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City of Imperial Beach · Statewide General Election

Imperial Beach City Council, District 3

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 Imperial Beach's 4-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the citywide-elected mayor. A 4-year term.

Incumbent Mariko Nakawatase faces O'mar Diallo for Imperial Beach City Council, District 3. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff.

This person holds District 3's seat on Imperial Beach's 4-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the citywide-elected mayor. A 4-year term.

Like the Mayor's race, this contest features an appointed incumbent seeking her first full term by election. Nakawatase was appointed to this seat in October 2025 after Mitch McKay's own appointment to mayor left it vacant, and has spent her short tenure focused on small-business development. Diallo, a first-time candidate, is running with the backing of the county Democratic Party and the local labor council, though little independent reporting on his background was found in this pass.

Mariko Nakawatase

The incumbent, a Republican and the council's youngest member. The city council appointed her to the District 3 seat in October 2025 to fill the vacancy created when Mitch McKay was appointed mayor. Her day job is District Director for San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson. In her short tenure she has focused on small-business development and mixed-use projects in the city, and now seeks her first full term by direct election.

Strengths

A day job as a county supervisor's District Director gives her professional familiarity with how county and city government interact, on top of a year of council experience.

Trade-offs

Like McKay in the Mayor's race, she has never won this seat in a direct election -- this is the first test of whether her appointed tenure has broad voter support.

Keep in mind

She has an ACTIVE Cal-Access committee for 2026 -- see Financial info.

O'mar Diallo

A first-time candidate whose ballot occupation is listed as "Federal Law Enforcement." He is endorsed by both the San Diego County Democratic Party and the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council. No independent news profile of Diallo was found in this pass beyond his own campaign site and those two endorsements -- a documented gap in what's reachable, not a claim about his background or qualifications.

Strengths

A federal law-enforcement career gives him a professional background distinct from Nakawatase's county-government and small-business focus.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed public service, and no independent news coverage of his platform was reachable in this pass -- an honest gap, not a claim he lacks one.

Keep in mind

He has an ACTIVE Cal-Access committee for 2026 -- see Financial info.

Source review: Strong (80/100) · 11 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: O'mar Diallo's own campaign site ("O'mar Diallo for Imperial Beach City Council"): his own framing of his candidacy for City Council District 3; committee number #1490409 matches his CAL-ACCESS filing, 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.

  • sdvote.com (opens in a new tab)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
  • imperialbeachca.gov (opens in a new tab)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
  • imperialbeachca.gov (opens in a new tab)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)
  • sandiegouniontribune.com (opens in a new tab)San Diego Union-Tribune — "Mariko Nakawatase to be sworn in as Imperial Beach's newest councilmember": the Imperial Beach native was appointed to the District 3 seat vacated when Mitch McKay became mayor following Paloma Aguirre's election to the county Board of Supervisors; retrieved as a search-engine snippet, the full article is not reachable in this pass
  • voiceofsandiego.org (opens in a new tab)Voice of San Diego (Jim Hinch) — "South County Report: Rightward Shift on Imperial Beach Council": Imperial Beach City Councilmembers chose Republican Mariko Nakawatase as District 3's new representative; retrieved as a search-engine snippet, the full article is not reachable in this pass
  • imperialbeachnewsca.com (opens in a new tab)imperialbeachnewsca.com — "Youngest Member Of Council, Mariko Nakawatase, To Run ...": Nakawatase was appointed to the council for District 3 in October 2025 and says her goal is to bring more business development to Imperial Beach; retrieved as a search-engine snippet, the full article text was not reachable in this pass
  • voteomardiallo.com (opens in a new tab)O'mar Diallo's own campaign site ("O'mar Diallo for Imperial Beach City Council"): his own framing of his candidacy for City Council District 3; committee number #1490409 matches his CAL-ACCESS filing
  • sddemocrats.org (opens in a new tab)San Diego County Democratic Party — Democratic Candidates in the 2026 General Election
  • unionyes.org (opens in a new tab)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
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS — filer search: an ACTIVE "Nakawatase for Imperial Beach City Council 2026; Mariko" committee; two unrelated filers also surface under the shared surname (an out-of-cycle "Nakawatase for County Treasurer 2026" filer and a terminated 2022 "Nakawatase for Mayor 2022; Shirley" committee for a different city), neither cited as hers
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS — filer search: an ACTIVE "Diallo for City Council, 2026; Friends of" committee; two unrelated terminated committees also surface under a different "Minnie Diallo" of Lathrop, CA, not cited here

Last updated August 31, 2026.