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City of Larkspur · Statewide General Election

Larkspur City Council

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 would serve a 4-year term on Larkspur's 5-member City Council, elected at large -- a Marin County city of about 12,672 residents (2020 Census). Three seats are up this cycle.

Seven candidates are running for three at-large seats on the Larkspur City Council: incumbent Mayor Stephanie Andre, incumbent Sarah Margulies, Jeanne Friedel, Spencer Doyle, Gareth Walter, Aaron Burnett, and Brian Jaffe. The three with the most votes win.

Larkspur is a Marin County city of about 12,672 residents (2020 Census) with a five-member City Council elected entirely at large -- not by district -- to staggered four-year terms. The Mayor and Vice Mayor are chosen each year by the Council from among its own members.

One of Larkspur's two other sitting councilmembers, Catherine Way, is not seeking reelection this year (Vice Mayor Gabe Paulson and Councilmember Scot Candell are not up this cycle). That left one seat open between five non-incumbents, alongside the two seats defended by Andre and Margulies.

Stephanie Andre

Stephanie Andre is the incumbent Mayor, elected to Council in March 2024 and chosen by her colleagues as Vice Mayor in 2025 and Mayor in 2026. She holds an M.B.A. from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and a B.A. cum laude from Columbia University, and spent 25 years in investment banking and finance, including senior finance-executive roles at Bank of America and BRE Properties. She is immediate past president of The Calvary Foundation of San Francisco, and she and her husband raised two sons through Larkspur's public schools while she volunteered with her neighborhood emergency-response group, her church, and the SF-Marin Food Bank.

Strengths

Direct experience as sitting Mayor, plus a specific, high-level finance background relevant to city budgeting.

Trade-offs

As an incumbent, she owns the current Council's record; no detailed 2026 campaign platform statement was found beyond her official biography.

Keep in mind

The Mayor's title rotates annually among Council members -- it would not automatically follow her into a new term.

Sarah Margulies

Sarah Margulies is the other incumbent, elected in 2024. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Vermont and spent 12 years at Modo Labs, a higher-education technology company, as VP of Sales and Customer Success. A Greenbrae resident since 2010 and a trained chef, she volunteers with organizations including Halleck Creek Ranch, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Special Olympics, and fundraises for Kentfield Invests in Kids and Redwood High School's music program.

Strengths

A current term's worth of Council experience, plus a corporate sales-leadership background relevant to organizational management.

Trade-offs

Her official Council bio page carries no personal-background text -- her fuller biography comes entirely from her own campaign site, not an independent city or news source.

Keep in mind

She was endorsed by the Marin Independent Journal's editorial board in her 2024 race.

Jeanne Friedel

Jeanne Friedel has lived in Larkspur more than 20 years and has served as the city's Park and Recreation Commissioner since 2008, helping guide its Parks Master Plan. She is a founding member of The Commons Foundation, which supported development of Larkspur's new public library, and founded the Larkspur Rec'ing Crew, a youth-programs group. Professionally, she spent 15 years as Operations Manager at the Law Offices of Scot Candell and worked as Director of Operations at CB Labs; she also spent 17 years producing the Sausalito Art Festival, one of the country's larger arts events, managing more than 1,200 volunteers and a multimillion-dollar budget. She has twice served as president of the Rotary Club of Terra Linda -- independently confirmed by a 2019 Rotary District post naming her an 8-year member at that point -- and holds a Certified Festival and Event Executive credential.

Strengths

Nearly two decades on Larkspur's own Parks and Recreation Commission, plus a long professional record managing large budgets and volunteer organizations.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office; her fullest biography is self-published on her own campaign site, not independently reported.

Keep in mind

Her operations and event-management background is broad but not specific to city governance or budgeting.

Spencer Doyle

Spencer Doyle, in his own words, was "raised in Oakland," attended an Ivy League school where he "studied Shakespeare's sonnets," then spent years "building technology companies in San Francisco" before moving to Marin with his wife Susie to raise their children. He describes himself today as a youth coach, a professional mentor, and a supporter of local Larkspur businesses.

Strengths

A stated local-business-support and youth-mentorship focus, and direct, first-person framing of his path to Marin.

