# Lynwood City Council Compare records and positions simply between Mishaun Watkins, Gabriela Camacho, Luis Gerardo Cuellar, and 3 more for Lynwood City Council at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds one of three at-large seats up this cycle on Lynwood's 5-member City Council. They vote on the city budget, zoning and land-use rules, and city ordinances. The term is four years. The council doesn't elect its mayor directly -- members choose one of their own to preside each year, and day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. - Jurisdiction: City of Lynwood - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Seats: 3 - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/lynwood-council - 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: 83 out of 100 (Strong), across 13 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Mishaun Watkins** — Planning Commissioner - **Gabriela Camacho** — Mayor, Teacher, Mom · Incumbent - **Luis Gerardo Cuellar** — Appointed Councilmember / Businessman · Incumbent - **Emiliano Arellano** — Public Safety Commissioner - **Alfonso Morales** — Attorney/School Boardmember - **Juan Muñoz-Guevara** — Councilmember/Labor Organizer · Incumbent A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Six candidates are running for three of Lynwood's five at-large City Council seats on November 3, 2026. Incumbents Gabriela Camacho, Luis Gerardo Cuellar, and Juan Muñoz-Guevara are each seeking a full term. They face three challengers. They are Mishaun Watkins, Emiliano Arellano, and Alfonso Morales. It is a single-round, vote-for-three race with no primary and no runoff. The three highest vote-getters win outright. Whoever wins serves a 4-year term on a 5-member council that sets Lynwood's budget, zoning and land-use rules, and city ordinances for a city of roughly 65,000 people in southeast LA County. The council doesn't elect its own mayor directly — members choose one of their own to preside for a year, and day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager, so the job is one vote among five, not an executive post. With three seats on the ballot and no districts, this is a citywide referendum on the sitting council as a whole rather than a single seat-by-seat choice. One seat carries an added wrinkle: Cuellar has never won it in a citywide vote — he reached the dais by council appointment in late 2024, so this is voters' first chance to ratify or reject him directly for the seat he already holds. Weigh whether you want all three incumbents back, a mix, or a clean break to the three challengers. ## Mishaun Watkins Mishaun Watkins is a Lynwood-raised community development analyst for the City of Santa Ana. She was appointed to Lynwood's Planning Commission in 2024. She is challenging for one of three at-large council seats. She runs on public safety, small-business support, and affordable housing. Her campaign committee is jointly filed with incumbent Juan Muñoz-Guevara's. They are running mates against the ballot's three incumbents. **Strengths:** A decade of public-sector housing, homelessness, and grants work across two counties. She holds a sitting Planning Commission seat. That is a land-use record before any council vote. **Trade-offs:** She has never held elected office. Her day job managing Santa Ana's grant funding is outside Lynwood, not inside it. **Keep in mind:** Her campaign committee is jointly filed with incumbent Juan Muñoz-Guevara's. Paid-for-by disclosures on their shared site name both. It is a running-mate alliance worth weighing against the two incumbents she is not aligned with. ## Gabriela Camacho Gabriela Camacho is a lifelong Lynwood resident and Assistant Principal at Hosler Middle School. Her colleagues on the council chose her as Mayor for 2026. She is seeking a second council term. Before that she served two terms as elected City Treasurer. She has taught in Lynwood schools for 21 years. Most of that was at Lynwood High School, where she also graduated. **Strengths:** Two full terms as City Treasurer before council, plus an Assistant Principal's day job. That gives her the longest continuous record in Lynwood elected office of anyone in this race. **Trade-offs:** 21 years teaching and two elected offices are the case for continuity. They are not the case for a fresh approach on a council some challengers say needs one. **Keep in mind:** Her council colleagues chose her as Mayor for 2026. Lynwood's council rotates that title among its own members rather than electing it directly. ## Luis Gerardo Cuellar Luis Gerardo Cuellar is a Marine Corps veteran and managing partner of a cannabis-consulting firm. He has sat on the council since a late-2024 appointment. He is seeking his first election to the seat he already holds. Before that he served two years as elected City Treasurer. He is the son of former Mayor Aide Castro. Her backing of his appointment drew public controversy at the time. **Strengths:** A Marine Corps veteran with a USC business master's. He already has a year-plus on the dais. Before that he served a term as elected City Treasurer. **Trade-offs:** He has never won this council seat outright. He finished third for an open seat in 2022. He then reached the dais by council appointment in late 2024, not a citywide vote. **Keep in mind:** His mother, former Mayor Aide Castro, publicly backed his appointment. The two jointly ran a cannabis-consulting firm. News coverage flagged that family and business overlap as favoritism at the time. He disputes it. ## Emiliano Arellano Emiliano Arellano is a Southwestern Law School student. They are Lynwood's Public Safety, Traffic and Parking Commissioner. They are challenging for one of three at-large council seats. The city's own candidate filing is the fullest public account of their campaign so far. Arellano sits on the commission that advises the council on police, fire, and traffic matters. They would now vote on those matters directly. **Strengths:** A law degree in progress from Southwestern Law School, plus a seat on Lynwood's Public Safety, Traffic and Parking Commission. Together they give Arellano exposure to the council's safety agenda. **Trade-offs:** Arellano is a full-time law student with no prior elected office. Unlike two of their fellow challengers, they have no independent press coverage to weigh against their own material. **Keep in mind:** Public commentary and reporting on their candidacy is limited to the city's own qualified-candidate filing. Judge them mainly on that