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City of Newman · Statewide General Election

Mayor of Newman

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 presides over City Council meetings and represents Newman publicly, but votes as one of five members on the city budget, ordinances, and land use -- day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. Newman's mayor is the only seat elected citywide rather than shared among four at-large council seats, and serves a 2-year term, shorter than the council's 4-year terms.

Two candidates are running for Newman's Mayor seat: incumbent Casey Graham against Matthew Harden, a sitting City Council member running for the citywide seat instead of finishing his council term. Whichever gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright -- no runoff.

Newman's Mayor presides over City Council meetings and represents the city publicly, but votes as one of five members on the budget, ordinances, and land use for this Stanislaus County city of about 12,000 residents -- day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. It's the only Newman office elected citywide rather than shared among four at-large council seats, and unlike the council's 4-year terms, the mayor serves a 2-year term.

Both candidates already hold local elected office. Graham is completing a term as Mayor and seeking reelection. Harden is a sitting at-large councilmember whose own council term doesn't expire until November 2028 -- he is running for the citywide Mayor's office now rather than waiting to seek it in a future cycle, and if he wins would leave two years remaining on his council seat unfilled by election, a vacancy this dataset does not track further.

Casey Graham

Casey Graham is Newman's sitting Mayor, 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 (short form, for a candidate who doesn't expect to raise or spend more than $2,000) and a Form 501 for this cycle, matching his filings in 2022 and 2024. No independent news profile, campaign website, or civic-board record beyond his current officeholder status was found in this pass.

Strengths

Sitting experience as Mayor going into this race, with a filing record (2022, 2024, 2026) showing continuous engagement with the office.

Trade-offs

No independent news coverage, campaign website, or record of specific accomplishments in office 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 -- the county's convention for candidates who list no separate job title -- so his day-to-day work outside the Mayor's office isn't established by any source found here.

Matthew L. Harden

Matthew L. Harden is a sitting Newman City Council member (elected in 2024, term not up until November 2028) now running for Mayor rather than completing that term. His ballot designation on the county's candidate list is "Procurement Manager/Parent." The city's own FPPC disclosures page shows he filed a Form 470 and Form 501 for 2026, matching a Form 470/501 filing on record from his 2024 council run. No independent news profile, campaign website, or civic-board record beyond his council seat and this filing was found in this pass.

Strengths

Roughly two years of sitting-council experience by Election Day, on the body whose meetings the Mayor presides over, plus a stated occupation Graham's bare "Incumbent" line lacks.

Trade-offs

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

Keep in mind

A vote for him moves a sitting councilmember into the Mayor's seat with two years left on his council term -- how that remaining council seat gets filled is not addressed by any source found in this pass.

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.