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City of Hermosa Beach · Statewide General Election

Hermosa Beach City Council

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 one of Hermosa Beach's five at-large City Council seats: the city budget, zoning and development rules, and public-safety priorities for a small, dense beach city anchored by its pier. A 4-year term. The council doesn't elect its mayor directly -- members choose one of their own to serve as mayor and mayor pro tem each year, in roughly 9.6-month rotations, presiding over meetings but casting only one vote like every other member.

Three of Hermosa Beach's five City Council seats are on the November 3 ballot, and six candidates are running for them: incumbents Dean Francois, Ray Jackson, and Rob Saemann -- Hermosa's current mayor -- are each seeking another term, against three challengers: school-board member Maggie Bove-LaMonica, wildfire-policy executive Eric Horne, and former TV news producer Elka Worner.

Hermosa Beach's council is five members, all elected citywide rather than by district, on staggered 4-year terms; the other two seats -- held by Mayor Mike Detoy and Mayor Pro Tem Michael Keegan -- aren't up this cycle. The council chooses one of its own to serve as mayor and mayor pro tem each year, in roughly 9.6-month rotations, so voters elect a councilmember, not a mayor directly. Whoever wins holds the seat for four years, setting the city budget, zoning and development rules, and public-safety priorities for a small, dense beach city built around its pier and Pier Avenue business district.

All three incumbents up this cycle are seeking reelection, so this reads as continuity-versus-change rather than an open-seat race: Francois is running on fiscal transparency and traffic safety, Jackson on making city government more efficient, and Saemann -- the sitting mayor -- on budget discipline and infrastructure, including the pier. Each challenger is running a distinct case: Bove-LaMonica brings school-board budget and bond experience, Horne brings outside oversight experience and a critique of how the council passed a recent budget, and Worner brings a public-safety and homelessness platform built on a 2024 run. With three seats and six names on the ballot, this is a plurality race decided in one round -- weigh whether you want continuity across all three incumbents, a mix, or a clean sweep of challengers.

Dean Francois

Dean Francois is a Hermosa Beach councilmember first elected in 2022 who served as mayor in 2025. He is running for a second term on fiscal transparency, traffic and public safety, and cutting red tape for local businesses. He is a longtime community volunteer, with service including the American Red Cross, Hermosa's Sister City Association, and the Sierra Club's South Bay board.

Strengths

One full term of citywide experience plus a mayoral term in 2025, and a volunteer record -- Red Cross, CERT, historical societies, environmental groups -- spanning four decades in the South Bay.

Trade-offs

His campaign site's list of endorsements and civic memberships is the fullest public record of his tenure available; no independent local reporting on his first-term votes surfaced this pass.

Keep in mind

Nothing adverse surfaced in coverage of his first term or his 2025 mayoral year; weighing his record means reading council agendas and votes directly, not a secondhand summary.

Ray Jackson

Ray Jackson is a councilmember first elected in a May 2021 special election, a retired Army colonel who spent three decades in uniform, starting as a combat medic and later serving as a Judge Advocate General officer. He is running for a second term on making city government more efficient and responsive. He served as mayor in 2023, per the city's own list of past State of the City speakers.

Strengths

The most council tenure of the three incumbents, first elected in 2021, plus a three-decade military legal and logistics career he cites as preparation for navigating city bureaucracy.

Trade-offs

His public campaign material has leaned on general themes of efficiency and service rather than specific 2026 policy commitments; no detailed platform surfaced in this pass.

Keep in mind

Nothing adverse surfaced in coverage of his time on the council; his campaign has historically been light on specifics, so his voting record is the fuller picture.

Rob Saemann

Rob Saemann is Hermosa Beach's 2026 mayor and a councilmember seeking a second term, a longtime contractor who has owned two businesses in the city over more than fifty years there. He is running on budget discipline and infrastructure, including the pier, using his construction and land-use background to guide development decisions. He has pledged to donate his council salary to local civic projects for the rest of his term.

Strengths

The only candidate or sitting councilmember with service on the Public Works Commission, the Planning Commission, and the City Council -- direct experience across land use and budgets.

Trade-offs

As a longtime local contractor, his business touches the same construction and land-use decisions his council votes cover -- a standing overlap for him to disclose, not a documented conflict.

Keep in mind

His salary-donation pledge and commission history come from his own campaign materials, not independent reporting; nothing adverse surfaced in coverage of his time in office.

Maggie Bove-LaMonica

Maggie Bove-LaMonica is a Hermosa Beach City School District board member serving her third term, with a professional background as a classroom teacher, school administrator, and legal advocate. She is running on long-term planning for city infrastructure and development, and fixing the city budget before it becomes a crisis. She has helped pass two school facility bonds totaling more than $87 million and oversees a roughly $100 million district budget.

Strengths

Thirteen-plus years of elected budget and governance experience, including two passed bond measures and a roughly $100 million district budget -- the deepest public-management record here.

Trade-offs

Her elected experience is on the school board, not the city council; school and city budgets, land use, and constituencies differ, and her platform doesn't yet detail how the two translate.

Keep in mind

Her bond and budget figures come from her own campaign site rather than independently verified district records; nothing adverse surfaced in coverage of her school board tenure.

Eric Horne

Eric Horne is a Hermosa Beach native and an executive at Megafire Action, a wildfire-policy nonprofit, after earlier serving as the FDA's liaison to Congress overseeing more than $1 billion in pandemic-era spending. He is running on public safety, fiscal responsibility, and what he calls making local government work better, citing a $55 million city budget he says the council passed in 55 minutes. He has served on the city's Civic Facilities Advisory Group and holds degrees from UCLA and Harvard Business School.

