Skip to main content

City of La Verne · Statewide General Election

La Verne City Council, District 1

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 your district's seat on La Verne's 5-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use.

Incumbent Steven F. Johnson, who first served on the council from 2003 to 2011 and now holds the District 1 seat again, faces Thomas Allison, an attorney and University of La Verne law professor completing five years on the city's Planning Commission.

This person holds one of five district seats on La Verne's City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land-use decisions. A 4-year term. Council members choose one of their own to serve as mayor and mayor pro tem, presiding over meetings but casting only one vote like any other member.

Johnson is campaigning on a general philosophy — the Rotary Club's "Four-Way Test" — built on two non-consecutive stints on the council rather than a specific 2026 platform. Allison is campaigning on fiscal discipline, neighborhood safety and preserving Old Town, drawing on direct land-use experience from the Planning Commission but no record casting votes as an elected official.

Steven F. Johnson

Steven F. Johnson is the incumbent, a self-employed insurance broker since 1983 and 42-year member of the La Verne Rotary Club, twice its president. He served on the City Council from 2003 to 2011 and currently holds the District 1 seat. He's campaigning on the Rotary "Four-Way Test" — is it the truth, is it fair to all concerned, will it build goodwill, will it be beneficial to all concerned — as his stated guiding principle rather than a specific policy platform.

Strengths

A previous 2003-2011 council term plus his current term give him more combined council experience than anyone else in this race.

Trade-offs

His own filed candidate statement lists no specific 2026 platform items — only a general philosophy, the Rotary Four-Way Test.

Keep in mind

He requested the ballot designation "Council Member," the elected title he already holds, rather than describing his day job as an insurance broker.

Thomas Allison

Thomas Allison is an attorney and University of La Verne law professor holding four degrees from the university, a more than 20-year city resident who has served five years on the Planning Commission. He's running on fiscal responsibility, traffic and neighborhood safety, community recreation programs, and preserving Old Town and local businesses amid new development.

Strengths

Five years of direct land-use experience on the Planning Commission, plus professional legal and public-policy training relevant to council work.

Trade-offs

No experience casting votes as an elected official — his record is commission service and university teaching, not legislating.

Keep in mind

He pledges to "listen first, work collaboratively, study the facts, vote independently, [and] explain every vote" — a specific accountability standard voters can hold him to.

Source review: Strong (83/100) · 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: Thomas Allison for La Verne City Council District 1 may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

Last updated August 31, 2026.