City of Lathrop · Statewide General Election

Lathrop 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

Shelita Jefferson — Realtor/Mother
Steve Dresser — Appointed Incumbent · Incumbent
Leandro Vicuña — Bank Executive/Father
Daniel MacNeilage — Construction Superintendent

This person would hold one of four at-large seats on Lathrop's 5-member City Council, alongside a directly elected Mayor, in this general-law, council-manager city of about 28,701 residents (2020 Census) in San Joaquin County. City Manager Stephen J. Salvatore runs day-to-day operations under Council direction. A 4-year term.

Incumbent Steve Dresser, appointed to the Council and now seeking election in his own right, faces three first-time candidates -- Chamber of Commerce leader Leandro Vicuña, longtime construction executive Daniel MacNeilage, and Realtor Shelita Jefferson -- for Lathrop's two at-large Council seats.

One of the two seats on this ballot is Dresser's: he was appointed to fill an unexpired vacancy rather than elected to it. The other belongs to Diane Lazard, whose term expires this December; she chose not to seek another term, and her decision not to refile by the Aug. 7, 2026 deadline triggered a state-law extension of the filing window (through Aug. 12) during which any non-incumbent could enter the race -- which is how Jefferson, the last of the four qualifiers, joined the field. A second would-be candidate, Michael Wells, also filed but withdrew before qualifying. The city's other two Council seats, held by Vice Mayor Jennifer Torres-O'Callaghan and by Minnie Diallo (who is instead running for Mayor this cycle), are not up until 2028.

Steve Dresser

His filed ballot designation is "Appointed Incumbent" (age 76 per his statement). A 30-year Lathrop resident, Dresser's own filed candidate statement says he has "proudly served on the City Council for 15" of those years and points to the city's finances and its police and fire services as evidence his approach is working. He has also served as a Director on the Fire Board and been a member of the local Rotary Club since its founding in 2000, and cites involvement in the city's Thanksgiving dinner and winter jacket distribution programs for children.

Strengths

The longest track record of any 2026 Lathrop Council candidate -- 15 years on the Council plus Fire Board service -- and direct familiarity with the city's finances and public-safety departments.

Trade-offs

He was appointed rather than elected to his current seat, so this is his first time putting that specific tenure before voters.

Keep in mind

His statement frames his candidacy explicitly around continuity ("If it's not broken, don't fix it") rather than new initiatives -- useful context for comparing him against three first-time challengers running on change.

Daniel MacNeilage

His filed ballot designation is "Construction Superintendent" (age 68 per his statement). A nearly 30-year Lathrop resident, MacNeilage's own filed candidate statement cites over 35 years of leadership and management experience in the construction industry, a prior term as a City of Lathrop Planning Commissioner, and current board service at the Boys and Girls Club along with volunteer leadership roles with the American Cancer Society and the ALS Association.

Strengths

Direct land-use and development experience from a prior Planning Commission term, plus decades of hands-on construction-industry management relevant to a fast-growing city.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office, and this dataset found no independent (non-campaign) reporting on his Planning Commission tenure.

Keep in mind

His stated slogan, "Neighborhoods before Politics," is a broad framing rather than a specific policy platform -- worth asking him to make concrete.

Leandro Vicuña

His county-filed ballot designation reads "Bank Executive/Father"; his own longer candidate statement lists his occupation as "Nonprofit Executive Chairman." Both are accurate self-descriptions of the same person: Vicuña is a Bank Executive at Fremont Bank and also Founder and Chairman of the Greater Lathrop Chamber of Commerce and President-Elect of Lathrop Rotary. He holds a Juris Doctor from Cooley Law School and centers his campaign on attracting jobs, supporting small business, public safety, and infrastructure investment as the city grows.

Strengths

Direct local economic-development experience through Chamber of Commerce leadership, plus a banking background relevant to the city's fiscal decisions.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office; his dual bank-executive and Chamber-chairman roles are worth weighing for potential conflicts on business-related votes, though no reporting alleges a specific conflict.

