City of Manteca · Statewide General Election

Mayor of Manteca

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On the ballot

Jacob Naven — Small Business Owner
Gary Singh — Manteca Businessman/Mayor · Incumbent

Manteca's Mayor is directly elected citywide (at-large) to a 4-year term and presides over the 5-member City Council, which also includes four district representatives. The Mayor is the only citywide elected office since Manteca shifted from at-large to district Council elections in 2022 following a California Voting Rights Act challenge. The city, a San Joaquin County community of about 83,498 residents per the 2020 Census and reported by local press to be approaching 100,000, is run day-to-day by City Manager Toni Lundgren under Council direction.

Incumbent Mayor Gary Singh, elected citywide in 2022 after three terms on the Council, faces Jacob Naven, an insurance agent, in a heated race both campaigns say could cost nearly $100,000 -- one that has already included a vote-buying complaint, a heckling incident, and arson attacks on Singh's campaign signs.

Manteca has directly elected its Mayor since 1980; only one person, Willie Weatherford, has ever served three terms in the office. Singh, seeking a second term as Mayor after eight years on the Council, would become one of only a handful of people to have served 12 or more years in Manteca elected office if re-elected.

Gary Singh

The incumbent, a Realtor and small-business owner in Manteca since 1995. He served three Council terms starting in 2016 (Vice Mayor in 2017 and 2021) before winning the Mayor's office outright in 2022. He champions Measure Q, the sales tax he spent months explaining door-to-door, which is now funding a new police station, a sixth fire station, and a homeless navigation center.

Strengths

Eight years of Council and Mayor experience, quarterly town halls in all four districts, and credit for passing Measure Q, now funding a new police station, fire station, and homeless center.

Trade-offs

A long incumbency and deep fundraising network: he outspent both 2022 opponents roughly 10 to 1 in that race's nearly $180,000 total.

Keep in mind

His campaign drew a vote-buying complaint over a chiropractor's on-camera discount offer, which his campaign called an oversight, and several of his signs were burned in an August arson police were investigating.

Jacob Naven

Naven owns Jacob Naven Insurance Agency in Manteca. He has made term limits for Manteca's Mayor and Council a signature issue -- a position Singh has said he would support if voters chose it in a future ballot measure. Naven has also accused Singh's campaign of effectively offering a discount in exchange for votes, filing a complaint with the San Joaquin County District Attorney over the chiropractor's promotional video.

Strengths

Raised roughly $21,000 in the first half of 2026, versus Singh's $0 in new contributions over the same period -- a real financial base for a citywide race.

Trade-offs

A first-time candidate for elected office, with no voting or governing record to weigh against Singh's tenure.

Keep in mind

Much of his August fundraising was self-funded, roughly $2,450 from Naven himself, alongside roughly $1,000 from a retired Manteca resident.

Naven accuses Singh's campaign of a vote-buying scheme

August 31, 2026 Naven's campaign filed a complaint with the San Joaquin County District Attorney alleging Singh violated election-integrity law after Singh posted a video featuring a local chiropractor offering voters $50 off their first visit if they said they'd voted for Singh as mayor. Singh responded in the video, "Wow, that's awesome, you know what? It does pay off to vote for your mayor." Naven's campaign consultant called it vote-buying; Singh later said, "I own it. I recognize the oversight and I take ownership of it," saying he didn't know the chiropractor would make the offer.

Singh's campaign signs targeted with arson

August 2026 Several of Singh's campaign signs were deliberately set on fire around Manteca in August 2026, and Manteca Police opened an investigation into a possible violation of state Election Code protections for candidates. A Manteca Bulletin opinion columnist argued the repeated, targeted nature of the burnings suggested motivated hostility rather than random vandalism, and linked it to derogatory social-media commentary about Indian business owners in the city; that interpretation is the columnist's own view, not an established finding.

