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City of Irvine · Statewide General Election

Mayor of Irvine

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 presides over City Council meetings and represents Irvine publicly, but votes as one of seven members on the budget and city ordinances -- day-to-day city government runs through an appointed city manager. Irvine's mayor is the only member of the council elected citywide rather than by district. A 2-year term.

Incumbent Larry Agran faces first-time candidate Maksim V Egorov for Mayor of Irvine. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff.

Irvine's mayor presides over City Council meetings and represents the city publicly, but votes as one of seven members on the budget and city ordinances -- the same as any other councilmember. Day-to-day city government runs through an appointed city manager, not the mayor's office. It's the only council seat elected citywide rather than by district. A 2-year term.

The choice is mostly about continuity versus a fresh start. Agran is Irvine's longest-serving mayor and elected official, campaigning on a record built over nearly five decades in and out of city government. Egorov is a first-time candidate running against City Hall itself, centering his campaign on fiscal oversight and giving residents a direct vote on the city's open space.

Larry Agran

The incumbent, and by a wide margin the most experienced officeholder in Irvine city government: first elected to the City Council in 1978, he served as mayor 1982-84 and 1986-90 (becoming Irvine's first directly elected mayor in 1988), left office in 1990, returned to the council in 1998, served as mayor again 2000-04, and has held a council seat continuously since 2004. He won his current, sixth non-consecutive mayoral term in 2024 with 39% of the vote in a multi-candidate field. His campaign lists public safety (maintaining Irvine's ranking as "America's Safest Big City"), expanding the city's newly established public library system, building out the Great Park and adding a 700-acre Gateway Preserve to Irvine's 10,000-acre open-space preserve, planting 100,000 more trees under the city's Urban Forest Master Plan, solar and battery backup at City Hall, expanding the free Irvine Connect shuttle, and creating a city Department of Health and Wellness -- all while maintaining balanced budgets with $100 million in reserves.

Strengths

Nearly five decades of institutional experience with Irvine's budget, land use, and civic institutions -- more than any other candidate on any Irvine ballot this cycle.

Trade-offs

A record spanning six non-consecutive mayoral terms is also the fullest one on this ballot for voters to weigh, for better or worse.

Keep in mind

See Financial info -- Cal-Access could not be independently checked for this race in this pass.

Maksim V Egorov

A software engineer and businessowner making his first run for elected office. He serves on his neighborhood HOA board and has volunteered on his children's school's Site Council and English Learner Advisory Committee. His campaign centers on fiscal responsibility and stronger budget oversight, restoring what he calls long-term budget stability, protecting Irvine's open space, and giving "residents the opportunity to vote on the future of our open space" -- a specific process commitment, though his own statement doesn't name which open-space decision he means.

Strengths

A private-sector engineering career distinct from Agran's career in city government, and a specific process proposal (a resident vote on open-space decisions) rather than only general priorities.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed government experience to weigh against Agran's decades in office.

Keep in mind

See Financial info -- Cal-Access could not be independently checked for this race in this pass.

Source review: Very strong (94/100) · 6 cited sources

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

  • ocvote.gov (opens in a new tab)OC Registrar of Voters — Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election 11/3/2026 (169 contests, 430 candidates filed)
  • cityofirvine.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Irvine -- November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election Information page: confirms a Mayor (2-year term) and one Councilmember each for Districts 1, 5, and 6 (4-year terms) as Irvine's four November 2026 races; nomination period closed Aug. 7, 2026, write-in period Sept. 7-Oct. 20, 2026
  • cityofirvine.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Irvine -- Qualified Candidates for Mayor and City Council (Ballot Order), updated 8/13/2026 (the day of the Secretary of State's randomized-alphabet drawing): the certified nine-candidate roster across Mayor and Districts 1, 5, and 6, with each candidate's filed ballot designation
  • cityofirvine.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Irvine -- the same Ballot Order document's full first-person candidate statements for all nine qualified candidates, filed with and published by the City Clerk
  • ocregister.com (opens in a new tab)Orange County Register (Laylan Connelly, with Anita Gosch contributing) -- "Candidate fields take shape for City Council elections in Orange County": staffed, bylined roundup independently naming Irvine's full nine-candidate field across Mayor and Districts 1, 5, and 6, and every incumbency call -- corrects the county candlog's District 5 count from 6 to 5
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- Larry Agran: first elected to Irvine City Council in 1978; mayor 1982-84 and 1986-90 (Irvine's first directly elected mayor, 1988); out of office 1990-98; mayor again 2000-04; on the council continuously since 2004; won the 2024 mayoral race with 39% of the vote, a sixth non-consecutive mayoral term

Last updated August 31, 2026.