Keep in mind

His stated priorities -- jobs, small business, public safety, infrastructure -- overlap closely with what this dataset found for MacNeilage and Jefferson this cycle; worth comparing on specifics, not just shared framing.

Shelita Jefferson

Her filed ballot designation is "Realtor/Mother"; her longer candidate statement lists her occupation as "Community Sales Manager (Realtor)." A Lathrop resident since 2019, Jefferson holds a bachelor's degree in Business and has been a licensed Realtor since 2016. Her own filed statement cites coaching youth sports, organizing community backpack drives, and co-founding the Lathrop Juneteenth Heritage Committee, a nonprofit that runs scholarship and educational programs, alongside leadership involvement at Home Church.

Strengths

Sustained, multi-year local civic and nonprofit founding experience (the Juneteenth Heritage Committee) rather than a single volunteer stint.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office, and among the shortest Lathrop residencies (since 2019) of this cycle's four Council candidates.

Keep in mind

She was the last of the four Council qualifiers to file, entering during the extended nomination period that opened only after Lazard's withdrawal.

Source review: Strong (89/100) · 16 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

sjgov.org (opens in a new tab)San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters -- official "Offices Up for the 2026 General Election" document: confirms the City of Lathrop's office structure -- Mayor (one seat, at-large, 2-year term) and Member of City Council (two seats, at-large, 4-year term each) -- with 20 nominations needed and a combined $800 Statement of Qualifications estimate for the two office types
sjgov.org (opens in a new tab)San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters -- "Qualified Candidate List" (report CFMR009, printed 8/20/2026): confirms both November 2026 City of Lathrop contests as On Ballot: Yes -- Contest 3570, Mayor, Vote For 1 (Paul Akinjo, "City of Lathrop Mayor," incumbent; Minnie "Cotton" Diallo, "City of Lathrop Councilwoman") and Contest 3572, City Council, Vote For 2 (Steve Dresser, "Appointed Incumbent"; Leandro Vicuna, "Bank Executive/Father"; Daniel MacNeilage, "Construction Superintendent"; Shelita Jefferson, "Realtor/Mother") -- with every candidate's exact filed ballot designation and an Aug. 7, 2026 qualified date for all six
ci.lathrop.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of Lathrop -- official "General Municipal Election -- November 3, 2026" City Clerk page: the fullest single source for this shard -- states the same office structure as the county's document, names all six qualified candidates, and explicitly ties each of the two open Council seats to a named outgoing officeholder ("current terms ending: Council Members Stephen Dresser and Diane Lazard"); links each candidate's own filed Statement of Qualifications, the Notice of Extended Nomination Period, and the Candidate Log
ci.lathrop.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of Lathrop -- official "Notice of Extended Nomination Period for City Council Contest(s)" (dated Aug. 4, 2026, published Aug. 6, per Elections Code Section 10225): states the Council nomination period was extended through Aug. 12, 2026 because an incumbent eligible for reelection (Diane Lazard) withdrew her nomination papers before the close of the regular period; confirms the Mayor's nomination period was not extended; lists Akinjo, Dresser, and Lazard as the three incumbents who were issued papers as of Aug. 4, with Lazard's papers marked "Withdrawn Date: August 3, 2026"
ci.lathrop.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of Lathrop -- official "Candidate Log, General Municipal Election, November 3, 2026" (uploaded 8/7/2026): gives exact nomination-papers-issued, filed, and qualified dates for every filer in both contests, including two Council filers who did not qualify -- Michael Wells (withdrew July 27, 2026) and incumbent Diane Lazard (withdrew Aug. 3, 2026, triggering the Section 10225 extension) -- alongside the four who did qualify (Dresser, MacNeilage, Vicuna, Jefferson) and the two Mayoral qualifiers (Akinjo, Diallo)