Trade-offs

The thinnest public record in this field -- no named employer, company, or degree, and no prior elected or appointed office found.

Keep in mind

A third-party sales-data site lists an unverified job title for him that this dataset could not confirm and does not include here.

Gareth Walter

Gareth Walter, 48, spent 27 years in technology leadership, most recently as Chief Revenue Officer at Vertafore, an insurance software company, from 2023 to 2025, leading sales and marketing for a business he describes as generating $715 million in annual revenue. Before that he spent nine years at Salesforce in vice-president sales roles and two years as a group vice president at C3. He holds an MBA with Distinction from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin's Honors Program. He co-founded Rock Marin, a nonprofit bringing music education to Marin County kids, and serves on the investment committee and board of Wendy's Wish. A father of three raised in Larkspur schools, he says he is running a volunteer-powered campaign and is not accepting donations from PACs or special interests.

Strengths

A long, specific corporate-leadership record -- named titles, employers, and dollar figures -- plus a concrete local nonprofit founded and still run today.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed public office; his campaign site's technical security setup is misconfigured, though its content is genuine.

Keep in mind

His self-declared no-donations pledge means he may be outspent by opponents who do fundraise.

Aaron Burnett

Aaron Burnett describes deep roots in West Marin and a career that began in film before he went to law school and returned to Marin as a bilingual immigration attorney at Canal Alliance, providing free legal services to local families. He now serves as the organization's Director of Policy and Civic Engagement, working on climate preparedness and street-safety initiatives, and has also served on the Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative. He lives in Larkspur with his wife and son.

Strengths

A specific, sustained career in immigration law and policy work at a well-known Marin nonprofit, plus a civic-engagement and housing-collaborative background relevant to city issues.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed public office; his fullest biography comes from his own campaign site rather than independent reporting.

Keep in mind

His professional focus (immigration law, policy) is broader than Larkspur-specific issues.

Brian Jaffe

Brian Jaffe holds an engineering degree from Princeton and served five years as a U.S. Navy officer, qualifying as a nuclear propulsion engineer and surface warfare officer with sea tours aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald and the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. After the Navy he founded VOCA, a civic-engagement technology platform, and now runs two businesses: California Cottage Company, which builds small infill housing, and California Abundance, a Sacramento policy consultancy on housing and clean energy. He serves on the boards of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, HIP Housing, and CalMatters, the nonprofit newsroom. He and his wife Katy, a physician specializing in cancer care, are raising three children, ages two to seven, in Larkspur.

Strengths

A specific military and engineering background, a founded company directly relevant to the city's housing debates, and board seats at well-known regional institutions.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed public office; his board memberships are stated on his own campaign site, not cross-checked against each organization's own listings.

Keep in mind

His two current businesses both work directly in housing policy and development, an area Larkspur is actively debating.

