- 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 4
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.
Mary Paningsoro and Jonathan Dinwiddie are running for La Palma City Council District 4. The seat is open, with no incumbent. Whoever gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright, with no runoff.
This person holds District 4'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.
The county's own record marks this seat "No Incumbent Elected" -- an open seat. Neither candidate's filed ballot designation claims current city office, and neither appears on Wikipedia's current La Palma officeholder roster. 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.
Mary Paningsoro
Mary Paningsoro's ballot title is Community Volunteer. No campaign website, city biography, or news coverage about them could be found.
Jonathan Dinwiddie
Jonathan Dinwiddie's ballot title is Small Business Owner. No campaign website, city biography, or news coverage about them could be found.
Your pick
A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.