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County · Statewide General Election

Imperial County Board of Supervisors, District 1

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 be one of five supervisors governing Imperial County: the annual budget, county ordinances, land use and services in the unincorporated county, and appointments to most non-elected county offices. A 4-year term.

Imperial County's Board of Supervisors, District 1 goes to a November run-off: incumbent Jesus Eduardo Escobar faces challenger Enrique "Kiki" Alvarado after neither cleared a majority in the June 2 primary, which also included a third candidate, Joong Kim.

The winner serves a 4-year term as one of five supervisors governing Imperial County: the annual budget, county ordinances, land use and services in the unincorporated county, and appointments to most non-elected county offices. The county's own Board of Supervisors is a district-elected, 5-member body, per Wikipedia's summary of the county's government structure, which also independently confirms Escobar as the sitting District 1 supervisor.

Neither candidate won a majority in June: the Calexico Chronicle's own early-count story (11.93% turnout, explicitly labeled too early to project winners) had Alvarado leading Escobar 963 votes to 541 -- directional evidence of why a run-off exists, not a final result. The Chronicle's own dated forum coverage from that same primary season gives both candidates comparable depth: education, career history, and platform positions in each candidate's own words. KYMA's 2026 Voter Guide independently corroborates both candidates' basic facts and separately lists a party affiliation for each, even though this is a nonpartisan county office.

Jesus Eduardo Escobar

Jesus Eduardo Escobar is the sitting District 1 supervisor seeking re-election. He holds a Bachelor's in Accounting and an MBA from the University of San Diego and is a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington. Before joining the Board of Supervisors he served on the Calexico City Council (2012-2019), taught business and finance at Imperial Valley College and San Diego State University, and became a licensed U.S. Customs broker with offices in Calexico and San Diego. At an April 2026 candidate forum he pointed to his banking-industry background as "business acumen," and emphasized economic development -- including the Lithium Valley project -- environmental setbacks for data centers comparable to the cannabis industry's, and full CEQA environmental review rather than "by right" development. KYMA's own candidate profile lists him as a Democratic Party member.

Strengths

Eight years of prior elected experience (Calexico City Council), a banking and business-education career, and a licensed customs-broker practice directly relevant to a border county's economy.

Trade-offs

A real, still-pending lawsuit: former Board Clerk Blanca Acosta sued Escobar and the county in June 2025, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation; Escobar has declined to comment.

Keep in mind

This is a pending allegation, not a finding of wrongdoing -- but a documented fact bearing on the incumbent. The county announced harassment-prevention measures in response; the most recent reporting found is from October 2025, with no 2026 update located.

Enrique "Kiki" Alvarado

Enrique "Kiki" Alvarado is a military veteran challenging Escobar for the District 1 seat. He holds a Bachelor's in Business Management, a Master's in Public Administration, and a Master's in Emergency Management, and has spent more than 25 years as an Imperial County employee -- as a deputy probation officer and, currently, as a criminal investigator for the county Public Defender's Office. He has served on the county's Employee Retirement Board, as a Calexico Police Commissioner, and as a former Calexico Unified School District trustee. At the April 2026 forum he emphasized transparency and "boots on the ground" community engagement, opposed data-center development without environmental review, and raised county employee wage disparities, citing some workers as underpaid by as much as 80 percent relative to comparable roles. KYMA's own candidate profile lists him as a Republican Party member.

Strengths

More than 25 years of hands-on Imperial County government experience across multiple departments, plus prior elected/appointed service on a school board and police commission.

Trade-offs

No prior elected countywide or council-level office; as a first-time countywide candidate, his positions have less of a governing track record behind them than an incumbent's.

Keep in mind

Beyond the forum coverage and KYMA's short profile, no independent news coverage of his campaign was found -- a real gap, but symmetric with what's available on Escobar's platform coverage (distinct from Escobar's separately reported legal situation).

