- ocvote.gov (opens in a new tab)OC Registrar of Voters -- Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election 11/3/2026 -- City of La Palma section (pages 126-128 of 188, downloaded directly and parsed locally with pypdf since a plain fetch returns undecodable PDF stream data): confirms Member City Council District 2 (2 qualified candidates) and Member City Council District 4 (2) as the city's two November 2026 races, each Vote for 1, both marked "No Incumbent Elected," with every candidate's filed ballot designation -- and that no Mayor or other La Palma contest appears anywhere in the document
- en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia's La Palma, California article: names the current officeholders -- Mayor Mark I. Waldman, Mayor Pro Tem Nitesh P. Patel, and Council Members Debbie S. Baker, Janet Keo Conklin, and Vikesh P. Patel -- confirming Nitesh P. Patel's current council service (he is a District 2 candidate this cycle) and, by describing a rotating Mayor/Mayor Pro Tem title rather than a separately elected Mayor's office, corroborating the county's Proof List showing no La Palma Mayor contest
Last updated August 31, 2026.
City of La Palma
La Palma City Council, District 2
This person holds your district's seat on La Palma's five-member City Council. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. An appointed city manager runs daily operations. The council picks its own Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem each year. They are not directly elected. So there is no separate Mayor's race on this ballot. Only Districts 2 and 4 have terms expiring this cycle. The term is four years.
Nitesh P. Patel is La Palma's sitting Mayor Pro Tem. They are running against Andrew Kim for City Council District 2. Whoever gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright, with no runoff.
This person holds District 2's seat on La Palma's 5-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside an appointed city manager who runs day-to-day operations. La Palma's Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem are chosen annually by the council from among its own members rather than directly elected, so there's no separate Mayor's race on this ballot. Only Districts 2 and 4 have terms expiring this cycle. The term is four years.
Patel is a sitting councilmember and the current Mayor Pro Tem, per their own ballot designation and Wikipedia's current La Palma officeholder roster. But the county's own record leaves this contest's Incumbent(s) field 'No Incumbent Elected' rather than naming them -- this dataset does not assert they are District 2's incumbent, even though they currently sit on the council, consistent with the same pattern already documented for San Clemente's District 2 race and Westminster's Mayor's race. Beyond each candidate's filed occupation, no independent profile, platform statement, or news coverage was found for either candidate in this pass despite a real, time-boxed search effort -- documented below as a gap, not filled in with speculation.
Andrew Kim
Andrew Kim's ballot title is Public Safety Manager. No campaign website, city biography, or news coverage about them could be found.
Nitesh P. Patel
Nitesh P. Patel is a sitting La Palma councilmember and the current Mayor Pro Tem. Their ballot title is Council Member, City of La Palma. No other details about their council record or platform could be found.
Your pick
A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.