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City of Oakdale · Statewide General Election

Oakdale 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 would hold one of Oakdale's two open City Council seats: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for Stanislaus County's self-styled "Cowboy Capital of the World," population 23,181 per the 2020 Census. Oakdale is a general-law, council-manager city; the Mayor and all four councilmembers are elected at-large (citywide, not by district) to 4-year terms, with two of the four council seats up this November.

Six candidates are running for Oakdale's two open City Council seats: incumbent Mayor Pro Tem Kayleigh Gilbert, plus five challengers -- Sal Hernandez, Christopher Chavez, Benjamin Amaral, Fred Smith, and Mary Buchanan. The two candidates with the most votes win the two seats outright; there is no runoff.

Oakdale's City Council sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use for Stanislaus County's self-styled "Cowboy Capital of the World," population 23,181 per the 2020 Census. Oakdale is a general-law, council-manager city: the Mayor and all four councilmembers are elected at-large citywide, not by district, each to a 4-year term. Day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager, not the council directly.

Two of the council's four seats are up this cycle. A third seat with a 2026 term expiration, held by Richard Murdoch, is not on this ballot at all -- Murdoch's name doesn't appear on either the county's or the city's own 2026 candidate list, meaning he isn't seeking to keep it, though no source found in this pass explains why. The other two council seats (Jarod Pitassi and Jeff Kettering) aren't up again until 2028.

Sal Hernandez

Sal Hernandez is running for one of Oakdale's two open Council seats, listing his ballot designation as Correctional Officer. No independent news profile, campaign website, or civic-board record was found for him in this pass beyond his own filing with the city and county.

Strengths

No independent source describes any record, background, or platform for him beyond his name and ballot designation on the city's and county's candidate lists.

Trade-offs

Voters have no statement, campaign site, or public record to weigh for him beyond his filed occupation.

Keep in mind

A thin public profile here reflects what could be found in this pass, not a judgment about his candidacy or qualifications -- the same gap applies to several of his opponents in this race.

Christopher Chavez

Christopher Chavez is running for one of Oakdale's two open Council seats, listing his ballot designation as Business Owner. He and fellow candidate Fred Smith run a joint campaign site (oakdalefirst.com) describing themselves as "conservative" candidates for "fiscal discipline," "public safety," and "putting residents first," opposing what the site calls closed-door decision-making and "unnecessary rate and tax increases," and pledging to protect Oakdale's "strong values, family roots, and small-town character." The site does not give his occupation or professional background beyond the filed ballot designation.

Strengths

A stated platform -- fiscal discipline, public safety, and open decision-making -- co-published with a running mate, giving voters more to weigh than a bare ballot designation.

Trade-offs

The joint site gives no occupation, professional history, or specific policy proposal beyond broad campaign themes; no independent news coverage or civic-board record was found for him in this pass.

Keep in mind

Chavez and Smith are campaigning together as an informal pair, not formally joint candidates -- voters choose two of six names individually, and nothing requires backing both if backing either.

Benjamin Amaral

Benjamin Amaral is running for one of Oakdale's two open Council seats, listing his ballot designation as Security Officer. The city's own candidate document lists no contact email for him, and no independent news profile, campaign website, or civic-board record was found for him in this pass beyond his own filing with the city and county.

Strengths

No independent source describes any record, background, or platform for him beyond his name and ballot designation on the city's and county's candidate lists.

Trade-offs

Voters have no statement, campaign site, or public record to weigh for him beyond his filed occupation -- he is the only 2026 candidate to list no contact email on the city's own document.

Keep in mind

A thin public profile here reflects what could be found in this pass, not a judgment about his candidacy or qualifications -- the same gap applies to several of his opponents in this race.

Fred Smith

Fred Smith is running for one of Oakdale's two open Council seats, listing his ballot designation as Business Owner. He and fellow candidate Christopher Chavez run a joint campaign site (oakdalefirst.com) describing themselves as "conservative" candidates for "fiscal discipline," "public safety," and "putting residents first," opposing what the site calls closed-door decision-making and "unnecessary rate and tax increases," and pledging to protect Oakdale's "strong values, family roots, and small-town character." The site does not give his occupation or professional background beyond the filed ballot designation.

Strengths

A stated platform -- fiscal discipline, public safety, and open decision-making -- co-published with a running mate, giving voters more to weigh than a bare ballot designation.

Trade-offs

The joint site gives no occupation, professional history, or specific policy proposal beyond broad campaign themes; no independent news coverage or civic-board record was found for him in this pass.

Keep in mind

Chavez and Smith are campaigning together as an informal pair, not formally joint candidates -- voters choose two of six names individually, and nothing requires backing both if backing either.

Mary Buchanan

Mary Buchanan is running for one of Oakdale's two open Council seats, listing her ballot designation as Retired Sales Executive. No independent news profile, campaign website, or civic-board record was found for her in this pass beyond her own filing with the city and county.

Strengths

No independent source describes any record, background, or platform for her beyond her name and ballot designation on the city's and county's candidate lists.