ci.lathrop.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of Lathrop -- official "City Council" page: confirms the five-member structure -- "the Mayor and four Council Members" -- and names the full current roster (Mayor Paul Akinjo; Vice Mayor Jennifer Torres-O'Callaghan; Councilmembers Diane Lazard, Stephen Dresser, and Minnie Diallo); links each of Akinjo's, Torres-O'Callaghan's, Lazard's, and Dresser's own official biography PDFs (no bio PDF is linked for Diallo)
ci.lathrop.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of Lathrop -- official City Manager page: names Stephen J. Salvatore as the current City Manager
en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Lathrop, California": independently confirms Paul Akinjo as Mayor and Stephen Salvatore as City Manager under a council-manager government; gives the 2020 Census population (28,701) and July 1, 1989 incorporation date
southtechhosting.com (opens in a new tab)City of Lathrop's own SouthTech "CampaignDocs eRetrieval" public campaign-finance portal (linked from the city's Campaign Statements page): a negative-result check -- the portal loads (HTTP 200) but is a classic ASP.NET WebForms application driven by server-side postbacks with no static content, query-string search, or documented public API reachable by this session's tooling. Documents the absence of a reachable local financial-disclosure source for any of the six 2026 Lathrop candidates, not any candidate's actual finances
ci.lathrop.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of Lathrop -- official Council biography PDF for Councilmember Steve Dresser (no further career or education detail is included in the file beyond his name, title, and photo)
ci.lathrop.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of Lathrop -- official Council biography PDF for Councilmember Diane Lazard: confirms a term of "December 2022 to December 2026," re-elected in the Nov. 8, 2022 General Municipal Election; over 35 years a Lathrop resident, an Associate's Degree from Delta College, over twelve years on the Lathrop Planning Commission (Chair and Vice Chair) before her Council service. Cited in this shard only to establish that her seat's term expires this cycle -- she did not seek renewal, per the county's and city's own election documents
ci.lathrop.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of Lathrop -- official Council biography PDF for Vice Mayor Jennifer Torres-O'Callaghan: confirms a term of "December 2024 to December 2028," re-elected in the Nov. 5, 2024 General Municipal Election. Cited in this shard only to independently confirm her seat is not up in Nov. 2026
ci.lathrop.ca.us (opens in a new tab)Steve Dresser's own filed Candidate's Statement of Qualifications for City Council (age 76 per the form): states he has lived in Lathrop 30 years and "proudly served on the City Council for 15 of them"; cites service as a Director on the Fire Board and as a Rotary Club member since its 2000 inception, and local charitable involvement (Thanksgiving dinner, winter jacket distribution)
ci.lathrop.ca.us (opens in a new tab)Leandro Vicuna's own filed Candidate's Statement of Qualifications for City Council (age 48 per the form; occupation listed as "Nonprofit Executive Chairman"): identifies himself as Founder/Chairman of the Greater Lathrop Chamber of Commerce, President-Elect of Lathrop Rotary, a Bank Executive at Fremont Bank, and a Juris Doctor graduate of Cooley Law School -- reconciling his fuller statement occupation with the shorter, county-filed ballot designation "Bank Executive/Father"
ci.lathrop.ca.us (opens in a new tab)Daniel MacNeilage's own filed Candidate's Statement of Qualifications for City Council (age 68 per the form): states nearly 30 years as a Lathrop resident; cites over 35 years of leadership and management experience in the construction industry, current board membership at the Boys and Girls Club, and a prior term as a City of Lathrop Planning Commissioner
ci.lathrop.ca.us (opens in a new tab)Shelita Jefferson's own filed Candidate's Statement of Qualifications for City Council (age 46 per the form; occupation listed as "Community Sales Manager (Realtor)"): states she moved to Lathrop in 2019, holds a bachelor's degree in Business, has been a licensed Realtor since 2016, and co-founded the Lathrop Juneteenth Heritage Committee, a nonprofit providing scholarships and educational programs

Last updated September 1, 2026.