# Moreno Valley Mayor Compare records and positions simply between Jaime Hurtado, Ulises Cabrera, Rylee Joseph Peak, and 3 more for Moreno Valley Mayor at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. Moreno Valley directly elects its Mayor citywide, separate from the City Council. This is unlike most nearby cities, where the Mayor's title rotates among councilmembers. The term is two years. The Mayor leads Council meetings. The Mayor also votes as a full member of the 5-person body. That body is the Mayor plus 4 district councilmembers. It sets city laws, the budget, and land use. An appointed city manager runs day-to-day operations. - Jurisdiction: City of Moreno Valley - 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/moreno-valley-mayor - 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: October 7, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 93 out of 100 (Very strong), across 10 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Jaime Hurtado** — Business Owner - **Ulises Cabrera** — Mayor, City of Moreno Valley · Incumbent - **Rylee Joseph Peak** — City Commissioner - **Christopher Baca** — Community Volunteer - **Patsy D. Brown** — Pastor / Professor / Administrator - **Vanessa Renee Moore** — Business Owner A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Six candidates are on the November 3, 2026 ballot for Moreno Valley's directly elected Mayor, including incumbent Ulises Cabrera. Whoever gets the most votes wins outright -- there is no primary or runoff. Moreno Valley elects its Mayor citywide, apart from the City Council. Most nearby cities instead rotate the mayor's title among sitting councilmembers. Voters approved direct election of the office in 2014. The term is two years. The Mayor leads Council meetings and votes as a full member of the 5-person body. That body is the Mayor plus 4 district councilmembers. It sets city laws, the budget, and land use. An appointed city manager runs the city day to day. Cabrera was first elected mayor in 2022 and has drawn outside scrutiny this term. The City Council voted 3-2 to censure him in November 2022. That followed a look into a complaint from the then city clerk. He also sued Flock Safety in November 2024. The surveillance technology company employed him part time while he served as mayor. He says it asked him to use his office to help the company. Both matters are covered in his profile below. No such outside reporting was found for any of his five opponents. Their entries rest on the city's certified candidate record alone. ## Christopher Baca Christopher Baca is a challenger running on the ballot designation "Community Volunteer." No independent biography, occupation detail, or platform statement was found for them beyond the city's own certified candidate record. **Strengths:** None could be independently confirmed beyond the ballot designation "Community Volunteer." **Trade-offs:** No independent biography, professional background, or stated platform was found beyond that designation. **Keep in mind:** No public record of their priorities was found beyond the ballot designation, so a vote rests on that designation alone, not a documented record. ## Ulises Cabrera Ulises Cabrera is the incumbent, seeking a second term as Mayor. He was first elected in 2022. His record in office includes a November 2022 council censure and a November 2024 lawsuit against his part-time employer, Flock Safety, alleging he was asked to misuse his office -- both described in the contest overview above. In his Vote411 questionnaire he describes being born in Los Angeles to Mexican immigrant parents and moving to Moreno Valley as a child. He says he joined the City Council at 22 as its youngest member ever, won reelection in 2018 and became Mayor in 2022. He also describes a family general contracting business started in 2016, a UC Riverside political science degree, and Harvard management programs. His three stated priorities are good-paying union jobs, including Project Labor Agreements on public works with prevailing-wage and local-hire standards; affordable housing, with workforce and affordable units in new development and more homeownership for middle-class families; and modernizing roads, transit and public safety facilities to support growth. He frames all three around working families. **Strengths:** A full term as Mayor and Council service since age 22, by his own account, plus small-business and labor-contract experience that shapes his priorities. **Trade-offs:** A 2022 independent investigation found he made comments "that could have been perceived as threatening or intimidating" toward the then-city clerk; the Council censured him 3-2 on those findings. **Keep in mind:** His Nov. 