Source review: Mixed (77/100) · 20 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: Aaron Burnett's own campaign website, 'Meet Aaron' page (aaronforlarkspur.com/meet-aaron): 'a Larkspur resident with deep roots in West Marin and a lifelong commitment to public service'; after an early career in film and law school, returned to Marin to join Canal Alliance as a bilingual immigration attorney providing free legal services; now 'Director of Policy and Civic Engagement at Canal Alliance,' leading climate-preparedness and street-safety initiatives; also served on the Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative; lives with his wife and son., Spencer Doyle's own campaign website, 'About Me' page (spencerdoyle4larkspur.com/story): a short first-person bio -- "Raised in Oakland, I worked my way to the Ivy League, where I studied Shakespeare's sonnets. After years building technology companies in San Francisco, I moved to Marin with my wife, Susie, to raise our children in this community. Today I'm a youth coach, a professional mentor, and a regular supporter of local Larkspur businesses." The thinnest bio of the field: no named employer, company, or degree. A sales-intelligence aggregator site (not independently confirmed, not carried into this dataset's content) lists an unverified 'Vice President of Sales at Noodle.Ai' title., Jeanne Friedel's own campaign website, 'About Jeanne' page (jeanneforlarkspur.com/about-jeanne): a 20-plus-year Larkspur resident; Larkspur Park and Recreation Commissioner since 2008, helping guide the city's Parks Master Plan; founding member of The Commons Foundation (supporting Larkspur's new public library) and founder of the Larkspur Rec'ing Crew (youth programs); 15 years as Operations Manager at the Law Offices of Scot Candell (overseeing firm finances and client relations); Director of Operations at CB Labs; 17 years with the Sausalito Art Festival, producing an event with 1,200-plus volunteers and a multimillion-dollar budget; twice president of the Rotary Club of Terra Linda; raised over $1 million for Guide Dogs for the Blind; a Certified Festival and Event Executive (CFEE) via San Francisco State University. Carries an endorsement quote from Joseph Jennings, Founder of The Commons Foundation., Brian Jaffe's own campaign website, 'About' page (brianforlarkspur.com/about, independently fetched and confirmed this pass): 'Veteran. Builder. Husband & Dad.'; an engineering degree from Princeton, then five years as a U.S. Navy officer qualified as a nuclear propulsion engineer and surface warfare officer, with sea tours aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald and the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower; founded VOCA, a civic-engagement technology platform; currently runs California Cottage Company (small infill housing) and California Abundance (a pro-housing, pro-clean-energy policy consultancy in Sacramento); board service with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, HIP Housing, and CalMatters; wife Katy is a physician specializing in cancer care; three children aged two to seven., Sarah Margulies' own campaign website, 'About Sarah' page (sarah4larkspur.com/about-sarah, FPPC #1473786): a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Vermont (1985-1989); 12 years (2012-2024) at Modo Labs, Inc. as VP of Sales and Customer Success, focused on 'digital transformation across Higher Education campuses'; a Greenbrae resident since 2010, mother of two daughters (Cal Poly SLO and UCSB graduates); a trained chef (Tante Marie's French Culinary Program, 1996); extensive local volunteer work (Halleck Creek Ranch, GGNRA, Special Olympics, St. Vincent De Paul) and fundraising for Kentfield Invests in Kids and Redwood High School's music program; completed a 100-mile Tour du Mont Blanc in summer 2024., and Gareth Walter's own campaign website (electgareth.com; the site's TLS certificate is issued for *.github.com/github.io, a likely GitHub Pages misconfiguration that blocks normal HTTPS tools -- fetched via curl -k this pass, and the content is genuine and internally consistent): age 48, occupation 'Nonprofit President / Parent'; 27 years in technology leadership -- Chief Revenue Officer, Vertafore (2023-2025, "Led sales and marketing for a leading insurance SaaS provider generating $715M in annual revenue"); Group VP, North America West Sales, C3 (2021-2022); VP, Salesforce (2012-2021, 9 years, scaling Financial Services and Healthcare/Life Sciences into $130M-plus businesses); an MBA from Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern), with Distinction, and a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin's Honors Program; co-founder and co-president of Rock Marin, a music-education nonprofit; Investment Committee and Board Member of Wendy's Wish; a father of three raised in Larkspur schools; states he is running a volunteer-powered, donation-free campaign, accepting no PAC or special-interest money. may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • marincounty.gov (opens in a new tab)Marin County Elections Department -- official "Status of local candidates for office 11/03/26" page: a table of contents of every county-administered and city/town contest in the county, listing "City of Larkspur Member City Council" as a verified, filed contest -- no candidate names or seat count appear on this page, only the office title.
