience running a Hawaiian Gardens council campaign. They ran once before in November 2024. **Trade-offs:** They lost that 2024 bid for one of two open seats. No campaign statement, website, or news coverage was found describing their 2026 platform. **Keep in mind:** No independent source could confirm their employer beyond their filed ballot designation as a UPS Package Handler. None could confirm a public service record beyond their two council campaigns. ## Sources 1. [City of Hawaiian Gardens — Candidates For November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election (City Clerk's Office; ballot designations, nomination/qualified dates, three City Council seats, names in Secretary of State random-alphabet ballot order)](https://www.hgcity.org/government/departments/city-clerk/candidates-2020-elections) 2. [City of Hawaiian Gardens — City Council (member roster, council-manager government, at-large elections electing 2 or 3 of 5 seats each cycle, rotating Mayor/Mayor Pro Tem titles)](https://www.hgcity.org/government/city-council) 3. [City of Hawaiian Gardens — Mayor Maria Teresa Del Rio (official biography)](https://www.hgcity.org/government/city-council/maria-teresa-del-rio) 4. [City of Hawaiian Gardens — Mayor Pro Tem Luis Roa (official biography)](https://www.hgcity.org/government/city-council/luis-roa) 5. [City of Hawaiian Gardens — Councilmember Dandy De Paula (official biography)](https://www.hgcity.org/government/city-council/dandy-de-paula-361) 6. [City of Hawaiian Gardens — Fair Political Practice Commission Disclosure page (offers only a Form 700 portal and Form 806 for 2026 — no campaign-finance filing index)](https://www.hgcity.org/government/departments/city-clerk/fair-political-practice-commission-disclosure-form-806) 7. [City of Hawaiian Gardens — Candidate Campaign & Financial Filings (lists filing years 2020, 2022 and 2024 only; no 2026 filing year posted as of this retrieval)](https://www.hgcity.org/government/departments/city-clerk/candidate-campaign-financial-filings) 8. [The Ballot Book — City of Hawaiian Gardens 2026 candidates (unofficial, automated-monitoring aggregator; independently lists the same five City Council candidates and ballot designations as the city clerk's certified list)](https://theballotbook.com/jurisdictions/705/candidates) 9. [Ballotpedia — Jesus Mendoza (Hawaiian Gardens City Council At-large, California, candidate 2024): ran for one of two open seats in the November 5, 2024 general election against incumbents Victor Farfan and Ernie Vargas and challenger Jesse Alvarado; lists the same email address (aajmen2@gmail.com) as the city's 2026 candidate list](https://ballotpedia.org/Jesus_Mendoza_(Hawaiian_Gardens_City_Council_At-large,_California,_candidate_2024)) 10. [Web search (Bing) surfacing a LinkedIn profile and a YouTube video profile both matching 'Dandy De Paula' — one of the council's two rotating annual leadership titles (Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem) in 2025; this pass could not open either directly, only the indexed listings](https://www.bing.com/search?q=hgcity.org+%22Dandy+De+Paula%22+councilmember+bio) ## The rest of the ballot Hawaiian Gardens City Council is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Hawaiian Gardens City Council — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/hawaiian-gardens-council (sources last retrieved August 31, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.