# Imperial Beach City Council, District 1 Compare records and positions simply between Steve Berry or Jose A. Lopez Eguino for Imperial Beach City Council, District 1 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Imperial Beach's 4-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the citywide-elected mayor. The term is four years. - Jurisdiction: City of Imperial Beach - 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/imperial-beach-council-1 - 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 7, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 90 out of 100 (Very strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Steve Berry** - **Jose A. Lopez Eguino** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Steve Berry faces Jose A. Lopez Eguino for Imperial Beach City Council, District 1. It is an open seat, since incumbent Carol Seabury is not running again. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright. There is no runoff. This person holds District 1's seat on Imperial Beach's 4-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the citywide-elected mayor. The term is four years. With Seabury stepping aside, this is a genuinely open seat between two candidates who represent different constituencies. Berry, a small-business owner endorsed by the outgoing Republican incumbent, is running on a pro-business, continuity-of-approach message. Lopez Eguino, an elected school-board trustee and a community-organizing group's local director, is running on a more progressive platform built around tenant protections and constituent organizing. ## Steve Berry Berry is a lifelong Imperial Beach resident and the owner of IB Printing, a local business. Outgoing incumbent Carol Seabury endorsed Berry. She said Berry shares her "pro-business approach to policymaking," per Voice of San Diego. Seabury is a Republican. She announced in mid August 2026 that she would not seek re-election, citing medical and family issues. This is Berry's third run for this council seat. CAL-ACCESS shows they also ran, without a win, in 2010 and 2014. **Strengths:** Decades as a local small business owner give Berry on the ground familiarity with Imperial Beach's commercial corridor. Two prior campaigns also give them name recognition. **Trade-offs:** Two previous runs for this same seat, in 2010 and 2014, both ended without a win. Voters can weigh that track record alongside Berry's current bid. **Keep in mind:** Berry has an ACTIVE Cal-Access committee for 2026. See Financial info. ## Jose A. Lopez Eguino An elected trustee on the South Bay Union School District board since 2022. He is also a local director for the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, or ACCE. That is a tenant and community organizing group. In 2025 he backed a push for a tenant protection ordinance in Imperial Beach. He is endorsed by the San Diego County Democratic Party. He is also endorsed by the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council. Voice of San Diego frames his likely campaign as centered on "progressive solutions" to the city's problems. **Strengths:** Sitting elected experience on the school board. He also has an organizing background focused on tenant and housing issues. That is direct, credentialed experience in a stated priority area. **Trade-offs:** His elected experience is on a school board rather than a city council. That is a different kind of governing body. It carries different budget and land use responsibilities. **Keep in mind:** He has an ACTIVE Cal-Access committee for 2026. See Financial info. ## Review notes - San Diego County Democratic Party -- Democratic Candidates in the 2026 General Election: Imperial Beach Mayor, Matthew Leyba-Gonzalez; City Council District 1, Jose Lopez Eguino; City Council District 3, O'mar Diallo and San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council -- 2026 Endorsements: Imperial Beach Mayor, Matthew Leyba-Gonzalez; City Council District 1, Jose Lopez; City Council District 3, O'mar Diallo may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [San Diego County Registrar of Voters -- Candidate List, November 3, 2026 General Election (current through the 8/24/2026 2:44pm snapshot): confirms Mayor, City Council Districts 1 and 3, City Clerk, and City Treasurer as Carlsbad's five November 2026 races, and Mayor plus City Council Districts 1 and 3 as Poway's three November 2026 races, each Vote for 1](https://www.sdvote.com/content/dam/rov/en/election/nov-3-2026-gubernatorial-general-election/candidate-list.pdf) 2. [City of Imperial Beach — Election Information page: candidates for the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election (Mayor; City Council Districts 1 and 3), each with filing dates, proposed ballot designation, and a "Qualified" status; also confirms a single direct November election with no primary or runoff and a local $250 contribution cap under Ordinance No. 2024-1242](https://www.imperialbeachca.gov/201/Election-Information) 3. [City of Imperial Beach — Staff Directory: City Council roster naming Mitch D. McKay (Mayor), Jack Fisher (Mayor Pro Tempore, District 2), Mariko Nakawatase (Councilmember, District 3), Matthew Leyba-González (Councilmember, District 4), and Carol Seabury (Councilmember)](https://www.imperialbeachca.gov/Directory) 4. [Voice of San Diego (Jim Hinch) — "Last-Minute Changes Shake Up South County Races": Matthew Leyba-Gonzalez's last-minute entry into the Imperial Beach mayoral race against incumbent Mitch McKay and Karl Bradley; Carol Seabury's decision not to seek re-election to City Council District 1 and her endorsement of Steve Berry over Jose Lopez Eguino](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2026/08/13/last-minute-changes-shake-up-south-county-races/) 5. [San Diego County Democratic Party — Democratic Candidates in the 2026 General Election](https://www.sddemocrats.org/candidates-2026g) 6. [San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council — 2026 Endorsements: Imperial Beach Mayor, Matthew Leyba-Gonzalez; City Council District 1, Jose Lopez; City Council District 3, O'mar Diallo](https://www.unionyes.org/2026-endorsements) 7. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS — filer search: an ACTIVE "Berry for Imperial Beach City Council 2026 District 1; Steve" committee, alongside terminated committees from unsuccessful 2010 and 2014 council runs](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Steve%20Berry) 8. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS — filer search: an ACTIVE "Lopez Eguino for IB City Council 2026; Jose" committee, alongside a terminated 2022 "Eguino for South Bay Union School Board Trustee Area 2" committee](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Lopez%20Eguino) ## The rest of the ballot Imperial Beach City Council, District 1 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, "Imperial Beach City Council, District 1 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/imperial-beach-council-1 (sources last retrieved September 7, 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.