  • larkspur.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Larkspur -- official Elections page: Resolution 35/26 calls the Nov. 3, 2026 election for "Three City Councilmembers, Full term of four years"; the page's own nomination-filing table names a certified, dated roster of 10 candidates who pulled papers -- 7 who filed and qualified (Jeanne Friedel, filed 7/27; Stephanie Andre, filed 8/5; Spencer Doyle, filed 8/7; Sarah Margulies, filed 8/4; Gareth Walter, filed 8/7; Aaron Burnett, filed 8/3; Brian Jaffe, filed 7/30) and 3 who did not (Sabrina Sandoval, Braydan Young, Lana Scott). Fully reachable by direct WebFetch, unlike Marin County's own site.
  • larkspur.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Larkspur -- official Elected Officials directory: names the current 5-member City Council -- Mayor Stephanie Andre, Vice Mayor Gabe Paulson, and Councilmembers Catherine Way, Scot Candell, and Sarah Margulies -- confirming an at-large council, not by-district, and that Way (not up for reelection this cycle) is the incumbent whose seat is open.
  • marinij.com (opens in a new tab)Marin Independent Journal -- Richard Halstead, "Slew of Marin offices up for grabs in November election" (July 27, 2026, an early-filing-period roundup): names Larkspur as one of the jurisdictions with a Council race up this cycle.
  • marinij.com (opens in a new tab)Marin Independent Journal -- Keri Brenner, "Marin candidate list lengthens for November election" (Aug. 8, 2026, published as the initial filing deadline closed): names the Larkspur City Council filers as of that date, consistent with the city's own final roster.
  • marinij.com (opens in a new tab)Marin Independent Journal -- Keri Brenner, "More contenders pile into Marin's fall elections" (published Aug. 13, 2026, updated Aug. 15, 2026, after the extended filing deadline closed): the final post-deadline roster for Larkspur, matching the city's own official election page's 7-candidate list exactly.
  • marinij.com (opens in a new tab)Marin Independent Journal -- Dick Spotswood, "Seats across Marin are up for grabs in November" (July 18, 2026, a pre-filing-deadline preview): states incumbent Catherine Way "recently announced her retirement," independently explaining why Larkspur was one of seven Marin jurisdictions whose nomination period was extended to Aug. 12 because a sitting incumbent did not refile.
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)A negative-result local campaign-finance check: the city's own Elections page links directly to NetFile (agency code LARK) for current-cycle filings, but -- like every other NetFile jurisdiction in this dataset -- it returns only a bare client-rendered SPA shell (a 691-byte 'div id="app"' page) with no server-rendered content.
  • larkspur.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Larkspur -- official Campaign Disclosures archive page: covers 2021-2024 only, not the current cycle, but independently confirms a real 2024 Margulies campaign committee ('Sarah Margulies for Larkspur City Council 2024,' Forms 501/410/460/497 filed July-November 2024) and links a Sept. 26, 2024 Marin IJ editorial endorsing her that cycle.
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)A negative-result access check: California's statewide Cal-Access campaign-finance filer/candidate search was queried directly this pass and returned only a near-empty, content-free response (~1,071 bytes), consistent with the Cal-Access bot-wall documented elsewhere in this dataset.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "Larkspur, California": used narrowly for the fixed, dated 2020 Census population figure (12,672) and the city's at-large Council structure, not for any 2026 election content.
  • larkspur.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Larkspur -- official 'Stephanie Andre, Mayor' biography page: elected to City Council in March 2024, served as Vice Mayor (2025) and Mayor (2026); an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and a B.A. cum laude from Columbia University; "25 years of investment banking and finance experience," including senior finance-executive roles at Bank of America and BRE Properties; immediate past president of The Calvary Foundation of San Francisco; and, with her husband, raised two sons through Larkspur's public schools, volunteering with her neighborhood response group, her church, and the SF-Marin Food Bank.
  • larkspur.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Larkspur -- official Sarah Margulies biography page: a negative-result check confirming her official Council bio carries no personal-background text at all, only a committee-assignment list (Climate Action Forum, Library Board Liaison, Planning Commission Liaison, and others) -- her staff-directory entry independently confirms she was elected to office in 2024, with her term expiring Dec. 2026.
