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City of Norwalk · Statewide General Election

Norwalk City Council

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

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 Norwalk's five at-large City Council seats: city ordinances, the budget, and land-use and zoning decisions. A 4-year term.

Two of Norwalk's five City Council seats are up this cycle: incumbent Tony Ayala faces five challengers -- Rachell Jaimes, Richard LeGaspi, Daniel Moreno, Leonard Shryock, and Nikolas Woods -- for the two at-large seats, each elected to a 4-year term.

This person holds one of five at-large seats on Norwalk's City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land-use and zoning decisions. A 4-year term. The council doesn't elect its mayor directly -- members choose one of their own to serve as mayor each year, presiding over meetings but casting only one vote like every other member. Day-to-day operations run through a city manager the council appoints.

The six candidates carry very different public records: one incumbent with 35 years in city government, one former councilmember returning after leaving the seat in 2020, one first-time candidate with a detailed public platform, and two candidates for whom this research found no public campaign presence at all. Weighing documented experience against a field that is, for some candidates, entirely undocumented is this race's central question.

Tony Ayala

Tony Ayala is the incumbent, first elected to the council in 2017 after 35 years in Norwalk city government, most recently as the city's Public Information Officer. His own bio names including the public in decisions and being open to revisiting past ones as his approach to the job. He served as Mayor in 2024-25 and Vice Mayor in 2020 and 2023, making him the only sitting councilmember on this year's ballot.

Strengths

35 years in Norwalk city government, including as Social Services Center Coordinator and Senior Center Manager, plus terms as Mayor and Vice Mayor.

Trade-offs

The only incumbent on this ballot, so his 35-year city career and recent stint as Mayor come with an existing record of decisions to weigh.

Keep in mind

He was Mayor in 2024-25 and Vice Mayor in 2020 and 2023; his own bio says effective public service means being open to new ideas and revisiting past decisions.

Rachell Jaimes

Rachell Jaimes is one of six candidates running for Norwalk's two open City Council seats. No stated platform could be found for her candidacy. Her name appears only on the city's own qualified-candidates list; no campaign website, social media account, or news coverage was found.

Strengths

No documented professional, civic, or campaign background was found beyond her name on the city's own qualified-candidates list.

Trade-offs

No stated platform was found -- a voter has no public statement of her priorities to weigh.

Keep in mind

No campaign website, social media, local news coverage, or campaign-finance filing was found under her name as of this retrieval -- a documented absence, not a claim about her candidacy.

Richard LeGaspi

Richard LeGaspi is a Norwalk resident who previously sought a seat on the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified school board in 2021, when he was endorsed by then-Mayor Jennifer Perez. No stated 2026 council platform was found for his candidacy. He has registered a 2026 campaign committee, 'LeGaspi Norwalk City Council 2026' -- see Financial info.

Strengths

A prior run for local office -- the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified school board in 2021 -- with an endorsement from then-Mayor Jennifer Perez.

Trade-offs

No stated 2026 platform was found -- a voter has no public statement of his City Council priorities to weigh.

Keep in mind

His 2021 school board race's outcome was not confirmed in this research; cited only for the endorsement, not as a record of office held.

Daniel Moreno

Daniel Moreno is one of six candidates running for Norwalk's two open City Council seats. No stated platform could be found for his candidacy. His name appears only on the city's own qualified-candidates list; no campaign website, social media account, or news coverage was found.

Strengths

No documented professional, civic, or campaign background was found beyond his name on the city's own qualified-candidates list.

Trade-offs

No stated platform was found -- a voter has no public statement of his priorities to weigh.

Keep in mind

No campaign website, social media, local news coverage, or campaign-finance filing was found under his name as of this retrieval -- a documented absence, not a claim about his candidacy.

Leonard Shryock

Leonard Shryock previously served on the Norwalk City Council before not seeking reelection in 2020, per contemporaneous local reporting. No stated 2026 platform was found for his current run. He now teaches math at Norwalk High School and holds a Master's in Educational Administration from Cal State, per his own public profile.

Strengths

Prior City Council experience, and a current career teaching in the community as a Norwalk High School math teacher.

Trade-offs

No stated 2026 platform was found -- a voter has no public statement of what he would prioritize this term.

Keep in mind

He left the council after not seeking reelection in 2020, per contemporaneous local reporting, which did not report a reason for that decision.

Nikolas Woods

Nikolas Woods is a Lakeside Middle School teacher and 20-plus-year Norwalk resident making his first run for elected office. He's campaigning on public safety, street and infrastructure repair, fiscal transparency, and youth, senior, and small-business programs, per his own campaign site. He holds a bachelor's degree from CSU Dominguez Hills and a master's from San Jose State University.

Strengths

A detailed nine-point platform and two decades living in Norwalk, with professional experience working with local families as a teacher.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed government experience -- his record is teaching and community ties, not City Hall administration.

Keep in mind

His platform names concrete goals across nine areas; as a first-time candidate he has no council voting record for a voter to check them against.

Source review: Mixed (76/100) · 12 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Richard LeGaspi, Nikolas Woods for Norwalk City Council, and Nikolas Woods (@woods4cc) may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • norwalk.org (opens in a new tab)City of Norwalk — Notice of Election, November 3, 2026 (For Two Members of the City Council, full term of four years; no district language, confirming at-large seats; dated July 2, 2026)
  • norwalk.org (opens in a new tab)City of Norwalk — Qualified Candidates, November 3, 2026 (the City Clerk's own 'Candidate List - public.pdf', naming all six qualified City Council candidates)
  • norwalk.org (opens in a new tab)City of Norwalk — Getting Started: Candidate Information, General Municipal Election, November 3, 2026 (City Clerk's own candidate-info booklet: two at-large seats open, optional 200-word candidate statement, and FPPC direct-filing effective Jan. 1, 2025)
  • norwalk.org (opens in a new tab)City of Norwalk — Mayor and City Council (official roster: five members elected at-large to four-year overlapping terms; Mayor chosen by the council for a one-year term)
  • norwalk.org (opens in a new tab)City of Norwalk — Councilmember Tony Ayala (official bio: first elected 2017; 35 years of city employment; Mayor 2024-25; Vice Mayor 2020 and 2023)
  • whittierdailynews.com (opens in a new tab)Whittier Daily News — 'Elections 2020: This is the hottest issue in the race for the Norwalk...' by Mike Sprague (names Leonard Shryock as a sitting councilman not seeking reelection)
  • theballotbook.com (opens in a new tab)The Ballot Book — City of Norwalk 2026 candidates (unofficial, automated-monitoring aggregator; independently lists the identical six-candidate roster)
  • theballotbook.com (opens in a new tab)The Ballot Book — City of Norwalk campaign finance: LeGaspi Norwalk City Council 2026 (registered committee; three logged late contributions; no Form 460 report yet)
  • votewoods.org (opens in a new tab)Nikolas Woods for Norwalk City Council — campaign site (nine-point platform; teacher at Lakeside Middle School; BA CSU Dominguez Hills, MA San Jose State University; 20-plus years in Norwalk)
  • instagram.com (opens in a new tab)Nikolas Woods (@woods4cc) — campaign Instagram account announcing his candidacy Aug. 18, 2026
  • facebook.com (opens in a new tab)Richard LeGaspi — own Facebook posts, July 2021 (seeking a seat on the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified school board; names the endorsement of then-Mayor Jennifer Perez)
  • facebook.com (opens in a new tab)Leonard Shryock — own Facebook profile (Math Teacher at Norwalk High; MS Educational Administration, California State University)

Last updated August 31, 2026.