Strengths

Direct oversight experience -- over $1 billion in federal pandemic spending at the FDA and a leadership role at a national wildfire-policy nonprofit -- plus deep roots from growing up in Hermosa.

Trade-offs

His oversight and policy record is federal and nonprofit, not municipal; he has never held city office, and his platform is newer and less detailed than the incumbents' voting records.

Keep in mind

His account of a $55 million city budget passed in 55 minutes is his own campaign's framing; nothing adverse surfaced in independent coverage of his federal or nonprofit work.

Elka Worner

Elka Worner is a Hermosa Beach Parks and Recreation commissioner and a former television news producer with more than 25 years in journalism, including a stint as an Easy Reader reporter. She is running on public safety, homelessness, and responsible development, after founding HB SAFE, the city's first homeless-outreach initiative. She ran for one of three council seats in 2024 and lost; she is running again in 2026.

Strengths

A second run gives her name recognition and a documented 2024 platform, plus direct organizing experience founding a homeless-outreach initiative and opposing a beachfront development.

Trade-offs

She has never held elected office; her Parks and Recreation Commission seat is appointed, not elected, and distinct from the council's budget and land-use authority.

Keep in mind

She lost her 2024 bid for one of three seats to three other candidates; running again in 2026 against two incumbents and two other challengers is a similarly competitive field.

Source review: Mixed (78/100) · 12 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Re-Elect Dean Francois to Hermosa Beach City Council, Eric Horne for Hermosa Beach, Eric Horne for Hermosa Beach, Maggie4Hermosa, and Re-Elect Rob Saemann for Hermosa Beach City Council 2026 may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • hermosabeach.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Hermosa Beach — Current Election Information (City Clerk): three City Council (Members-At-Large) seats up Nov. 3, 2026; nomination-status table for six candidates -- Ray Jackson, Dean Francois, Elka Worner, Maggie Bove-LaMonica, Eric Horne, Rob Saemann -- each with a date the county confirmed candidacy
  • hermosabeach.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Hermosa Beach — City Council (current roster: Mike Detoy, Mayor; Michael D. Keegan, Mayor Pro Tem; Ray Jackson, Dean Francois, and Rob Saemann, Councilmembers; confirms Detoy and Keegan -- neither on the six-candidate 2026 filing list -- aren't up for reelection this cycle)
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)City of Hermosa Beach — NetFile Public Portal for Campaign Finance (11/03/2026 General Election, City Council seat): independently lists the identical six-candidate field as the city clerk's page. Bove-LaMonica, Francois, Horne, and Jackson each show a mid-year FPPC Form 460 (period 1/1/2026-6/30/2026) filed by the July 31, 2026 deadline; Saemann's and Worner's individual filing histories could not be opened this pass due to a portal display issue -- both remain confirmed as registered filers on the shared seat listing, not as having a specific filing history checked
  • easyreadernews.com (opens in a new tab)Easy Reader & Peninsula — "Two seats, nine potential HB Council candidates" (Kevin Cody, Aug. 2, 2024): reports that Mayor Dean Francois, Rob Saemann, and Raymond Jackson "will be up for reelection in 2026," independently corroborating which three of the five council seats are on this ballot
  • easyreadernews.com (opens in a new tab)Easy Reader & Peninsula — "Hermosa Beach Council candidate Jackson wants more nimble city government" (Dan Blackburn, Apr. 23, 2021): Ray Jackson's background as a retired Army colonel and Judge Advocate General officer, in his first council campaign
  • dean4council.com (opens in a new tab)Re-Elect Dean Francois to Hermosa Beach City Council — campaign site (platform, community-volunteer record: American Red Cross, CERT, Hermosa Beach Sister City Association, Sierra Club South Bay board, among others)
  • robforhermosa.com (opens in a new tab)Re-Elect Rob Saemann for Hermosa Beach City Council 2026 — campaign site (platform, 2026 mayor, Public Works/Planning Commission history, pledge to donate his council salary to local causes)
  • ericforhermosa.com (opens in a new tab)Eric Horne for Hermosa Beach — campaign site (platform: public safety, housing, small business, fiscal responsibility; cites a $55 million city budget he says was passed in 55 minutes)
  • ericforhermosa.com (opens in a new tab)Eric Horne for Hermosa Beach — About page (Peace Corps; FDA liaison to Congress overseeing over $1 billion in pandemic spending; executive at Megafire Action; UCLA and Harvard Business School degrees; Hermosa Beach Civic Facilities Advisory Group)
  • maggie4hermosa.org (opens in a new tab)Maggie4Hermosa — campaign site (platform; third term on the Hermosa Beach City School District Board; two passed facility bonds totaling $87M+; oversees a ~$100M district budget, 1,450 students, 125 employees)
  • politicalcandidatedirectory.com (opens in a new tab)Political Candidate Directory — Elka Worner (Hermosa Beach City Council, 2026 challenger): 25+ years as a television news producer including a stint at Easy Reader, current Parks and Recreation commissioner, founder of HB SAFE homeless-outreach initiative, 2024 council candidate
  • hbneighborhood.org (opens in a new tab)Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association — 2026 City Council Candidate Debate press release (Sept. 29, 2026): "All six 2026 Hermosa Beach City Council candidates have committed to take part in this candidate debate" -- independently confirming a six-candidate field without naming them, from a civic association that has sponsored these debates since 2006

Last updated August 31, 2026.