  • sarah4larkspur.com (opens in a new tab)Sarah Margulies' own campaign website, 'About Sarah' page (sarah4larkspur.com/about-sarah, FPPC #1473786): a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Vermont (1985-1989); 12 years (2012-2024) at Modo Labs, Inc. as VP of Sales and Customer Success, focused on "digital transformation across Higher Education campuses"; a Greenbrae resident since 2010, mother of two daughters (Cal Poly SLO and UCSB graduates); a trained chef (Tante Marie's French Culinary Program, 1996); extensive local volunteer work (Halleck Creek Ranch, GGNRA, Special Olympics, St. Vincent De Paul) and fundraising for Kentfield Invests in Kids and Redwood High School's music program; completed a 100-mile Tour du Mont Blanc in summer 2024.
  • jeanneforlarkspur.com (opens in a new tab)Jeanne Friedel's own campaign website, 'About Jeanne' page (jeanneforlarkspur.com/about-jeanne): a 20-plus-year Larkspur resident; Larkspur Park and Recreation Commissioner since 2008, helping guide the city's Parks Master Plan; founding member of The Commons Foundation (supporting Larkspur's new public library) and founder of the Larkspur Rec'ing Crew (youth programs); 15 years as Operations Manager at the Law Offices of Scot Candell (overseeing firm finances and client relations); Director of Operations at CB Labs; 17 years with the Sausalito Art Festival, producing an event with 1,200-plus volunteers and a multimillion-dollar budget; twice president of the Rotary Club of Terra Linda; raised over $1 million for Guide Dogs for the Blind; a Certified Festival and Event Executive (CFEE) via San Francisco State University. Carries an endorsement quote from Joseph Jennings, Founder of The Commons Foundation.
  • rotary5150.org (opens in a new tab)Rotary District 5150 -- 'Rotarian of the Month -- August 2019' post: 'Jeanne Friedel is from the Rotary Club of Terra Linda. She has been a Rotarian for 8 years' -- independent corroboration of her Rotary Club involvement, dated years before her candidacy.
  • spencerdoyle4larkspur.com (opens in a new tab)Spencer Doyle's own campaign website, 'About Me' page (spencerdoyle4larkspur.com/story): a short first-person bio -- "Raised in Oakland, I worked my way to the Ivy League, where I studied Shakespeare's sonnets. After years building technology companies in San Francisco, I moved to Marin with my wife, Susie, to raise our children in this community. Today I'm a youth coach, a professional mentor, and a regular supporter of local Larkspur businesses." The thinnest bio of the field: no named employer, company, or degree. A sales-intelligence aggregator site (not independently confirmed, not carried into this dataset's content) lists an unverified 'Vice President of Sales at Noodle.Ai' title.
  • electgareth.com (opens in a new tab)Gareth Walter's own campaign website (electgareth.com; the site's TLS certificate is issued for *.github.com/github.io, a likely GitHub Pages misconfiguration that blocks normal HTTPS tools -- fetched via curl -k this pass, and the content is genuine and internally consistent): age 48, occupation 'Nonprofit President / Parent'; 27 years in technology leadership -- Chief Revenue Officer, Vertafore (2023-2025, "Led sales and marketing for a leading insurance SaaS provider generating $715M in annual revenue"); Group VP, North America West Sales, C3 (2021-2022); VP, Salesforce (2012-2021, 9 years, scaling Financial Services and Healthcare/Life Sciences into $130M-plus businesses); an MBA from Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern), with Distinction, and a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin's Honors Program; co-founder and co-president of Rock Marin, a music-education nonprofit; Investment Committee and Board Member of Wendy's Wish; a father of three raised in Larkspur schools; states he is running a volunteer-powered, donation-free campaign, accepting no PAC or special-interest money.
  • aaronforlarkspur.com (opens in a new tab)Aaron Burnett's own campaign website, 'Meet Aaron' page (aaronforlarkspur.com/meet-aaron): 'a Larkspur resident with deep roots in West Marin and a lifelong commitment to public service'; after an early career in film and law school, returned to Marin to join Canal Alliance as a bilingual immigration attorney providing free legal services; now 'Director of Policy and Civic Engagement at Canal Alliance,' leading climate-preparedness and street-safety initiatives; also served on the Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative; lives with his wife and son.
  • brianforlarkspur.com (opens in a new tab)Brian Jaffe's own campaign website, 'About' page (brianforlarkspur.com/about, independently fetched and confirmed this pass): 'Veteran. Builder. Husband & Dad.'; an engineering degree from Princeton, then five years as a U.S. Navy officer qualified as a nuclear propulsion engineer and surface warfare officer, with sea tours aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald and the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower; founded VOCA, a civic-engagement technology platform; currently runs California Cottage Company (small infill housing) and California Abundance (a pro-housing, pro-clean-energy policy consultancy in Sacramento); board service with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, HIP Housing, and CalMatters; wife Katy is a physician specializing in cancer care; three children aged two to seven.

Last updated September 2, 2026.