City of Kerman · Statewide General Election
Kerman City Council, District 1
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
- Charles "Charlie" Jones — Retired Bank Officer
- Mayra Galvez — Family Outreach Liaison
- Michael Mudgett — Small Business Manager
This person would hold one of four district seats on Kerman's 5-member City Council, alongside a directly elected Mayor: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Fresno County city of about 16,000 residents. A 4-year term. Kerman has no separately elected City Clerk or City Treasurer; both are appointed staff positions under the City Manager.
A genuine, contested three-way race for an open seat: Mayra Galvez, Charles "Charlie" Jones, and Michael Mudgett. The sitting District 1 member, Gary Yep, is running for Mayor instead of reelection here.
This person would hold Kerman's District 1 seat on a 5-member City Council that also includes a directly elected Mayor: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Fresno County city of about 16,000 residents. A 4-year term. Kerman has no separately elected City Clerk or City Treasurer; both are appointed staff positions under the City Manager.
This seat is open because its sitting member, Gary Yep, filed for the Mayor's race instead of reelection to District 1 -- see that separate contest on this ballot. None of the three candidates here carries an "Incumbent" designation in the county's own filing records, confirming this is a genuinely open seat rather than an incumbent defending it.
Mayra Galvez
Her filed ballot designation is "Family Outreach Liaison." No independent biographical detail was found for her beyond that designation and the county's own filing record, despite a genuine multi-method search.
Strengths
A stated professional background in community-facing outreach work, on file with the county.
Trade-offs
No independent reporting evaluates her record or platform beyond that filed designation.
Keep in mind
As with all three candidates here, there is no incumbency record to compare her against.
Charles "Charlie" Jones
His filed ballot designation is "Retired Bank Officer." No independent biographical detail was found for him beyond that designation and the county's own filing record, despite a genuine multi-method search.
Strengths
A stated professional background in banking, on file with the county.
Trade-offs
No independent reporting evaluates his record or platform beyond that filed designation.
Keep in mind
"Retired" suggests he is not currently employed in that field; this dataset could not confirm his current occupation.
Michael Mudgett
His filed ballot designation is "Small Business Manager." No independent biographical detail was found for him beyond that designation and the county's own filing record, despite a genuine multi-method search.
Strengths
A stated professional background in small-business management, on file with the county.
Trade-offs
No independent reporting evaluates his record or platform beyond that filed designation.
Keep in mind
As with all three candidates here, there is no incumbency record to compare him against.
Source review: Very strong (90/100) · 4 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.
- www2.fresnocountyca.gov (opens in a new tab)Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters -- CFMR009 "Candidate List" for the Nov. 3, 2026 Consolidated Statewide General Election (printed 8/12/2026 5:37:13PM, post-filing-deadline): lists Kerman's three city contests -- 5090 Kerman Mayor (Vote For 1; Qualified: Gary K. Yep, "City Council Member"; Yazmine Enriquez, "Small Business Manager"), 5092 Kerman City Council No. 1 (Vote For 1; Qualified: Mayra Galvez, "Family Outreach Liaison"; Charles "Charlie" Jones, "Retired Bank Officer"; Michael Mudgett, "Small Business Manager"), and 5097 Kerman City Council No. 3 (Vote For 1; Qualified: Maria Berber Orozco, "Care Manager")
- www2.fresnocountyca.gov (opens in a new tab)Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters -- CFMR001 "Contest/Candidate Proof List," filtered to Contests on Ballot, for the Nov. 3, 2026 election (printed 8/18/2026 8:39:55AM): independently confirms all three Kerman contests as ON BALLOT and separately lists each seat's incumbent-of-record -- Maria Anita Pacheco (Elected) for Mayor, Gary K. Yep (Elected) for District 1, and Ismael Diaz Herrera (Elected) for District 3 -- none of whom is a qualified candidate for that same seat this cycle; confirms District 3's single-qualified-candidate contest remains ON BALLOT rather than cancelled under Elections Code Section 10229
- cityofkerman.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Kerman -- "City Council" page: states the Council has five members including the Mayor, with the Mayor directly elected by voters for a 2-year term and Council Members elected for 4-year terms; names the sitting Council -- Maria Pacheco (Mayor), Gary Yep (Mayor Pro Tem, District 1), Berdie Hall (District 2, not up this cycle), Ismael Herrera (District 3), and Raj Dhaliwal (District 4, not up this cycle) -- and lists City Clerk Dalia Santana-Zamudio among the City Manager's departments rather than as a separately elected office; no City Treasurer position appears anywhere on the site
- en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia's Kerman, California article: population 16,016 (2020 census), incorporated July 2, 1946
Last updated September 1, 2026.