# McFarland City Council, District 3

M. Anita Gonzalez is running uncontested for McFarland City Council, District 3. Full ballot at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person represents one of McFarland's four Council districts. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. A citywide-elected Mayor also serves on the council. An appointed city manager runs day-to-day operations. McFarland moved from at-large to district-based Council elections in 2024. Districts 2 and 4 were first elected under the new map that year. Districts 1 and 3 follow in 2026. The term is four years.

- Jurisdiction: City of Mcfarland
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/mcfarland-council-3
- 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: September 3, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 88 out of 100 (Strong), across 7 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **M. Anita Gonzalez** — Incumbent

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

Only one candidate qualified for this seat: incumbent M. Anita Gonzalez appears unopposed for a full term — so this contest is settled and your vote here does not change the outcome.

This person represents District 3 on McFarland's City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land-use decisions, alongside a citywide-elected Mayor and an appointed city manager who runs day-to-day operations. McFarland moved from at-large to district-based Council elections in 2024; Districts 2 and 4 were first elected under the new map that year, and Districts 1 and 3 — including this seat — follow in 2026. The term is four years.

Unlike their District 1 and District 2 counterparts on this ballot, Gonzalez's filed ballot designation is simply "Incumbent," not "Appointed Incumbent" — consistent with their having reached the seat through a prior election rather than a Council appointment, though this dataset could not confirm the specific date of that election from any reachable source. Beyond their name, district, and ballot designation, no independent biographical detail was found.

## M. Anita Gonzalez

The incumbent District 3 councilmember, per their filed ballot designation, "Incumbent," and the city's own Council Members page, which confirms their District 3 assignment. No occupation, background, or stated priorities could be confirmed from any reachable source — McFarland's site publishes no officeholder bios, and no independent coverage of them was found this cycle despite a real search effort.

**Strengths:** A sitting incumbent whose designation indicates they reached the seat by election rather than appointment, unlike two of the three other candidates on this ballot.

**Trade-offs:** This dataset could not confirm how long they have served or by what margin they were last elected.

**Keep in mind:** This dataset could not confirm any specifics of their tenure, priorities, or background beyond their current designation — treat that as a documented research gap, not a comment on their actual record.

## Sources

1. [City of McFarland, Office of the City Clerk -- "Certified List of Candidates," General Municipal Election, November 3, 2026, signed and sealed by City Clerk Erika De La Cruz, dated Aug. 13, 2026: certifies Ricardo Cano ("Vice Mayor") for Mayor; Maria T. Perez ("Appointed Incumbent") for Council District 1 (Full Term); Martin Gutierrez ("Appointed Incumbent") for Council District 2 (Short Term); and M. Anita Gonzalez ("Incumbent") for Council District 3 (Full Term) -- one certified candidate per seat, none submitting a Candidate Statement](https://media-002-us.cdn.govstack.com/mcfarlandcity-us/media/smbj0nbv/certified-list-of-candidates-general-municipal-election-november-3-2026.pdf)
2. [City of McFarland's own 2026 General Municipal Election page: confirms Mayor (4-year term), Council District 1 (4-year term), Council District 2 (2-year Short Term), and Council District 3 (4-year term) as the four offices up Nov. 3, 2026, with a July 13-Aug. 7, 2026 filing period and a link to the Certified List of Candidates; states no City Clerk or City Treasurer seat is up this cycle](https://www.mcfarlandcity.org/council-administration/city-clerk/2026-general-municipal-election/)
3. [City of McFarland's own "District Election Process" page: the city adopted district-based Council elections (the "red" map) on March 14, 2024; the Mayor continues to be elected citywide every 4 years; Districts 2 and 4 were first elected under the new map in 2024, and Districts 1 and 3 follow in 2026, with elections thereafter every 4 years](https://www.mcfarlandcity.org/council-administration/city-clerk/2026-general-municipal-election/district-election-process/)
4. [City of McFarland's own Council Members roster page: Mayor Saul Ayon (term expires Nov. 2026, not seeking reelection per the certified candidate list); Maria Perez, District 1 (term expires Nov. 2026); Martin Gutierrez, District 2 (term expires Nov. 2026); Anita Gonzalez, District 3 (term expires Nov. 2026); and Ricardo Cano, Vice Mayor, District 4 (term expires Nov. 2028, not up this cycle)](https://www.mcfarlandcity.org/council-administration/city-council/council-members/)
5. [Wikipedia's McFarland, California article: population 14,161 (2020 census); a San Joaquin Valley city in Kern County, about 25 miles northwest of Bakersfield and 6.5 miles south of Delano; founded 1909, incorporated 1957](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McFarland,_California)
6. [A negative-result attempt to independently cross-check McFarland's contests against Kern County's own "Contest/Candidate Proof List": kernvote.com returned HTTP 403 ("Access Denied," a WAF block) for both the county's Nov. 3, 2026 general-election landing page and a previously-cited kernvote.com document URL, including a retry with TLS verification disabled to rule out an unrelated expired-certificate error the site also threw intermittently -- the same WAF pattern already documented this session for Tehachapi; no browser tool was reachable this run](https://kernvote.com/elections/upcoming-elections/november-3-2026-general-election)
7. [A negative-result campaign-finance check: California's Cal-Access filer database covers state-level contests only and this dataset's own cached statewide snapshot carries no filer under any of the four McFarland candidates' names; McFarland's own City Clerk page describes the office as the FPPC filing officer for Statements of Economic Interests only, with no online campaign Form 460/461 filing portal found](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Candidates/)

## The rest of the ballot

McFarland City Council, District 3 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, "McFarland City Council, District 3 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/mcfarland-council-3 (sources last retrieved September 3, 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.