2024 lawsuit against Flock Safety, his part-time employer during his term, alleges he was asked to use his office to benefit the company; Flock denies wrongdoing. His background and priorities here are his own account in a candidate questionnaire. ## Vanessa Renee Moore Vanessa Renee Moore is a challenger running on the ballot designation "Business Owner." No independent biography, occupation detail, or platform statement was found for them beyond the city's own certified candidate record. In their Vote411 questionnaire they describe running a staffing agency that has helped Moreno Valley residents find work, taking part in back-to-school drives and food efforts for unhoused residents, and working on numerous elections, which they say gave them civic-engagement campaign experience. They say they have listened to residents' concerns about public safety, infrastructure, jobs, city services and representation. Their three stated priorities are public safety and quality of life, with a stronger sheriff presence alongside prevention, violence-reduction and youth programs and neighborhood cleanups; infrastructure and taxpayer spending, with lower utility costs, more focus on roads, bridges and transportation, and transparency on how money is spent; and business, jobs and growth, with more multi-unit affordable housing for low-income families, new businesses, support for local entrepreneurs and fewer government barriers. **Strengths:** Describes running a staffing agency, community drives and election work, by their own account, and names three specific priorities. **Trade-offs:** The platform pairs a stronger sheriff presence, lower utility costs and more affordable housing without saying how each would be paid for, so a voter gets little detail on cost. **Keep in mind:** The staffing-agency, community and election work is self-reported in a candidate questionnaire. No outside source was found to confirm it. ## Rylee Joseph Peak Rylee Joseph Peak is a challenger running on the ballot designation "City Commissioner." No independent biography, occupation detail, or platform statement was found for them beyond the city's own certified candidate record. In their Vote411 background answer they describe themself as the youngest commissioner the city has had and a longtime advocate in the community who has worked on parks and volunteerism. They left the priorities question blank. Their background answer instead lists a five-part vision: a more transparent city government; less red tape; investment in neighborhoods, parks and city services; technology that makes dealing with the city easier to use; and more opportunities for youth and community engagement. **Strengths:** Describes being the youngest commissioner the city has had and a longtime parks and volunteering advocate, by their own account. **Trade-offs:** The vision lists goals, not specific policies or budget choices, so a voter has less to judge on how they would govern. **Keep in mind:** The commissioner service and parks work are their own account in a candidate questionnaire; no outside source was found to confirm them. ## Jaime Hurtado Jaime Hurtado is a challenger running on the ballot designation "Business Owner." No independent biography, occupation detail, or platform statement was found for them beyond the city's own certified candidate record. **Strengths:** None could be independently confirmed beyond the ballot designation "Business Owner." **Trade-offs:** No independent biography, professional background, or stated platform was found beyond that designation. **Keep in mind:** No public record of their priorities was found beyond the ballot designation, so a vote rests on that designation alone, not a documented record. ## Patsy D. Brown Patsy D. Brown is a challenger running on the ballot designation "Pastor / Professor / Administrator." No independent biography, occupation detail, or platform statement was found for them beyond the city's own certified candidate record. **Strengths:** None could be independently confirmed beyond the ballot designation "Pastor / Professor / Administrator." **Trade-offs:** No independent biography, professional background, or stated platform was found beyond that designation. **Keep in mind:** No public record of their priorities was found beyond the ballot designation, so a vote rests on that designation alone, not a documented record. ## Sources 1. [City of Moreno Valley -- "City Council" government page: "In 2014, voters approved the direct election of a City Mayor"; describes a directly elected, at-large Mayor plus a 4-member City Council elected by district, and lists the current roster (Mayor Ulises Cabrera; District 1, Elena Baca-Santa Cruz; District 2, Ed A. Delgado; District 