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City of La Habra · Statewide General Election

La Habra City Council

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 one of La Habra's five at-large City Council seats: the budget, land-use decisions, and city ordinances, alongside an appointed city manager who runs day-to-day operations. All five seats are elected citywide, not by district. The council doesn't elect its mayor directly -- each December, members choose one of their own to serve as Mayor and another as Mayor Pro Tem. La Habra is a general-law city. A 4-year term.

Two of La Habra's five at-large City Council seats are on the November 3 ballot. Both sitting officeholders -- Mayor Jose Medrano and Mayor Pro Tem James "Jim" Gomez -- are seeking re-election, facing challengers Susan Pritchard, a retired teacher, and Miles C. Matias, an IT professional and adjunct college instructor. Voters can back one candidate or two; the top two vote-getters win the seats outright, with no runoff.

Whoever wins joins a five-member council that sets the budget, land-use decisions, and city ordinances, with an appointed city manager handling day-to-day operations. All five seats are elected citywide rather than by district. The council doesn't elect its mayor directly -- each December, members choose one of their own to serve as Mayor and another as Mayor Pro Tem, presiding over meetings but casting only one vote like every other member. La Habra is a general-law city. A 4-year term.

Both seats are held by sitting councilmembers who filed for another term rather than stepping aside, so this is a genuine incumbents-versus-challengers race rather than an open seat. Medrano and Gomez have served together on the council; the county's own candidate filing confirms neither seat is vacant.

Jose Medrano

Jose Medrano is La Habra's Mayor, first elected to the City Council in November 2018 and re-elected in 2022; he served as Mayor in 2022 and again for the 2026 term. His career has been in public safety and prosecution: a Public Safety Officer with the City of Norwalk starting in 1995, then the Pasadena Police Department from 1996 in patrol, vice-narcotics, field training, and tactical roles. Since 2004 he has worked as an Investigator for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, including juvenile crimes, auto-fraud, and trial support, and was a founding member and Detective on the LA County Sheriff's Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, work for which the Los Angeles Dodgers organization gave him a Community Service Award in 2017. He has also coached youth sports for years through AYSO and the La Habra Girls Softball Association. Medrano was born in Tecate, Baja California, immigrated to the U.S. as a child, and became a naturalized citizen; he holds a business administration and marketing degree from Cal State Fullerton and has lived in La Habra with his wife and three daughters for more than 25 years.

Strengths

Two terms of council experience, current Mayor service, and a two-decade public-safety and investigative career, including founding the county's Human Trafficking Task Force.

Trade-offs

A third-term bid mostly continues his existing record; his city-hosted bio names no specific new priorities beyond general commitments to youth and business.

Keep in mind

No independent campaign-finance figures could be found for his 2026 committee -- see Financial info.

James "Jim" Gomez

James "Jim" Gomez is La Habra's Mayor Pro Tem, a sitting councilmember seeking re-election. His filed ballot designation is "Businessman/Councilmember." Beyond his current council role and the county's own incumbency confirmation, this dataset could not locate an independent biography, campaign site, or news profile detailing his business background, length of council service, or platform for this term -- a documented research gap, not a claim that no such material exists.

Strengths

Current service as Mayor Pro Tem, independently confirmed by the city's own council roster alongside the county's incumbency flag.

Trade-offs

No independent biography or platform statement was found in this pass -- his self-description beyond "Businessman/Councilmember" is unavailable here.

Keep in mind

No independent campaign-finance figures could be found for his 2026 committee -- see Financial info.

Miles C. Matias

Miles C. Matias is an IT professional and adjunct college instructor challenging both incumbents. He has lived in La Habra since age three, when his father joined the LAPD, and holds multiple degrees from Rio Hondo College and Western Governors University; he is married with three young children. His campaign platform centers on term limits ("so public office remains a temporary opportunity to serve"), fiscal oversight and transparent budgets, support for police and public safety, core infrastructure and city services, family-friendly community policy, small-business support, and government transparency. He has pledged to return his own City Council compensation to the city's General Fund if elected, framing his campaign around "service before salary."

Strengths

A specific, publicly documented platform with a distinguishing personal pledge (returning his council salary), and a lifelong tie to the city.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office, and no independent news profile of his candidacy was found beyond his own campaign site and the county's filing record.

Keep in mind

No independent campaign-finance figures could be found for his 2026 committee -- see Financial info.

Susan Pritchard

Susan Pritchard is a retired teacher challenging both incumbents; that occupation, from her own filed candidate paperwork, is the extent of what this dataset could independently confirm about her candidacy. No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source was found in this pass -- a documented research gap, not a claim that no such material exists.

Strengths

A locally filed candidacy with a clearly stated occupation on the official record.

Trade-offs

This dataset found no platform statement, campaign site, or independent coverage to describe her priorities.

Keep in mind

No independent campaign-finance figures could be found for her 2026 committee -- see Financial info.

Source review: Strong (84/100) · 5 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: Miles C. Matias's own campaign site (milesmatias.com): an IT professional and adjunct college instructor, a La Habra resident since age three, married with three young children, degrees from Rio Hondo College and Western Governors University; platform covers term limits, fiscal oversight and transparent budgets, police/public-safety support, core infrastructure services, family-friendly policy, small-business support, and a pledge to return his own council compensation to the General Fund may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • ocvote.gov (opens in a new tab)OC Registrar of Voters -- Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election 11/3/2026 -- City of La Habra section (pages 120-121 of 188, downloaded directly via curl from the public ocvote.gov URL and parsed locally with pypdf): confirms "CITY OF LA HABRA Member, City Council" (District ID 517) as the city's sole November 2026 race, Vote for 2, 4 qualified candidates, incumbent flags for Jose Medrano and James Gomez, and every candidate's filing date and filed ballot designation -- no district number and no separate Mayor contest appear anywhere in the La Habra section
  • lahabraca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of La Habra -- City Council page: confirms the sitting 5-member council (Mayor Jose Medrano, Mayor Pro Tem James Gomez, Councilmembers Rose Espinoza, Daren Nigsarian, Delwin Lampkin), that "All Councilmembers serve at-large" on 4-year terms, and that the Council chooses its Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem from among its own members each December rather than by direct citywide election
  • lahabraca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of La Habra -- official biography for Mayor Jose Medrano (city-hosted PDF): first elected to the Council in November 2018, re-elected 2022, served as Mayor in 2022 and again for the 2026 term; career law-enforcement/prosecutorial-investigator background (Norwalk Public Safety Officer, Pasadena PD, LA County DA's Office Investigator and founding Detective on the LA County Sheriff's Regional Human Trafficking Task Force); longtime AYSO and La Habra Girls Softball Association youth-sports coach; born in Tecate, Baja California, naturalized citizen, CSU Fullerton graduate, 25+-year La Habra resident
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- La Habra, California article: incorporated under general law in 1925; cited only to corroborate the city's at-large council structure and rotating Mayor/Mayor Pro Tem titles, and the current officeholder roster (Medrano, Gomez, Espinoza, Nigsarian, Lampkin) -- never for a candidate-specific claim
  • milesmatias.com (opens in a new tab)Miles C. Matias's own campaign site (milesmatias.com): an IT professional and adjunct college instructor, a La Habra resident since age three (his father joined the LAPD), married with three young children, degrees from Rio Hondo College and Western Governors University; platform covers term limits, fiscal oversight and transparent budgets, police/public-safety support, core infrastructure services, family-friendly policy, small-business support, and a pledge to return his own council compensation to the General Fund

Last updated August 31, 2026.