Trade-offs

Voters have no statement, campaign site, or public record to weigh for her beyond her filed occupation.

Keep in mind

A thin public profile here reflects what could be found in this pass, not a judgment about her candidacy or qualifications -- the same gap applies to several of her opponents in this race.

Kayleigh Gilbert

Kayleigh Gilbert is Oakdale's sitting Mayor Pro Tem, seated on the Council December 14, 2022, now running for another 4-year term. She's the only incumbent in this 6-candidate field. She has an active "Kayleigh Gilbert for Oakdale City Council" campaign page on Facebook confirming her 2026 candidacy, but its content beyond that header wasn't independently readable in this pass; her only FPPC filings on the city's own disclosure page are Form 470s from the 2022 election cycle, with nothing yet posted for 2026.

Strengths

Nearly four years of sitting-council experience, including the council-selected Mayor Pro Tem role, giving her a checkable record her five challengers lack.

Trade-offs

No independent news coverage or specific vote from her term was found; her Facebook page's content wasn't accessible this session, and no 2026 finance filing has been posted for her yet.

Keep in mind

As the only incumbent running, a vote for her is a vote for continuity on the council; the open question this dataset can't answer from available sources is what specifically she's accomplished or proposed in her current term.

Source review: Strong (87/100) · 8 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: oakdalefirst.com -- joint campaign site for Council candidates Christopher Chavez and Fred Smith: describes them as fellow "conservative" candidates for "fiscal discipline," "public safety," and "putting residents first"; does not give either candidate's occupation or professional background beyond their filed "Business Owner" ballot designation may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • 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): under "CITY OF OAKDALE," lists exactly two contests -- MAYOR (Vote for 1: *Cherilyn Bairos) and COUNCIL MEMBER (Vote for 2: Sal Hernandez, Christopher Chavez, Benjamin Amaral, Fred Smith, Mary Buchanan, *Kayleigh Gilbert) -- with no district qualifiers on either office.
  • drive.google.com (opens in a new tab)City of Oakdale -- official "Notice of Election" (signed by Deputy City Clerk Colleen Andersen, published in the Oakdale Leader 7/1/2026): confirms "One (1) Mayor for the full term of four (4) years" and "Two (2) Council Member for the full term of four (4) years," with a nomination period of July 13-Aug. 7, 2026 (extended to Aug. 12 for any office an incumbent didn't file for); carries standard EC Section 10229 appointment-in-lieu-of-election boilerplate, not invoked for either office as of the county's later, post-deadline candidate list.
  • drive.google.com (opens in a new tab)City of Oakdale -- own "2026 Mayor & City Council Candidates" document (self-submitted candidate photos and contact emails): independently names the identical 7-candidate field as the county's list -- Cherilyn Bairos for Mayor; Sal Hernandez, Christopher Chavez, Benjamin Amaral, Mary Buchanan, Fred Smith, and Kayleigh Gilbert for Council Member.
  • oakdalegov.com (opens in a new tab)City of Oakdale -- own "City Council" page: states Oakdale is a "full service General Law City" using the "Council-Manager form of government," with "the Mayor and four City Council members ... elected at large to four years terms" -- confirming no council districts exist.
  • oakdalegov.com (opens in a new tab)City of Oakdale -- own "Elected Officials" page: gives exact term-seated/expiring dates -- Mayor Cherilyn Bairos (seated 12/14/2022, term expires 2026), Mayor Pro Tem Kayleigh Gilbert (seated 12/14/2022, term expires 2026), Council Member Richard Murdoch (seated 11/12/2025, term expires 2026), and Council Members Jarod Pitassi and Jeff Kettering (both seated 12/9/2024, term expires 2028, not up this cycle); Murdoch is not on the 2026 candidate list and so is not seeking to keep his seat.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- Oakdale, California: confirms Stanislaus County, a 2020 Census population of 23,181, and the city's "Cowboy Capital of the World" nickname -- cited only for this general/demographic detail, not for any candidate or council-roster claim.
  • oakdalefirst.com (opens in a new tab)oakdalefirst.com -- joint campaign site for Council candidates Christopher Chavez and Fred Smith: describes them as fellow "conservative" candidates for "fiscal discipline," "public safety," and "putting residents first," opposing closed-door decision-making and "unnecessary rate and tax increases"; does not give either candidate's occupation or professional background beyond their filed "Business Owner" ballot designation.
  • oakdalegov.com (opens in a new tab)City of Oakdale -- own "FPPC Statements and Reports" page: posts each officeholder's filed FPPC forms directly as PDFs, no NetFile portal or CAPTCHA gate. Of the 7 2026 candidates, only Mayor Bairos has any 2026-cycle filing posted; incumbent Kayleigh Gilbert's only filings are Form 470s from the 2022 cycle, and none of the other 5 candidates has any filing at all -- a documented, dated absence (California's first 2026 pre-election Form 460 isn't due until early October), not a claim about anyone's finances.

Last updated September 1, 2026.