3, Erlan Gonzalez, Mayor Pro Tem; District 4, Cheylynda Barnard). Fetched directly, with no bot-blocking.](https://www.moval.org/city_council/index.html) 2. [City of Moreno Valley -- City Clerk "General Election Info" page: the Mayor serves a 2-year term elected at large; Councilmembers serve staggered 4-year terms by district; general municipal elections are held in even-numbered years; for November 3, 2026 the offices up are the Mayor and the District 2 and District 4 Council seats.](https://www.moval.org/departments/city-clerk/general-election-info.html) 3. [City of Moreno Valley -- City Clerk "2026 Election" page: November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election overview naming all 6 Mayoral candidates (Jaime Hurtado, Ulises Cabrera, Rylee Joseph Peak, Christopher Baca, Patsy Brown, Vanessa Moore) and all 3 candidates each for District 2 (David Zeitz, Liza Arellano, JoAnn Martinez Stephan) and District 4 (Nikita Wilson, Cheylynda Barnard, Steven Granda Alvarado), with links to each candidate's FPPC campaign-finance disclosure forms.](https://www.moval.org/departments/city-clerk/2026-election.html) 4. [City of Moreno Valley -- City Clerk-certified "Candidate List, November 3 2026 General Election" (signed and dated August 27, 2026): the qualified-candidates-only roster for Mayor, City Council District 2 and City Council District 4, with each candidate's ballot designation and randomized ballot-order number.](https://www.moval.org/departments/city-clerk/pdfs/c-forms/2026-election/2026-qualified-candidate-packet.pdf) 5. [City of Moreno Valley -- City Clerk "2026 Candidate Information" tracker, "List of Nomination Papers Issued and Filed for Members of the City Council: Mayor, District 2 and District 4" (updated August 7, 2026): the same 12 candidates as the certified candidate list, with each one's nomination-paper pull, filing, and Registrar-of-Voters qualification dates.](https://www.moval.org/departments/city-clerk/pdfs/2026_Council_Candidate_Information_ElectionTracker.pdf) 6. [Riverside County Registrar of Voters — 2026 Annual Election Calendar (lists every November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election office by city, including "City of Cathedral City: City Council District 3 / District 4 / District 5 / City Treasurer")](https://voteinfo.net/sites/g/files/aldnop371/files/2026-02/Annual%20Election%20Calendar%202026.pdf) 7. [The Riverside Record -- "Moreno Valley City Council Censures Councilman Ulises Cabrera" (Nov. 3, 2022): the Council voted 3-2 to censure Cabrera following a $24,000 independent investigation into a complaint from then-City Clerk Pat Jacquez-Nares, which found no unlawful discrimination, harassment, or retaliation but that Cabrera made comments "that could have been perceived as threatening or intimidating" and belittled her by ignoring her; Cabrera called the process politically motivated.](https://riversiderecord.org/moreno-valley-city-council-censures-councilman-ulises-cabrera/) 8. [TechCrunch -- "Flock Safety quietly hired a sitting California mayor. Now he's suing Flock." (Jan. 8, 2025): Moreno Valley Mayor Ulises Cabrera worked as a paid Flock Safety Community Engagement Manager (Feb.-June 2024) while serving as mayor; his November 2024 lawsuit alleges a Flock employee asked him, about two weeks in, to use his mayoral position to benefit the company, and that he faced retaliation after raising the request with counsel and after flagging underreported surveillance cameras in Carmel-by-the-Sea; Flock denies the allegations and says it confirmed the arrangement complied with California conflict-of-interest law.](https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/08/flock-safety-quietly-hired-a-sitting-california-mayor-now-hes-suing-flock/) 9. [City of Moreno Valley NetFile — public campaign-disclosure search](https://netfile.com/public/CMV/campaign/search-entities) 10. [League of Women Voters -- Vote411 voter guide, 'City of Moreno Valley Mayor' race (statewide All Races list): each candidate's self-submitted ballot designation and campaign contacts, plus answers to the League's questions -- If elected, what are your top 3 priorities?; What background, experience and/or education qualify you for this elected office? Answers on file from Ulises Cabrera, Rylee Joseph Peak, Vanessa Renee Moore. Capture in data/nov-2026/sources/vote411/moreno-valley-mayor.json.](https://www.vote411.org/plan-your-vote) ## The rest of the ballot Moreno Valley Mayor 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, "Moreno Valley Mayor — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/moreno-valley-mayor (sources last retrieved October 7, 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.