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City of Los Altos · Statewide General Election

Los Altos City Council, District 2

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 would hold one of Los Altos's five City Council seats: city ordinances, the budget, and land use in this Santa Clara County city of about 31,600, alongside four other Councilmembers who together select one of their own as Mayor and Vice Mayor each December. November 2026 is the city's first district-based council election -- this seat represents this district specifically, not the whole city as in past cycles. A 4-year term, term-limited to two terms.

Two candidates are running for this open seat: Anky van Deursen, a first-time candidate and 35-year District 2 resident, and Lynette Lee Eng, a former Mayor trying to return to the council two years after being termed out. Whoever gets the most votes wins outright — there's no runoff.

This is Los Altos's first district-based City Council election, forced by a 2024 notice alleging the city's old at-large system violated the California Voting Rights Act. District 2 (the Grant Park area) and District 4 vote this November; Districts 1, 3, and 5 follow in 2028. Each of the city's five Councilmembers serves a 4-year term and is term-limited to two terms; the council selects one of its own as Mayor and Vice Mayor each December. Los Altos has about 31,600 residents.

Van Deursen has never held office; her professional background is in housing and mediation. Lee Eng has considerably more governing experience — two terms on the council (2016–2024) including a stint as Mayor, 11 years as a Parks Commissioner, and two terms on the county's Civil Grand Jury — but she also lost her most recent election (a 2024 bid for the El Camino Healthcare District board, where she placed fourth of four candidates for three open seats), and her council record includes a real, unresolved controversy: a five-month public dispute in 2020–2021 over remarks a local racial-justice activist called racially charged, discussed below.

Anky van Deursen

Anky van Deursen is the City of Mountain View's Housing Manager and a 35-year Los Altos resident, with a law degree from Erasmus University Rotterdam and mediation training from Pepperdine. She co-founded the Dutch School Silicon Valley and chaired the Mountain View–Los Altos High School District's PTA Council. She kicked off her campaign Aug. 30, 2026 at Marymeade Park, drawing more than 50 supporters, including current and former councilmembers. Her stated priorities: pedestrian and traffic safety near schools, housing for teachers, essential workers, seniors and young families, support for neighborhood retail, aging-in-place programs, and environmental stewardship. Asked at her kickoff about Measure D, a contemporaneous downtown-parking-plaza ballot initiative, she said she does not currently have a position on it.

Strengths

35 years living in District 2, professional housing and mediation experience relevant to council work, and a campaign kickoff that drew both current and former councilmembers.

Trade-offs

No prior elected experience, and no public position yet on Measure D, one of the city's more contested current issues.

Keep in mind

This pass could not confirm whether van Deursen has registered a campaign committee — the city's own elections page lists a Form 700 for her but no Form 410, unlike her opponent.

Lynette Lee Eng

Lynette Lee Eng represented Los Altos on the City Council for two terms, 2016–2024, including a term as Mayor, and was termed out in 2024. She also served 11 years as a Parks Commissioner and two terms on the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury. She says she initiated the Grant Park Senior Program and helped start the Los Altos Summer Concert Series. Her prior term included a real, well-documented public dispute: in Nov. 2020, after voting against a police-reform proposal, she said texts from Los Altos activist Kenan Moos — who had criticized her vote — made her fear for her family's safety; Moos, who leads the racial-justice group Justice Vanguard, said this falsely painted him as a threat, and dozens of residents called on her, meeting after meeting for five months, to apologize. A city public-records request turned up no additional messages beyond the already-public text exchange Lee Eng had cited, and a council-arranged mediation was terminated in April 2021 without a resolution; contemporaneous Town Crier reporting found no public response or apology from her. After leaving the council, she ran for the El Camino Healthcare District board in Nov. 2024 but placed fourth of four candidates for three open seats (16.15% of the vote), losing to three sitting incumbents; she has not held elected office since. She now says she wants to return to city council with "listening first and leading with integrity," and describes supporting thoughtful growth, transparent government, and fiscal responsibility.

