# Lake Forest City Council, District 2

Compare records and positions simply between Becky Keene, Brandon Council, and 3 more for Lake Forest City Council, District 2 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Lake Forest's City Council. The council has five members. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. An appointed city manager runs day to day operations. Lake Forest has no separately elected Mayor. The council chooses a Mayor from among its own members each year. It also chooses a Mayor Pro Tem the same way. Not all five council districts are elected the same year. Only Districts 2, 3, and 4 have terms expiring in 2026. The term is four years.

- Jurisdiction: City of Lake Forest
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/lake-forest-council-2
- Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/
- Sources last retrieved: August 31, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 74 out of 100 (Mixed), across 4 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Becky Keene** — Systems Analyst
- **Brandon Council** — Mechanical Engineer
- **Giurguis "George" Azer** — Small Business Owner
- **Benjamin Yu** — Councilmember, City of Lake Forest/Businessman · Incumbent
- **Brittany Thompson** — Community Volunteer

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

Incumbent Benjamin Yu is running for a second term against four challengers: Giurguis "George" Azer, Becky Keene, Brandon Council, and Brittany Thompson. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff.

This person holds District 2's seat on Lake Forest'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. Lake Forest is a general-law city with no separately, citywide-elected Mayor -- the council chooses a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem from among its own members each year. Not all five council districts are elected the same year -- only Districts 2, 3, and 4 have terms expiring in 2026. The term is four years.

This is the only one of Lake Forest's three 2026 council races with an incumbent on the ballot. Beyond each candidate's own filed occupation, no campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source could be found for any of the five despite a real, per-candidate search effort -- the city's own elections page confirms it published an individual candidate statement for each of them, but every one of those nine statement PDFs (across all three Lake Forest races) 404s on the city's document system. Documented below as a gap, not filled in with speculation.

## Benjamin Yu

First elected to the council in November 2022, Yu is seeking a second term. Their filed ballot designation is "Councilmember, City of Lake Forest/Businessman." No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source describing their platform or business background could be found in this pass despite a real search effort (the city's own council roster page confirms their district, election date, and term-expiration only).

**Strengths:** One full term of council experience, running as the only incumbent among Lake Forest's three 2026 races.

**Trade-offs:** No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass beyond their ballot designation, so voters have no confirmed sense of what they'd prioritize in a second term.

**Keep in mind:** No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for their campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.

## Giurguis "George" Azer

Filed their candidacy under the ballot designation "Small Business Owner." No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source describing their background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort.

**Strengths:** A small-business background suggests direct familiarity with the local economy and regulatory environment.

**Trade-offs:** No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of their priorities beyond their listed occupation.

**Keep in mind:** No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for their campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.

## Becky Keene

Filed their candidacy under the ballot designation "Systems Analyst." No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source describing their background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort.

**Strengths:** A systems-analysis background suggests process- and data-oriented experience relevant to municipal operations.

**Trade-offs:** No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of their priorities beyond their listed occupation.

**Keep in mind:** No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for them campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.

## Brandon Council

Filed their candidacy under the ballot designation "Mechanical Engineer." No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source describing their background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort.

**Strengths:** An engineering background suggests technical and infrastructure-oriented experience relevant to public works and capital projects.

**Trade-offs:** No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of their priorities beyond their listed occupation.

**Keep in mind:** No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for their campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.

## Brittany Thompson

Filed their candidacy under the ballot designation "Community Volunteer." No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source describing their background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort.

**Strengths:** A community-volunteer background suggests direct, hands-on familiarity with local civic and nonprofit organizations.

**Trade-offs:** No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of their priorities beyond their listed occupation.

**Keep in mind:** No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for them campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.

## Review notes

- No cited source describes the candidates; add descriptive coverage to lift the cap.

## Sources

1. [OC Registrar of Voters -- Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election 11/3/2026 -- City of Lake Forest section (pages 121-126 of 188): confirms City Council District 2 (5 qualified candidates), District 3 (2), and District 4 (2) as the city's three November 2026 races, each Vote for 1, with incumbent flags and every candidate's filed ballot designation](https://ocvote.gov/fileadmin/user_upload/data/candlog/GEN2026/candlog.pdf)
2. [City of Lake Forest -- City Council page: the full sitting 5-member roster and district assignments (Mayor Robert Pequeño, District 5; Mayor Pro Tem Doug Cirbo, District 1; Mark Tettemer, District 4; Scott Voigts, District 3; Benjamin Yu, District 2) -- confirms which three districts (2, 3, 4) have terms expiring in 2026 and that Districts 3 and 4's incumbents, Voigts and Tettemer, are not among the qualified 2026 candidates for their own seats](https://www.lakeforestca.gov/city_government/city_council/index.php)
3. [City of Lake Forest -- Elections page: confirms Districts 2, 3, and 4 are up in the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election (consolidated with the Orange County Registrar of Voters), the district-based nomination structure, and the candidate-filing timeline (nomination period July 13 - August 7, 2026)](https://www.lakeforestca.gov/city_government/elections/index.php)
4. [City of Lake Forest -- "List of Candidates for Members of the City Council -- Districts 2, 3, and 4," dated 8/7/2026 (the city clerk's own PDF): every qualified candidate's name, district, and filing dates for all 9 candidates, plus one withdrawn filer (Bob Stuart, District 2, pulled papers but never filed) -- independently matches the county's Proof List exactly](https://www.lakeforestca.gov/Documents/City%20Government/Elections/2026%20Candidate%20List%20for%20Website.pdf)

## The rest of the ballot

Lake Forest City Council, District 2 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/

## How to cite this page

Vote or Else, "Lake Forest City Council, District 2 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/lake-forest-council-2 (sources last retrieved August 31, 2026).

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