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City of La Quinta · Statewide General Election

La Quinta Mayor

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 is La Quinta's directly elected, citywide Mayor: presides at City Council meetings and votes as a full member of the 5-person council that sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Coachella Valley city. A 2-year term. Unlike some neighboring Coachella Valley cities, La Quinta's Mayor is elected directly by voters rather than rotated annually among councilmembers.

Incumbent Linda Evans, La Quinta's mayor since 2014, is seeking a seventh term against two challengers, Lynne Langdon and Suzanne Espinoza-Jimenez, on the November 3, 2026 ballot. Whoever gets the most votes wins outright -- there is no primary or runoff.

This person is La Quinta's directly elected, citywide Mayor: presides at City Council meetings and votes as a full member of the 5-person council that sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Coachella Valley city. A 2-year term. Unlike some neighboring Coachella Valley cities (Palm Desert, Banning), La Quinta's Mayor is elected directly by voters rather than rotated annually among councilmembers.

Evans, first elected to the City Council in 2009 and Mayor since 2014, is the Chief Strategy Officer of Community Advocacy for Desert Care Network, which includes Desert Regional Medical Center, JFK Memorial Hospital, and Hi-Desert Medical Center, and chairs several regional bodies including the Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau board. Langdon, a real estate agent, has publicly criticized the city over what she describes as unfair code enforcement regarding a trellis on her property, per The Desert Sun's own reporting. No independent information about Espinoza-Jimenez's background or platform was found in this research pass.

Linda Evans

Linda Evans is La Quinta's incumbent Mayor, first elected to that office in 2014 after serving on the City Council since 2009. She is the Chief Strategy Officer of Community Advocacy for Desert Care Network and chairs the Coachella Valley Association of Governments' Energy and Environmental Committee, per the city's own biography.

Strengths

Twelve years as Mayor plus five earlier years on the council -- the most experience of any candidate here; regional leadership roles (CVAG, Greater Palm Springs CVB).

Trade-offs

No independent reporting on her time in office was found; financial info for this race could not be retrieved in this pass (see note below).

Keep in mind

Twelve years in the same office is a long tenure -- worth weighing against the continuity it has built.

Lynne Langdon

Lynne Langdon is a challenger for La Quinta Mayor. She is a real estate agent who has publicly criticized the city over what she describes as unfair code enforcement regarding a trellis on her property, per The Desert Sun's own reporting. The city's own candidate roster spells her name "Lynne Landgon" -- a discrepancy from the Desert Sun's "Langdon" that this dataset flags rather than silently resolves.

Strengths

A specific, publicly stated grievance with city code enforcement voters can weigh directly -- more concrete than most challengers this cycle.

Trade-offs

No professional or civic background beyond her real-estate work was found; financial info could not be retrieved in this pass (see note below).

Keep in mind

A candidacy built around one property dispute is a real, if narrow, basis to run on -- whether it generalizes is your call.

Suzanne Espinoza-Jimenez

Suzanne Espinoza-Jimenez is a challenger for La Quinta Mayor. No independent information about her background, occupation, or platform was found in this research pass -- The Desert Sun's own roundup states directly that no information was available on her candidacy.

Strengths

None could be documented in this research pass.

Trade-offs

No biographical or platform info was found anywhere in this pass -- a documented gap, not an oversight. Financial info was likewise unavailable.

Keep in mind

An unusually thin public record this late in the race is itself worth noting.

Source review: Very strong (91/100) · 4 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • voteinfo.net (opens in a new tab)Riverside County Registrar of Voters — 2026 Annual Election Calendar (lists every November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election office by city, including "City of Cathedral City: City Council District 3 / District 4 / District 5 / City Treasurer")
  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)City of La Quinta -- City Clerk's "Election and Candidate Information" page (captured via the Wayback Machine, 2026-08-28, three weeks after the Aug. 7 nomination deadline): states "Offices & Terms to be Filled: 1 Mayor seat - 2-year term / 2 Council seats - 4-year terms each," and its own randomized-alphabet Roster of Candidates names all seven qualified candidates with filed ballot designations -- For Mayor: Lynne Landgon; Suzanne Espinoza-Jimenez; Linda Evans, La Quinta Mayor. For Member of the City Council: Carene Hensley, Care Provider; Julian Herrera; John Peña, La Quinta Council Member; Deborah McGarrey, La Quinta Council Member.
  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)City of La Quinta -- "Council Member Profiles" page (captured via the Wayback Machine, 2026-07-13): states "The Council is comprised of five members" responsible for appointing the City Manager and City Attorney; gives each sitting councilmember's own biography, including Linda Evans (Chief Strategy Officer of Community Advocacy for Desert Care Network, first elected to the council in 2009, elected Mayor in 2014), Deborah McGarrey (Public Affairs Manager for Southern California Gas Company, first elected 2022), and John Peña (CEO of Desert Cities Consulting, Inc., first elected to the council in 1984, elected Mayor in 1988, retired from public office in 2002, returned to the council in 2014 and has served continuously since) -- and separately profiles Kathleen Fitzpatrick (Mayor Pro Tem) and Steve Sanchez, neither of whom appears on the 2026 candidate roster.
  • desertsun.com (opens in a new tab)The Desert Sun -- "See who's running for mayor and city council in Coachella Valley" (Tom Coulter and Sam Morgen, Aug. 13, 2026), "Who's running in La Quinta?" section: "Like Coachella, La Quinta elects its mayor every two years, while its at-large council members are elected to four-year terms. All three incumbents are seeking reelection." Names all seven candidates with occupation detail -- Evans, "chief strategy officer of community advocacy for Desert Care Network who has served as La Quinta's mayor since 2014"; Langdon (spelled with a 'g', not the city's own 'Landgon'), "a real estate agent who has criticized the city for what she describes as unfair code enforcement regarding a trellis on her property"; Espinoza-Jimenez, for whom "no information was immediately available"; McGarrey and Peña, matching the city's own biographies; Hensley, "a home care provider"; and Herrera, for whom likewise "no information was immediately available."

Last updated August 31, 2026.