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City of Newman · Statewide General Election

Newman City Council

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 holds one of Newman's four at-large City Council seats, alongside a separately, directly elected Mayor: the city budget, ordinances, and land use for this Stanislaus County city of about 12,000 residents. A 4-year term. Day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager.

Three candidates are running for Newman's two at-large City Council seats: incumbents Scott Ball and Shane Tomlinson against challenger Brett C. Short, a police lieutenant. Vote for up to two -- the top two finishers on November 3 win the seats outright, no runoff.

This race covers two of Newman's four at-large City Council seats -- alongside the separately, directly elected Mayor, councilmembers vote on the city's budget, ordinances, and land use for this Stanislaus County city of about 12,000 residents. A 4-year term. Day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. Newman's other two council seats (held by Gisel Pimentel and Matthew Harden, who is separately running for Mayor this cycle) aren't up again until 2028.

Ball and Tomlinson are both completing the same four-year term together -- the city's own roster lists both their council terms as expiring November 2026 -- and both are seeking reelection to the same seats. Short is the only non-incumbent in the field.

Scott Ball

Scott Ball is a sitting Newman City Council member seeking reelection. The county's own candidate list gives his ballot designation simply as "Incumbent," with no other stated occupation. The city's own FPPC disclosures page shows he filed a Form 470 and Form 501 for 2026, matching a Form 470/501 on record from his 2022 election. No independent news profile, campaign website, or civic-board record beyond his current officeholder status was found in this pass.

Strengths

A completed four-year term already in hand, with a filing record (2022, 2026) showing continuous engagement with the seat.

Trade-offs

No independent news coverage, campaign website, or record of specific votes or initiatives from his term was found in this pass -- only the city's own pages and his filing paperwork.

Keep in mind

His ballot designation is the bare word "Incumbent," not a stated occupation, so his day-to-day work outside the council isn't established by any source found here.

Shane Tomlinson

Shane Tomlinson (filed under his full legal name, Gary Shane Tomlinson, on his FPPC paperwork) is a sitting Newman City Council member seeking reelection. The county's own candidate list gives his ballot designation simply as "Incumbent," with no other stated occupation. The city's own FPPC disclosures page shows he filed a Form 470 and Form 501 for 2026, matching a Form 470/501 on record from his 2022 election. No independent news profile, campaign website, or civic-board record beyond his current officeholder status was found in this pass.

Strengths

A completed four-year term already in hand, with a filing record (2022, 2026) showing continuous engagement with the seat, matching Ball's tenure.

Trade-offs

No independent news coverage, campaign website, or record of specific votes or initiatives from his term was found in this pass.

Keep in mind

His ballot designation is the bare word "Incumbent," not a stated occupation, so his day-to-day work outside the council isn't established by any source found here.

Brett C. Short

Brett C. Short is challenging both incumbents for one of Newman's two council seats up this cycle. His ballot designation on the county's candidate list is "Police Lieutenant." The city's own FPPC disclosures page shows he filed a Form 470 and Form 501 for 2026. No independent news profile, campaign website, or civic-board record beyond this filing was found in this pass.

Strengths

A stated occupation (police lieutenant) gives voters at least one concrete professional-background cue that neither incumbent's bare "Incumbent" designation supplies.

Trade-offs

No independent news coverage, campaign website, or civic-record beyond his own filing was found in this pass, same as both incumbents.

Keep in mind

As the only non-incumbent in a two-seat race against two sitting councilmembers running together, he would need to outpoll at least one of them to win a seat -- the county's own document lists no other candidate for this race.

Source review: Strong (87/100) · 7 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • stanvote.gov (opens in a new tab)Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters -- official "Unofficial Candidate List," General Election Nov. 3, 2026 (document timestamped by the county 7:57 AM 8/31/2026, the same fetch already on file for Modesto): under "MUNICIPAL OFFICES / CITY OF NEWMAN," lists exactly two contests -- Mayor (Vote for 1: Matthew L. Harden, "Procurement Manager/Parent," vs. *Casey Graham, "Incumbent") and Council Member (Vote for 2: Brett C. Short, "Police Lieutenant," vs. *Scott Ball, "Incumbent," vs. *Shane Tomlinson, "Incumbent") -- with no district numbers (both offices elected at-large) and no third Newman office anywhere in the document.
  • cityofnewman.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Newman -- "2026 Election Information -- November 3, 2026 (Consolidated General Municipal Election)" page: confirms Mayor is 1 seat (2-year term) and City Council is 2 seats (4-year terms each), all offices elected At-Large, the nomination filing window (July 13-Aug. 7, 2026, extended to Aug. 12 if an incumbent hasn't filed), and the standard Elections Code Section 10229 appointment boilerplate -- which does not apply this cycle, since both Newman races drew more candidates than seats.
  • cityofnewman.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Newman -- "Public Notice: 2026 Municipal Election -- Offices, Incumbents, and Nomination Papers": independently names the same field as the county's document, with the same incumbent/challenger split -- Mayor incumbent Casey Graham vs. challenger Matthew Harden; Council incumbents Scott Ball and Shane Tomlinson vs. challenger Brett C. Short.
  • cityofnewman.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Newman -- "Elected Officials" page: names the sitting Mayor and Council (Casey Graham, Mayor, term expires 11/2026; Scott Ball and Shane Tomlinson, Council, terms expire 11/2026; Gisel Pimentel and Matthew Harden, Council, terms expire 11/2028) -- establishing that Harden is currently a sitting councilmember running for Mayor rather than an outsider, and that Ball/Tomlinson (not Pimentel/Harden) are the two council seats up this cycle.
  • cityofnewman.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Newman -- "City Staff" page: names Michael Holland as City Manager, confirming Newman's council-manager structure with day-to-day operations run by an appointed manager rather than the elected Mayor or Council.
  • cityofnewman.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Newman -- "Statements of Economic Interests / FPPC Candidate & Campaign Statements & Reports" page (posted per AB 2151): for all five 2026 candidates (Graham, Harden, Ball, Tomlinson, Short), lists only a Form 470 ("Officeholder and Candidate Campaign Statement -- Short Form," filed when a candidate does not anticipate raising or spending more than $2,000 total) and a Form 501 (candidate intention statement) -- no Form 460 (itemized committee statement) is posted for anyone. A documented finding that none of the five is running a committee-level campaign, not a research gap; the posted forms are themselves redacted per AB 2151 (street number and bank account info removed) and carry no itemized dollar figures.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- Newman, California: cited only for the fixed, uncontroversial 2020 Census population figure (12,351, up from 10,224 at the 2010 census) -- the article carries no government-structure or candidate detail, and Ballotpedia's own Newman, California page returned empty content to a direct fetch this session and could not be used.

Last updated September 1, 2026.