Strengths

Two full terms on the council, including a term as Mayor, plus over a decade on the Parks Commission and two Civil Grand Jury terms — more governing experience than any other candidate this cycle.

Trade-offs

A five-month 2020–21 dispute during her prior term (detailed above) ended without a public apology; she also lost her most recent election, the 2024 healthcare race, by a wide margin.

Keep in mind

The 2020–21 dispute happened under the old at-large council and is five years old; weigh it against her broader record. This pass found no comparable controversy in any later coverage of her, and no public resolution either.

Source review: Strong (83/100) · 12 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: Anky van Deursen's own campaign site (ankyforlosaltos.org): read in full. Her stated occupation (City of Mountain View Housing Manager), 35-year District 2 residency, law degree (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and mediation training (Pepperdine), co-founding the Dutch School Silicon Valley, and PTA leadership; a six-point platform covering pedestrian/traffic safety, housing, neighborhood retail, aging in place, environmental stewardship, and transparent government. and Lynette Lee Eng's own campaign site (votelynette.org): read in full. Self-describes as "former Mayor," citing two terms on the City Council, 11 years as a Park Commissioner, and two terms on the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury; claims credit for initiating the Grant Park Senior Program and the Los Altos Summer Concert Series; states support for "thoughtful growth," transparent government, and fiscal responsibility. FPPC filer ID 1493837 confirmed against her Form 497. may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • losaltosca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Los Altos -- City Clerk's Elections page: fetched and read in full (not just a cache snippet). A candidate-by-candidate filing table for both District 2 and District 4 gives each candidate's nomination-papers-issued, -filed, and qualified-on-the-ballot dates and links directly to each candidate's scanned FPPC Form 700/410/497 filings, hosted on the city's own DocumentCenter. Names Anky van Deursen and Lynette Lee Eng as the only two District 2 filers and Larry Lang as the only District 4 filer, as of the Aug. 7, 2026 nomination-period close.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Los Altos, California": 2020 census population 31,625 and council-manager form of government (a Mayor selected by the council from among its own members, not directly elected). Cited only for population and government structure -- this snapshot's own listed Mayor and Vice Mayor (Pete Dailey, Neysa Fligor) are stale relative to the city's own current roster page and are not relied on here.
  • losaltosonline.com (opens in a new tab)Los Altos Town Crier -- "Los Altos moves to district-based elections this November: Is your district up for election?" (by Giovanni Albanese Jr.): read in full. Confirms Districts 2 and 4 vote first, in 2026, with Districts 1, 3, and 5 following in 2028, and gives the geography of all five districts (District 1 the Highlands, District 2 Grant Park, District 3 Covington/Almond, District 4 the high school and downtown area, District 5 northmost Los Altos). Also reports that the final map (F2a) was approved in Oct. 2024 by then-Councilmember Lynette Lee Eng, then-Mayor Jonathan Weinberg, and now-Mayor Sally Meadows, over the objections of Pete Dailey and Neysa Fligor.
  • ankyforlosaltos.org (opens in a new tab)Anky van Deursen's own campaign site (ankyforlosaltos.org): read in full. Her stated occupation (City of Mountain View Housing Manager), 35-year District 2 residency, law degree (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and mediation training (Pepperdine), co-founding the Dutch School Silicon Valley, and PTA leadership; a six-point platform covering pedestrian/traffic safety, housing, neighborhood retail, aging in place, environmental stewardship, and transparent government.