Source review: Strong (83/100) · 11 cited sources

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

  • elections.imperialcounty.org (opens in a new tab)Imperial County Registrar of Voters -- "Imperial County Candidate Status" document for the November 3, 2026 General Election (Updated as of 08/20/2026): names City of Imperial Council candidates Robert C. Shields (Correctional Sergeant), James Tucker (Business Owner), Victor Lopez (Auto Tech), and Sara Solorzano (Congressional Field Representative), no "NO ELECTION" tag; separately flags "City of Imperial Clerk - Elect 1" "NO ELECTION" with sole candidate Kristina Shields (Incumbent). Fetched and read directly as a PDF. Re-fetched and re-extracted 2026-09-02 with layout-preserving text extraction (pypdf's extraction_mode='layout'), which resolves this multi-column document's column-order ambiguity and confirms exactly which "NO ELECTION" tag sits under which header: "Board of Supervisors - District 1 RUN-OFF - Elect 1" (Jesus Eduardo Escobar*, Enrique "Kiki" Alvarado) and "...District 5 RUN-OFF - Elect 1" (John Hawk*, Patricia "Patty" Lizarraga) both carry no such tag -- genuinely contested runoffs -- while "Imperial County Office of Education - Area I - Elect 1" (sole candidate Cesar R. Rodriguez*) and "...Area II - Elect 1 - CANDIDATE FILING EXTENDED" (sole candidate Arnold A. Preciado) are each individually tagged "NO ELECTION" directly beneath their own header, the same Section 10229 cancellation tag documented elsewhere in this file.
  • elections.imperialcounty.org (opens in a new tab)Imperial County Registrar of Voters -- official "List of Contests" spreadsheet for the November 3, 2026 General Election, generated pre-filing in July 2026: 'City of Imperial - Council', 3 seats, 4-year term, incumbents Ida S. Obeso Martinez, Stacy Mendoza, James Tucker; 'City Clerk', 1 seat, 4-year term, incumbent Kristina Shields.
  • elections.imperialcounty.org (opens in a new tab)Imperial County Registrar of Voters -- its own "Candidate Filing Documents" page: lists real, dated 2026 FPPC filings (Forms 460, 470, 410, 501, 700) for all four Board of Supervisors run-off candidates -- Jesus Eduardo Escobar (Forms 460/700 from 2018-2026, most recently a 460 filed 7/10/2026), Enrique Alvarado (460s 5/21/2026 and 4/23/2026, 470 2/20/2026, 501 2/20/2026, 700 2/27/2026), John Hawk (460s 7/15, 5/21, 5/7 amendment, and 5/4/2026, 501 2/26/2026, 700 2/26/2026), and Patty Lizarraga (460 9/1/2026, 470 7/6/2026, 460 4/23/2026, 410 4/23/2026, 501 2/11/2026, 700 2/12/2026).
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "Imperial County, California": used for the county Board of Supervisors' 5-member, district-elected, 4-year-term structure and to independently confirm Jesus Eduardo Escobar (District 1) and John Hawk (District 5) as the sitting supervisors, matching both run-offs' incumbents; also cross-checks the county's 2020 Census population (179,702).
  • calexicochronicle.com (opens in a new tab)Calexico Chronicle -- Richard Montenegro Brown, "Early June 2 Primary Election Results Are In" (June 3, 2026): reports early, explicitly non-final vote counts at 11.93% turnout -- District 1: Alvarado 963 votes (49.41%), Escobar 541 (27.76%); District 5: Hawk 955 votes (46.36%), Lizarraga 627 (30.44%) -- and states outright "it appears too early to project winners" in several races. Cited here only as directional evidence that neither race cleared a majority in June, not as final results; no later or certified county canvass of this primary was located this pass.
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)A negative-result access check: California's statewide Cal-Access campaign-finance filer/candidate search was queried directly this pass and returned no usable content, consistent with the same class of block documented elsewhere in this dataset.
  • calexicochronicle.com (opens in a new tab)Calexico Chronicle -- Sophia Gaxiola, "Mujeres With Voice Hosts District 1 Candidate Forum" (April 30, 2026): covers the April 29 forum, moderated by Veronica Avila-Platero, ahead of the June 2 primary -- names all three primary candidates (Escobar, Alvarado, non-attending Joong Kim) and details Escobar's and Alvarado's education, careers, and stated platforms in each candidate's own words.
  • kyma.com (opens in a new tab)KYMA (El Centro/Yuma broadcast news) -- 2026 Voter Guide candidate profile for Jesus Eduardo Escobar: confirms District 1 incumbency (elected 2018), prior Calexico City Council service, and lists a Democratic Party affiliation.
  • kyma.com (opens in a new tab)KYMA -- 2026 Voter Guide candidate profile for Enrique "Kiki" Alvarado: confirms his role as a criminal investigator for the Imperial County Public Defender's Office, prior county probation officer service, and lists a Republican Party affiliation.
  • calexicochronicle.com (opens in a new tab)Calexico Chronicle -- Eric Everwine, "Former Board Clerk Files Harassment, Retaliation Suit" (July 3, 2025): reports former Clerk of the Board Blanca Acosta's June 27, 2025 lawsuit against Imperial County and Supervisor Jesus Eduardo Escobar, alleging sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and battery; details the allegations, Acosta's March/April 2025 leave and termination, and Escobar's declining to comment.
  • calexicochronicle.com (opens in a new tab)Calexico Chronicle -- Eric Everwine, "County Addresses Escobar Lawsuit, Defends Worker Pay Offer" (July 16, 2025): reports Board Chair John Hawk's formal county response to the Acosta lawsuit at a July 15 Board meeting, the county's announced harassment-prevention measures, and confirms the case remained pending in Imperial County Superior Court as of publication.

Last updated September 2, 2026.