# Hayward City Council, District 6

Julie Roche is running uncontested for Hayward City Council, District 6. Full ballot at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would hold Hayward's District 6 seat on the City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, under a council-manager government with an appointed City Manager. The term is four years. The seat is decided by plurality vote. This is the first district-based election for this seat -- a California Voting Rights Act settlement (Ordinance No. 24-07, adopted Oct. 8, 2024) converted Hayward's Council elections from citywide (at-large) voting to single-member districts, starting with Districts 1 and 6 this cycle; Districts 2 through 5 follow in November 2028.

- Jurisdiction: City of Hayward
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/hayward-council-district-6
- 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: September 1, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 88 out of 100 (Strong), across 9 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Julie Roche** — Hayward City Councilmember · Incumbent

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

Sitting at-large Councilmember Julie Roche is unopposed for Hayward's new District 6 seat.

This person would hold Hayward's District 6 seat on the City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, under a council-manager government with an appointed City Manager. The term is four years. The seat is decided by plurality vote.

This is the first district-based election for this seat. A California Voting Rights Act lawsuit -- brought on behalf of resident Jack Wu and Neighborhood Elections Now, Inc., alleging Hayward's former at-large Council elections diluted Asian American voting power -- produced a court-approved settlement the city implemented as Ordinance No. 24-07, adopted Oct. 8, 2024. Districts 1 and 6 elect first this cycle; Districts 2 through 5 follow in November 2028. The Mayor's office is unaffected and stays citywide.

## Julie Roche

Julie Roche was elected to Hayward's City Council (at-large) in November 2022; their ballot designation is Hayward City Councilmember. They are a lawyer and member of the State Bar of California, holding a JD from Golden Gate University School of Law and a BA from UC San Diego, and are a Leadership Hayward graduate. Before Council, they served on Hayward's Planning Commission (2019-2022) and Community Services Commission (2015-2019). Their current committee assignments include the Alameda County Transportation Commission, the Association of Bay Area Governments, the AVA Community Energy Joint Powers Authority, the East Bay Dischargers Joint Powers Authority, the Public Safety Committee, the Sustainability Committee, and the Library Commission.

**Strengths:** Prior service on two city commissions before Council, plus a law degree directly relevant to municipal governance.

**Trade-offs:** Running unopposed means no rival platform to weigh against Roche's this cycle.

**Keep in mind:** Alameda County's own system marks Roche "Incumbent: N" here because Districts 1 and 6 have no eligible incumbent for filing purposes this cycle -- a new-district artifact, not a claim they aren't a sitting councilmember. Their city bio is a self-description, not an evaluation.

## Sources

1. [Alameda County Registrar of Voters -- own JSON API behind its "Candidate List" web app (electionId 260 = General Election - 11/03/2026, Official): the candidatelist/260 endpoint returns every race category countywide with no County category at all (zero Board of Supervisors/row-office/judicial seats on the Nov. 2026 general), and the racelist/260/600 endpoint names all 46 City-category races countywide, including the exact seven Berkeley races (four Council districts, Auditor, Rent Stabilization Board, School Directors) with their raceIds and vote-for-N seat counts -- confirming Alameda County publishes a unified countywide candidate document, unlike Santa Clara County.](https://www.alamedacountyca.gov/rov_app/racelist/260/600)
2. [Alameda County Registrar of Voters -- the same candidatelist app's per-race candidate-detail view (POST to /rov_app/candidatelist/ with electionId=260 and each Berkeley raceId), queried directly for all seven Berkeley races: returns each candidate's exact ballot designation, filing agency, and on-ballot status -- the same roster as the City Clerk's own Notice of Candidates, independently confirming all 23 names and designations.](https://www.alamedacountyca.gov/rov_app/candidatelist/)
3. [City of Hayward -- "Elections" page: confirms a General Municipal Election on Nov. 3, 2026 for one Mayor seat and two Council seats (District 1 and District 6), states the July 13-Aug. 7, 2026 nomination period (Aug. 12 if an incumbent does not file), and links to the Candidate Information page and the city's NetFile public campaign-finance portal (aid=HWD).](https://www.hayward-ca.gov/your-government/elections)
4. [City of Hayward -- "Candidate Information" elections page: independently names all five qualified Nov. 2026 candidates by race -- Mark Salinas and Tom Wong for Mayor; George Syrop and Brian Schott for Council District 1; Julie Roche for Council District 6 -- with each candidate's own campaign website (where filed) and NetFile campaign-finance filer link, matching the county's own candidate roster name-for-name.](https://www.hayward-ca.gov/your-government/elections/candidate-information)
5. [City of Hayward -- official "City Council" page: names Mayor Mark Salinas and the six sitting at-large councilmembers (Mayor Pro Tempore George Syrop, Angela Andrews, Ray Bonilla Jr., Dan Goldstein, Julie Roche, and Francisco Zermeno) and states the city is "transitioning to a geographic district-based system of electing all City Council members except the City's Mayor," with Districts 1 and 6 electing first in Nov. 2026 and Districts 2-5 following in Nov. 2028; links to individual councilmember bio pages and to maphayward.org for the districting map.](https://www.hayward-ca.gov/your-government/city-council)
6. [Hayward's districting-transition portal (maphayward.org): states the city's conversion to district-based Council elections followed a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit brought on behalf of resident Jack Wu and Neighborhood Elections Now, Inc., alleging the former at-large system diluted Asian American voting power; a court-approved settlement required district elections; the city council adopted the districting plan as Ordinance No. 24-07 on Oct. 8, 2024; and Districts 1 and 6 are first to elect, in Nov. 2026, with Districts 2-5 following in Nov. 2028.](https://maphayward.org/)
7. [City of Hayward's own NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal (aid=HWD), queried directly via its own QuickNameSearch and filings/byCandidate JSON API for all five 2026 candidates, with each available Form 460 downloaded directly via the portal's own CampaignDocuments/download endpoint and read for its actual reported totals. Real H1 2026 totals (monetary contributions raised / total expenditures): Mark Salinas $9,013 / $11,160, filed under his continuing "Mark Salinas For Mayor Of Hayward 2022" committee; George Syrop $17,090 / $10,521; Julie Roche $6,996 / $1,162. Tom Wong and Brian Schott have each filed only an FPPC Form 501 candidate-intention statement, with no Form 460 on file for either as of this dataset's retrieval.](https://netfile.com/public/HWD/campaign)
8. [Wikipedia's Hayward, California article -- 2020 census population (162,954), cited only for general context.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayward,_California)
9. [City of Hayward -- Councilmember Julie Roche's own official biography page: states she was elected to Council Nov. 2022, her career as a lawyer and State Bar of California member, her education (JD, Golden Gate University School of Law; BA, UC San Diego; Leadership Hayward graduate), her prior city service (Planning Commission 2019-2022, Community Services Commission 2015-2019), and her current committee assignments (Alameda County Transportation Commission, ABAG, AVA Community Energy JPA, East Bay Dischargers JPA, Public Safety Committee, Sustainability Committee, Library Commission).](https://www.hayward-ca.gov/your-government/city-council/council-member-julie-roche)

## The rest of the ballot

Hayward City Council, District 6 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, "Hayward City Council, District 6 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/hayward-council-district-6 (sources last retrieved September 1, 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.