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City of Healdsburg · Statewide General Election

Healdsburg City Council, District 2

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 represent one of Healdsburg's five City Council districts: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Sonoma County wine-country city, population 11,340 (2020 Census). Healdsburg operates under a council-manager government, with a professional city manager running day-to-day operations while the elected council sets policy; the Council selects one of its own members to serve a one-year term as Mayor. Districts 2 and 4 are the first seats ever elected by district in Healdsburg -- the city moved off an at-large system in 2025 after a legal challenge under the California Voting Rights Act. Districts 1, 3, and 5 remain at-large until their first district elections in November 2028.

Three candidates are running for Healdsburg's District 2 council seat -- the first time this seat has ever been elected by district rather than citywide: Mathew Lopez, a math teacher; Alex Wood, an appointed Planning Commissioner; and Scott Pratt, a commercial advertising producer. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright -- no runoff.

This seat is one of five Healdsburg City Council districts, representing this Sonoma County wine-country city of 11,340 residents (2020 Census). Healdsburg is a council-manager city: the elected council sets the budget, ordinances, and land-use policy, while a professional city manager runs day-to-day operations; the council selects one of its own members to serve a one-year term as Mayor. District 2 is one of only two districts up this November -- the city's council was elected entirely at-large until this cycle, and Districts 1, 3, and 5 remain at-large until their first district elections in November 2028.

Healdsburg moved to district elections after an October 2024 demand letter alleged its at-large system violated the California Voting Rights Act. Rather than litigate, the city held six public hearings, weighed 47 community-submitted maps, and adopted a final five-district map in April 2025, per the city's own account, independently corroborated by the Healdsburg Tribune. That means none of the three District 2 candidates has ever run in a district election here before -- there's no incumbent of this specific seat to measure them against, only their individual backgrounds.

Mathew Lopez

Mathew Lopez's filed ballot designation is "Math Teacher." He qualified for the ballot August 3, 2026. This pass found no independent news profile, campaign website, or civic-board record for him beyond the county's and city's own candidate listings, and he has filed only a Form 410 statement of organization with the city -- no Form 460 fundraising disclosure was available to check.

Strengths

A teaching background gives him direct, ongoing exposure to Healdsburg families and the local school system, a constituency relevant to council decisions on youth services and community facilities.

Trade-offs

No independent news coverage, campaign website, or public record beyond his ballot designation was found in this pass -- among the least documented of the three District 2 candidates.

Keep in mind

With no Form 460 filed as of this pass, his fundraising activity -- and by extension the base of support behind his campaign -- isn't yet checkable.

Alex Wood

Alex Wood's filed ballot designation is "Appointed Planning Commissioner." The city's own Planning Commission page independently confirms he is a sitting commissioner, with a term running through June 30, 2027. He qualified for the ballot August 5, 2026. This pass found no independent news profile or campaign website for him beyond the city's own listings, and no Form 460 fundraising disclosure has been posted -- only a Form 410 statement of organization, filed July 13, 2026 and amended August 21, 2026.

Strengths

A sitting Planning Commission seat gives him a checkable land-use record and direct experience with the zoning and development questions a councilmember regularly votes on.

Trade-offs

No independent news coverage or stated platform beyond his ballot designation was found in this pass, and this pass could not verify specific votes or positions from his Planning Commission tenure.

Keep in mind

Like Lopez, no Form 460 has been posted for him as of this pass, so his fundraising and donor base aren't yet checkable.

Scott Pratt

Scott Pratt's filed ballot designation is "Commercial Advertising Producer," consistent with his committee's own FPPC filings, which list his occupation as a commercial producer with QAS Productions. He qualified for the ballot August 7, 2026. This pass found no independent news profile or campaign website for him beyond the county's and city's own candidate listings.

Strengths

Of the three District 2 candidates, he is the only one with a posted Form 460 -- his fundraising activity (see Financial info below) is independently checkable in a way his opponents' currently isn't.

Trade-offs

No independent news coverage or stated policy platform beyond his ballot designation and campaign filings was found in this pass.

Keep in mind

His campaign self-financed a portion of its early contributions -- a $100 gift from Pratt himself appears in his own Form 460 -- alongside contributions from Healdsburg residents and a handful of out-of-town and out-of-state donors.