commission seat and law-school credential until more surfaces. ## Alfonso Morales Alfonso Morales is an immigration attorney. He is president of the Lynwood Unified School District's Board of Education. He has held that seat since 2005. He is challenging for one of three at-large council seats. He would extend his school-board focus on equity to city government. He graduated from Lynwood High School in 1997 and still practices law in the city. **Strengths:** Twenty years on the Lynwood Unified school board, including as its president. That is the longest elected tenure in this race. He has a law practice in the city he would represent. **Trade-offs:** All of that tenure is on a school board, not a city council. Zoning, policing, and the municipal budget are outside the portfolio his record shows. **Keep in mind:** He would keep or give up his school-board seat depending on how the race ends. He is not term-limited out of that seat. This cycle's reporting has not addressed the dual-office question. ## Juan Muñoz-Guevara Juan Muñoz-Guevara is a UNITE HERE Local 11 labor organizer. They became Lynwood's youngest-ever and first Gen Z councilmember when elected in 2022. They are seeking reelection on labor rights, environmental justice, and housing and homelessness policy. Muñoz-Guevara pushed for a special election, not an appointment, when the seat Luis Cuellar now holds came open in 2024. **Strengths:** A UCLA Regents' Scholar and UNITE HERE Local 11 organizer. Muñoz-Guevara made history as Lynwood's youngest-ever and first Gen Z councilmember in 2022. They now chair a Metro regional service council. **Trade-offs:** Muñoz-Guevara's day job organizes hospitality workers. That is the same labor movement whose local members and unions fund and endorse their campaign. It is a standing overlap for them to disclose. **Keep in mind:** Muñoz-Guevara was the leading voice for a special election, not an appointment, to fill the seat Luis Cuellar now holds. That was a public disagreement with the mayor and with a colleague they share this ballot with. ## Review notes - Juan Muñoz-Guevara for Lynwood City Council may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [City of Lynwood — Qualified Candidate Filing List, November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election (three City Council seats; updated 8/14/2026, with each candidate's ballot designation and incumbency)](https://lynwoodca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2632/QUALIFIED-CANDIDATE-FILING-LIST) 2. [City of Lynwood — Notice of Election, November 3, 2026 (three Council seats, full 4-year terms; nomination period July 13-Aug. 7, 2026)](https://lynwoodca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2552/NOTICE-OF-ELECTION-11-3-2026) 3. [City of Lynwood — City Council (current 5-member roster: Mayor Gabriela Camacho, Mayor Pro-Tem Lorraine Avila Moore, Councilmembers Luis Gerardo Cuellar, Juan Muñoz-Guevara, and Rita Soto -- Avila Moore's and Soto's seats aren't up in 2026)](https://lynwoodca.gov/191/City-Council) 4. [City of Lynwood — Mayor Gabriela Camacho (official council-member bio: lifelong Lynwood resident, 21 years teaching at Lynwood High School, elected City Treasurer 2015 and 2020, elected to Council 2022)](https://lynwoodca.gov/m/directory/employee?eid=66) 5. [City of Lynwood — Councilmember Juan Muñoz-Guevara (official council-member bio: elected 2022 as the council's youngest-ever and first Gen Z member, UNITE HERE Local 11 organizer, UCLA Regents' Scholar)](https://lynwoodca.gov/m/directory/employee?eid=67) 6. [California Secretary of State — CAL-ACCESS campaign-finance committee search, checked by candidate name for all six qualified Lynwood City Council candidates on 2026-08-31: Watkins ('Watkins 4 City Council 2026,' Filer ID 1491378) and Muñoz-Guevara ('Munoz-Guevara for City Council 2026,' Filer ID 1485487) each have an active state committee with no Form 460/461/450 filed yet this cycle; Camacho, Cuellar, Arellano, and Morales have no state committee on file](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/list.aspx?session=2025&view=filer) 7. [Lynwood Unified School District — Board of Education: Alfonso Morales, Esq., President (member since 2005, current term December 2022-December 2026; immigration attorney, practicing since 2008)](https://www.mylusd.org/governance/board-of-education) 8. [LA Public Press — "Lynwood city council needs to choose: appoint a new member, or hold an election" (Nov. 22, 2024): the fight over filling the council seat vacated by Mayor José Luis Solache's election to the state Assembly, including on-record opposition to appointing Luis Gerardo Cuellar (who had finished third in the prior open council race) and Councilmember Juan Muñoz-Guevara's push for a special election instead](https://lapublicpress.org/2024/11/lynwood-city-council-election-appoint-member/) 9. [Southeast L.A. County Report — "Lynwood appoints former Mayor's son and business partner as City Treasurer" (Jan. 29, 2023): Luis Gerardo Cuellar's appointment as City Treasurer, his family relationship to and cannabis-consulting business partnership with former Mayor Aide Castro, and resident concerns raised at the time](https://selareport.com/2023/01/29/lynwood-appoints-former-mayors-son-and-business-partner-as-city-treasurer/) 10. [The Ballot Book — City of Lynwood Candidates (unofficial, automated-monitoring aggregator; independently returns the same six-candidate field for the city's one open office)](https://theballotbook.com/jurisdictions/779/candidates) 11. [BallotReady — Lynwood City Council position page, independently confirming Gabriela Camacho and Juan Muñoz-Guevara as current officeholders with terms ending December 2026](https://www.ballotready.org/positions/lynwood-city-council) 12. [Ballotpedia — Alfonso Morales (Lynwood Unified School District school board At-large, California): attorney, Lynwood High School graduate, Claremont McKenna College, University of San Diego School of Law; current term ends 2026](https://ballotpedia.org/Alfonso_Morales) 13. [Juan Muñoz-Guevara for Lynwood City Council — campaign site, 'About Mishaun Watkins' page (jointly filed with Watkins's campaign committee; her bio, occupation, and platform)](https://www.juanforlynwood.com/bio-mishaun) ## The rest of the ballot Lynwood City Council 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, "Lynwood City Council — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/lynwood-council (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.