# Lake Forest City Council, District 3 Compare records and positions simply between Anil D. Patel or Tom Grable for Lake Forest City Council, District 3 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-3 - 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 5 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Anil D. Patel** — Project Manager/Businessowner - **Tom Grable** — Planning Commissioner/Businessowner A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Two candidates, Anil D. Patel and Tom Grable, are running for Lake Forest City Council District 3's open seat. Incumbent Scott Voigts did not file for re-election. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff. This person holds District 3'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 one of Lake Forest's two open seats this cycle: no incumbent is on the ballot. The city's own Planning Commission roster independently confirms Tom Grable currently serves as the commission's Vice Chair, corroborating their filed ballot designation. No comparable independent detail was found for Anil D. Patel despite a real search effort. ## Anil D. Patel Filed their candidacy under the ballot designation "Project Manager/Businessowner." 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 project-management and business-ownership background suggests organizational and operational experience relevant to running a city department's 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. ## Tom Grable Filed their candidacy under the ballot designation "Planning Commissioner/Businessowner." The city's own Planning Commission roster page independently confirms Grable currently serves as the commission's Vice Chair, a term running through December 2028 -- meaning they already sit on the body that reviews Lake Forest land-use and development decisions before they reach the City Council. No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source describing their business background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort. **Strengths:** Sitting Vice Chair of the city's Planning Commission, giving them direct, current exposure to Lake Forest land-use and development decisions before they'd even take a council seat. **Trade-offs:** No prior elected office; a Planning Commission seat is appointed, not elected, so this is their first time on the ballot. **Keep in mind:** No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for their 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) 5. [City of Lake Forest -- Planning Commission page: confirms Tom Grable as the sitting Vice Chair (term through December 2028), corroborating his District 3 ballot designation ("Planning Commissioner/Businessowner")](https://www.lakeforestca.gov/city_government/commissions_and_boards/planning_commission.php) ## The rest of the ballot Lake Forest City Council, District 3 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 3 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/lake-forest-council-3 (sources last retrieved August 31, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.