Source review: Very strong (90/100) · 10 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

  • sonomacounty.gov (opens in a new tab)Sonoma County Registrar of Voters -- "Local Candidates Who Have Filed," November 3, 2026 General Election (refetched fresh this session; page's own "Last Updated" stamp reads 8/17/26, 6:45 p.m., after both the regular (Aug. 7) and extended (Aug. 12) nomination deadlines had passed): the "City of Healdsburg" section lists exactly two "CITY CONTESTS" -- DISTRICT 2 (Elect 1): Mathew Lopez ("Math Teacher"), Alex Wood ("Appointed Planning Commissioner"), Scott Pratt ("Commercial Advertising Producer"), none flagged incumbent; DISTRICT 4 (Elect 1): Chris Herrod ("Healdsburg City Councilmember"), also not flagged incumbent -- given a jurisdiction-prefixed key distinct from the county-level shard's own "sonoma-rov-candidates-2026" citation of this same page, and from every other city's own prefixed key citing it, to avoid a bare-key collision.
  • healdsburg.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Healdsburg -- own "Candidates for City Council -- November 3" page: independently names the identical District 2 three-candidate field with matching qualification dates, and for District 4 shows Chris Herrod (qualified 7/30/26) plus a second name, sitting at-large councilmember Evelyn Mitchell, whose nomination papers were issued 7/16/26 but whose qualification-date cell reads "---" -- the page's own footer stamps it "List final as of 8/10/2026 - 12:00 p.m.," predating the extended Aug. 12 deadline, so Mitchell did not end up qualifying per the county's later roster.
  • healdsburg.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Healdsburg -- own "Election Information" page: confirms Districts 2 and 4 are the first seats ever elected by district in Healdsburg, each a 4-year term; Districts 1, 3, and 5 don't hold their first district elections until November 2028; the nomination period opened July 13, 2026.
  • healdsburg.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Healdsburg -- own "Transition to District Elections" page: states the city adopted district elections after an October 2024 demand letter from a law firm alleging the prior at-large system violated the California Voting Rights Act, rather than litigate; the Council held six public hearings between December 2024 and April 2025, considered 47 community-submitted maps and 8 community-of-interest statements, and adopted "Final Map D" on April 21, 2025, sequencing Districts 2 and 4 to 2026 and Districts 1, 3, and 5 to 2028.
  • healdsburgtribune.com (opens in a new tab)Healdsburg Tribune -- "Voters can now elect a neighbor to the City Council" (July 8, 2026): independent local-journalism corroboration of the city's own account of the CVRA demand letter, the five-district map, and the 2026/2028 election sequencing; names no specific candidates.
  • healdsburg.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Healdsburg -- own City Council page: lists the five sitting councilmembers -- Chris Herrod (Mayor), Ron Edwards (Vice Mayor), David Hagele, Ariel Kelley, and Evelyn Mitchell -- as "elected at large ... for 4-year terms," with the Mayor selected annually by a majority vote of the Council from among its own members -- the basis for why the county flags Herrod "not incumbent" for District 4 despite already sitting on the Council and currently serving as Mayor: no one has held an elected "District 4" seat before this cycle.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Healdsburg, California": used narrowly for the 2020 Census population (11,340) and confirmation of the council-manager government structure -- not relied on for current officeholders, since it names Evelyn Mitchell as Mayor and Chris Herrod as Vice Mayor, conflicting with the city's own live Council page (Herrod as Mayor, Ron Edwards as Vice Mayor); attributed to Wikipedia lagging the city's annual mayor rotation.
  • healdsburg.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Healdsburg -- own Planning Commission page: independently confirms Alex Wood is a sitting Planning Commissioner (term through 6/30/2027), corroborating his ballot designation "Appointed Planning Commissioner."
  • healdsburg.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Healdsburg -- own "2026 Campaign Statements" page: posts FPPC Form 460/410 filings directly, no NetFile gate. Lists Scott Pratt's and Chris Herrod's Form 460s (each filed July 2026, see their own citations below) alongside Form 410 statements of organization for all four District 2/4 candidates; Mathew Lopez (filed 7/13/26) and Alex Wood (filed 7/13/26, amended 8/21/26) have each filed only a Form 410 as of this pass -- no Form 460 posted for either, so no itemized fundraising figures are available for them.
  • healdsburg.gov (opens in a new tab)Scott Pratt for Healdsburg City Council 2026 -- FPPC Form 460 preelection statement, filed 7/30/26, covering 1/1/26-6/30/26: reports $3,297.87 in itemized monetary contributions (individual gifts of $50-$500, including one from the candidate himself), $2,598.32 in expenditures (fundraising events, campaign signage, printed literature), and a $699.55 cash balance at period close.

Last updated September 1, 2026.