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City of Lake Elsinore · Statewide General Election

Lake Elsinore 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 one of five single-member districts on Lake Elsinore's City Council: the city budget, zoning and land-use rules, and municipal ordinances. The council elects a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem from among its own district-elected members rather than by separate citywide vote, and day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager.

Brian Tisdale is the only candidate who qualified for Lake Elsinore's District 1 City Council seat, so he runs unopposed on the November 3, 2026 ballot.

This seat is one of five single-member districts on Lake Elsinore's City Council — the city switched from at-large to by-district council elections on February 1, 2018. The council sets the city budget, zoning and land-use rules, and municipal ordinances; day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. A 4-year term.

A second candidate, Adela Gonzales, pulled nomination papers for this seat but did not qualify for the ballot by the August 7, 2026 filing deadline, per the city clerk's own nomination table — so this is a genuinely uncontested race, not simply a thin field. Registered D1 voters may still file as write-in candidates through October 20, 2026; a qualified write-in's votes would be counted even though they won't appear on the printed ballot.

Brian Tisdale

The incumbent, first elected to this seat in 2022 and running for a second term. In his filed Candidate's Statement he describes serving previously as the council's rotating Mayor, and cites maintaining a balanced budget while prioritizing the Police and Fire Departments, securing regional funding for road projects including the Railroad Canyon Road off-ramp, opening three skate parks, and delivering a new City Hall and Library. He also says he developed the city's 'Lake Elsinore 2040 Vision Plan' for future growth and names addressing homelessness as an ongoing priority. He holds a Master of Science in Emergency Services Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Management/Human Resources, and cites 22 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and 20 years in local government.

Strengths

A specific, project-by-project record from a full term in office, plus military and emergency-management credentials directly relevant to a council seat's public-safety role.

Trade-offs

The statement is framed entirely around accomplishments already delivered; it names ongoing priorities (homelessness, growth) without laying out a concrete plan for a second term.

Keep in mind

He is unopposed — the only outside check on his account here is that no independent local reporting on his record was found in the sources checked for this page.

Source review: Very strong (90/100) · 5 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • lake-elsinore.org (opens in a new tab)City of Lake Elsinore City Clerk — "Upcoming Elections" page: states Districts 1 and 3 (full terms) and District 4 (partial term) are up Nov. 3, 2026, with Districts 2, 5 and City Treasurer deferred to Nov. 7, 2028; carries the clerk's own nomination table showing exactly one qualified candidate per district -- Brian Tisdale (D1), Timothy J. Sheridan (D3), Michael Carroll (D4) -- and two non-qualifying filers (Adela Gonzales, D1; Adelina Vega-Velasquez, D4); nomination period July 13-Aug. 7, 2026, write-in period Sept. 7-Oct. 20, 2026
  • lake-elsinore.org (opens in a new tab)City of Lake Elsinore City Clerk — "Election Districts" page: five single-member council districts, adopted Feb. 1, 2018 (switching from at-large elections), updated for the 2021-2022 redistricting cycle
  • lake-elsinore.org (opens in a new tab)City of Lake Elsinore — "City Government" page: "Lake Elsinore is a General Law city governed by a five-member City Council"; council members "elected by district" and "the City Treasurer is elected at-large for a four-year term" (no City Clerk election -- the Clerk is appointed by the City Manager, per the Clerk's own department page)
  • lake-elsinore.org (opens in a new tab)City of Lake Elsinore — City Council page: sitting roster as of Aug. 2026 -- Mayor Robert 'Bob' Magee (D5), Mayor Pro Tem Timothy J. Sheridan (D3), Councilmembers Steve Manos (D2), Michael Carroll (D4) and Brian Tisdale (D1) -- with each member's term-expiration date; Carroll's listed term ("November 2025 to December 2026") is the source for treating D4 as a short/partial term this cycle
  • lake-elsinore.org (opens in a new tab)City of Lake Elsinore — Brian Tisdale's filed Candidate's Statement, City Council District 1: cites service as the council's rotating Mayor, a balanced budget, Police/Fire funding, regional road-project funding (Railroad Canyon Road off-ramp), three new skate parks, a new City Hall and Library, the "Lake Elsinore 2040 Vision Plan," and priorities on homelessness; lists 22 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and 20 years in local government, plus a Master's in Emergency Services Administration

Last updated August 31, 2026.