  • votelynette.org (opens in a new tab)Lynette Lee Eng's own campaign site (votelynette.org): read in full. Self-describes as "former Mayor," citing two terms on the City Council, 11 years as a Park Commissioner, and two terms on the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury; claims credit for initiating the Grant Park Senior Program and the Los Altos Summer Concert Series; states support for "thoughtful growth," transparent government, and fiscal responsibility. FPPC filer ID 1493837 confirmed against her Form 497.
  • losaltosonline.com (opens in a new tab)Los Altos Town Crier -- "Anky van Deursen launches District 2 city council campaign" (by Maria Crowder, Aug. 30, 2026): read in full. Reports her Aug. 30 kickoff at Marymeade Park drew more than 50 supporters, including current and former Los Altos City Council members; her stated priorities (traffic flow and pedestrian safety, a vibrant local business community, parks and open space, housing for teachers/essential workers/seniors/young people); and that when asked about Measure D at the event, she said she does not currently have a position on it.
  • losaltosonline.com (opens in a new tab)Los Altos Town Crier -- "Frustrations continue as Lee Eng rift lingers" (by Bruce Barton, Apr. 20, 2021): read in full. Reports that a mediation between then-Councilmember Lynette Lee Eng and Los Altos activist Kenan Moos, arranged to resolve a dispute over Lee Eng's Nov. 2020 statements that were "interpreted as racist," was terminated without resolution; includes on-the-record, conflicting resident testimony from an April 13 council meeting, and that Lee Eng did not respond to a request for comment.
  • losaltosonline.com (opens in a new tab)Los Altos Town Crier -- "Lee Eng silent amid calls for apology" (by Bruce Barton, Mar. 4, 2021): read in full. Reports more than 30 speakers at a Feb. 23, 2021 council meeting, all but two asking Lee Eng to apologize for what they called a racist reaction to activist Kenan Moos's texts over her Nov. 24, 2020 votes on police-reform items; Moos, on the record, said Lee Eng falsely accused him of threatening her and her family.
  • losaltosonline.com (opens in a new tab)Los Altos Town Crier -- "Records request reveals no additional messages between Lee Eng, Justice Vanguard" (by Eric He, Dec. 15, 2020): read in full. Reports that a Town Crier public-records request for Lee Eng's correspondence turned up no threatening messages beyond the already-public text exchange with Kenan Moos she had cited at the Nov. 24 council meeting, and that Justice Vanguard (the racial-justice group Moos co-founded) had called for her resignation over the incident.
  • losaltosonline.com (opens in a new tab)Los Altos Town Crier -- "Late Lee Eng entry triggers competitive race in healthcare district" (Town Crier Report, Aug. 20, 2024): read in full. Reports Lee Eng filed for the El Camino Healthcare District board on the last possible day, forcing a contested Nov. 2024 election against three sitting incumbents; states outright that she "is termed out on the Los Altos council after eight years," and that she has also previously run unsuccessfully for the Cupertino Union School District board.
  • losaltosonline.com (opens in a new tab)Los Altos Town Crier -- Nov. 2024 election-results roundup ("Updated election results: local returns favoring incumbents with one Los Altos exception"): read in full. Reports the Los Altos City Council at-large results (Sally Meadows 8,504 votes/26.27%, Jonathan Weinberg 7,644/23.62%, Larry Lang 6,737/20.81%, Ibrahim Bashir 6,161/19.03% despite "record campaign contributions totaling more than $75,000," Eric Steinle 3,323/10.27%, for three open seats) and the El Camino Healthcare District results (incumbents Carol Ann Somersille, Julia Miller, and John Zoglin all ahead of Lynette Lee Eng, who placed fourth with 21,556 votes/16.15%).
  • losaltosca.gov (opens in a new tab)Lynette Lee Eng's FPPC Form 497 (24-hour contribution report), filed with the City of Los Altos Aug. 24, 2026 and received Aug. 25 -- a scanned PDF hosted directly on the city's own DocumentCenter and linked from its Elections page, read directly. Itemizes three contributions: $25 from Lee Eng herself (Aug. 11), $200 from Carlos C. Shaw (Aug. 17), and $2,000 from James E. Jolly (Aug. 24) -- the $2,000 contribution is what triggered the 24-hour filing requirement. Small Santa Clara County cities aren't covered by the automated finance pull.

Last updated August 31, 2026.