Where the candidates stand on term limits

Naven wants to see term limits adopted for Manteca's Mayor and Council -- an idea he says he'd pursue if elected, citing the demands of rapid change, the toll of the job, and the built-in advantage incumbency gives officeholders against challengers. Singh says he'd support putting the question to voters if that's what they want, but has cautioned that too much Council turnover risks handing more day-to-day decision-making to city staff rather than elected officials. Neither candidate has proposed a specific limit; both have pointed to San Joaquin County's own two-term limit for Supervisors, adopted by voters in 1998, as a possible model.

Source review: Very strong (91/100) · 17 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

sjgov.org (opens in a new tab)San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters -- "Qualified Candidate List" (report CFMR009, "November 3 2026 General Election," printed 8/20/2026, two weeks after the Aug. 5 filing deadline): confirms all three November 2026 City of Manteca contests, each marked On Ballot: Yes -- Mayor (Jacob Naven, "Small Business Owner"; Gary Singh, "Manteca Businessman/Mayor," incumbent), City Council District 3 (David Breitenbucher, "Councilmember/Retired Firefighter," incumbent; Lei Ann Varletta Larson, "Homemaker"), and City Council District 4 (Mike Morowit, "Manteca Businessman/Councilmember," incumbent; Dani Bettencourt, "Businesswoman/Sales Coach"; Rogger F. Gutierrez, "Parent/Management Analyst") -- no Section 10229 single-filer scenario applies to any of the three
sjgov.org (opens in a new tab)San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters -- "Offices Up for the 2026 General Election": confirms the City of Manteca's office structure -- Mayor (at-large, 4-year term), Member of City Council - District 3 (4-year term), Member of City Council - District 4 (4-year term) -- and states that because no primary was held for municipal offices, all qualified candidates proceed directly to the November ballot
sjgov.org (opens in a new tab)San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters -- official "Notice of General Election" (2026gen): independently corroborates the same three City of Manteca contests -- Mayor, City Council District 3, City Council District 4 -- each "Vote for one (1)"
manteca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Manteca -- "Mayor & City Council" page: confirms the 5-member structure -- Gary Singh (Mayor, at-large), Charlie Halford (District 1), Regina Lackey (Vice Mayor, District 2), David Breitenbucher (District 3), Mike Morowit (District 4) -- with District 1 and District 2 not up in 2026, and links each member's own staff-directory bio page
netfile.com (opens in a new tab)San Joaquin County/City of Manteca NetFile public campaign-finance portal (agency code MTA, linked from the city's own Campaign Finance Disclosure page), queried directly via its own QuickNameSearch and filings/byCandidate JSON APIs for all seven 2026 candidates -- the source for which candidates organized a campaign committee (Form 410) versus filing only the minimum Form 501/700, and the index used to locate every FPPC filing cited individually below
mantecabulletin.com (opens in a new tab)Manteca Bulletin -- "Will city manager be the top paid civic employee?" (Dennis Wyatt, Jun. 16, 2026): independently names City Manager Toni Lundgren and gives her proposed base salary; used in this shard only to confirm her name
mantecabulletin.com (opens in a new tab)Manteca Bulletin -- "No challengers for Breitenbucher or Morowit in races?" (Dennis Wyatt, Jul. 10, 2026): captures the moment, before the Aug. 5 filing deadline, when only four people (Singh, Naven, Breitenbucher, Morowit) had scheduled filing appointments -- raising the possibility of Manteca's first uncontested council election since at least 1960 -- and gives context on the city's 2020 shift to district elections
mantecabulletin.com (opens in a new tab)Manteca Bulletin -- "Interact Club is hosting Manteca forum for mayor, council hopefuls" (Nihar Jain, Aug. 25, 2026): announces a youth-organized, nonpartisan candidate forum (Sept. 27, 2026); states "all seven candidates running for Mayor, City Council District 3, and City Council District 4 have confirmed their participation" -- independent confirmation of the full, final seven-candidate field across all three contests
ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia -- "Manteca, California": carries no municipal-election detail (outside its coverage scope for cities under the 100 largest); used in this shard only for its 2020 Census population figure (83,498)
manteca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Manteca staff directory -- Mayor Gary Singh's official bio: elected Mayor at-large Nov. 2022 (term expires Nov. 2026) after three Council terms since 2016 (Vice Mayor in 2017 and 2021); small-business owner in Manteca since 1995 and Realtor/Broker Associate since 2004; B.S. in Business Administration (University of the Pacific); serves on the San Joaquin Area Flood Control Agency, SJCOG, and several ad hoc committees on finance, homelessness, and the new police station
netfile.com (opens in a new tab)Gary Singh's filed FPPC forms for "Gary Singh for Manteca Mayor 2026," downloaded directly from the NetFile portal: Form 460 (filed Jul. 1, 2026, covering Jan. 1-Jun. 30, 2026) reports $0 in new monetary contributions, $18,217.06 in expenditures (including a $13,772.11 reimbursement to his campaign manager for mailers and a $250 Manteca Chamber of Commerce women's-leadership-luncheon sponsorship) against a $44,121.80 carryover from his 2022 race, ending the period with $25,909.14 cash on hand; three subsequent Form 497 24-hour contribution reports (Aug. 9, 11, and 26, 2026) disclose $21,500 more in itemized contributions, mostly $1,000 checks from local business owners
netfile.com (opens in a new tab)Jacob Naven's filed FPPC forms for "Jacob Naven for Mayor 2026," downloaded directly from the NetFile portal: Form 460 (filed Jul. 31, 2026, covering Jan. 1-Jun. 30, 2026) reports $21,313.33 in monetary contributions and $19,886.78 in total expenditures (including $1,557.78 in accrued, unpaid bills), ending the period with $14,757.21 cash on hand; two subsequent Form 497s (Aug. 22 and 27, 2026) disclose $3,450 more, including $2,450 self-funded by Naven himself (an insurance agent, owner of Jacob Naven Insurance Agency Inc.) and $1,000 from a retired Manteca resident
mantecabulletin.com (opens in a new tab)Manteca Bulletin -- "MANTECA MAYOR'S RACE MAY SEE $200,000 IN CAMPAIGN SPENDING" (Dennis Wyatt, May 23, 2026): both Singh and Naven state fundraising targets of $80,000-100,000 each; Morowit states a $35,000 re-election target; gives the record nearly $180,000 spent across Singh's three-way 2022 mayoral race, in which he outspent both opponents (Ben Cantu and LeAnn Larson, each just under $15,000) roughly 10 to 1, and states Singh's $44,121 2026 carryover matches this dataset's own NetFile-sourced figure
mantecabulletin.com (opens in a new tab)Manteca Bulletin -- "Naven, Singh support vote on term limits for City Council" (Dennis Wyatt, Apr. 9, 2026): Naven states he supports a future ballot measure on term limits as a signature issue; Singh says he would support it if voters chose it; gives further detail on Singh's Council/Mayor tenure and the city's mayoral succession history
mantecabulletin.com (opens in a new tab)Manteca Bulletin -- "Heckler aggressively goes after Singh over Flock cameras, being legal citizen of USA" (Dennis Wyatt, Aug. 31, 2026, machine-readable datetime confirmed): a man disrupted a Singh campaign meet-and-greet; Manteca Police investigated a possible Elections Code Section 18340 violation (intimidating or hindering a candidate); notes prior vandalism of Singh's campaign signs
mantecabulletin.com (opens in a new tab)Manteca Bulletin -- "Naven accuses Singh of benefiting from offer from new chiropractor" (Dennis Wyatt, Aug. 31, 2026, machine-readable datetime confirmed): Naven's campaign filed a complaint with the San Joaquin County District Attorney over a video in which a chiropractor offered voters $50 off for saying they voted for Singh; Singh said he takes ownership of the "oversight"
mantecabulletin.com (opens in a new tab)Manteca Bulletin opinion column -- "It's the burning question: Is lighting Singh's signs on fire hatred, or is it racism?" (the paper's own /opinion/local-columns/ vertical, not straight news): reports that three Singh campaign signs were deliberately set on fire in August 2026 and that Manteca Police were investigating; this dataset uses the column only for those underlying facts and does not adopt the columnist's own interpretive framing of the incident as motivated by hatred or racism

Last updated September 1, 2026.