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City of Hemet · Statewide General Election

Hemet City Council, District 5

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

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 holds your district's seat on Hemet's 5-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use. A 4-year term, capped at three lifetime terms (Hemet Municipal Code Sec. 2-37, counting only terms since 2012). The council selects one of its own members to serve as Mayor and another as Mayor Pro Tem -- the titles rotate rather than being separately elected.

District 5's seat is open: Mayor Linda Krupa, the sitting councilmember since 2010, is not among the candidates. Correctional Lieutenant James Welker and longtime local business owner James "Jimmy" DePasse are running to succeed her.

This person holds your district's seat on Hemet's 5-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use. A 4-year term, capped at three lifetime terms. The council selects one of its own members to serve as Mayor and another as Mayor Pro Tem -- the titles rotate rather than being separately elected.

With no incumbent in the race, District 5 is guaranteed a new representative -- and because the departing Mayor Krupa held this seat, the council will also need to choose a new Mayor from among its members next term. Both candidates filed their own candidate statements laying out their priorities.

James Welker

James Welker is a Correctional Lieutenant with more than 25 years of public-safety and leadership experience, and serves on Hemet's Mobile Home Rent Review Commission. His own filed candidate statement lists priorities of safer neighborhoods, cleaner streets, practical solutions to homelessness, improved roads, reducing illegal dumping, attracting responsible development, and supporting youth programs and job pathways.

Strengths

A quarter-century of public-safety leadership experience, plus current appointed service on a city commission that gives him direct exposure to city government.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office; his statement's priorities are broad (safety, streets, homelessness, development) without specific proposals attached.

Keep in mind

As a correctional lieutenant seeking a council seat that sets city public-safety policy and budget, voters may want to weigh that professional overlap.

James DePasse

James "Jimmy" DePasse's family has lived in the San Jacinto Valley for more than 50 years; he has raised four children with his wife, Denise, and has run a local automotive-repair business for 31 years. His own filed candidate statement is critical of the City Council's recent fiscal decisions, arguing Hemet "does not have a revenue problem -- it has a spending problem," and calls for eliminating wasteful spending rather than raising taxes -- an apparent reference to the sales-tax measure the council placed on the same November 2026 ballot.

Strengths

More than three decades running a local small business gives him direct experience managing a budget and payroll.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed public service found.

Keep in mind

His statement explicitly opposes the council's proposed sales-tax measure on the same ballot -- voters can weigh that position alongside how they plan to vote on the measure itself.

Source review: Very strong (91/100) · 5 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • hemetca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Hemet -- General Municipal Election, November 3, 2026 (official election page: lists District 1, District 2, and District 5 City Council seats as contested, every candidate who filed for each with filing date, and notes Jackie Peterson's withdrawal and Eric Urena's non-filing)
  • hemetca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Hemet -- Mayor & City Council (official roster: Mayor Linda Krupa/District 5, Mayor Pro Tem Joe Males/District 4, Councilmembers Connie Howard-Clark/District 1, Jackie Peterson/District 2, Tom Lodge/District 3)
  • hemetca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Hemet -- Municipal Elections Information (three-term lifetime limit on council service, Hemet Municipal Code Sec. 2-37, counting only terms since 2012; nomination filing period July 13-Aug. 7, 2026, extended to Aug. 12 for District 2)
  • hemetca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Hemet -- James Welker's filed Candidate Statement, City Council District 5 (a Correctional Lieutenant with 25-plus years of public-safety and leadership experience, serves on Hemet's Mobile Home Rent Review Commission; priorities of safer neighborhoods, cleaner streets, homelessness, roads, illegal dumping, and responsible economic development)
  • hemetca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Hemet -- James "Jimmy" DePasse's filed Candidate Statement, City Council District 5 (family in the valley more than 50 years, owner of a local automotive-repair business for 31 years; priorities of fiscal leadership and opposing the council's proposed sales-tax measure)

Last updated August 31, 2026.