Mayor of La Mesa

A 25-year La Mesa resident who has served on the City Council for four years. She is vice chair of the city's Community Police Oversight Board and works as a mortgage broker; her earlier career spanned roughly 40 years in business development, customer service, and sales. She co-chairs the city's Juneteenth and Friends event, which drew an estimated 1,500 attendees in its inaugural year. She is a Democrat and has the endorsement of the San Diego County Democratic Party. Her campaign website pledges to "make sure all La Mesans have access to economic opportunities and high-quality education." She formally launched her mayoral campaign in late 2025.

A real estate agent and La Mesa councilmember for over four years, first elected in a 2021 special election to replace Akilah Weber (who won a State Assembly seat) and re-elected to a full term in 2022. A Republican endorsed by the San Diego County Republican Party, she joined the 2026 mayoral race in April after months of speculation. As a councilmember she spearheaded the city's hiring of a full-time community cleanup coordinator and opposed a battery storage facility proposed for a residential neighborhood; in January 2025 she called for a "15-Strikes and You're Out" policy toward homeless individuals who repeatedly decline city outreach services, citing a 47% year-over-year rise in La Mesa's unsheltered count and a since-widely-discussed claim linking homelessness to a share of nearby wildfire ignitions. Her 2022 campaign platform centered on public safety, opposing tax increases, supporting small businesses, and "cleaning up the streets"; she has also voiced skepticism of the city's climate-action initiatives. Her campaign website ("Laura Lothian gets things done") says she aims to simplify the permitting process, protect small businesses, prevent graffiti and litter, and install more speed humps.

A retired businessman and a former La Mesa City Treasurer -- his own ballot designation reads "Retired City of La Mesa Treasurer." A Republican, he is a seasoned local public servant with prior elected service on the Grossmont Healthcare District board (five terms) and the Grossmont Union High School District board. His candidate statement warns of what he calls the "relentless 'ghettoization' of La Mesa" and names preserving the Amaya Street trolley station parking lot as his top priority.

A regenerative farmer with no reported party affiliation. Running on a populist, small-business- and renter-focused platform, his campaign site is quoted as saying: "Too often, the loudest voices at City Hall are tied to money -- not the renters, small business owners, and families who make La Mesa what it is." He frames his candidacy as representing the city as a neighbor rather than an outsider.