# Oakdale City Council Compare records and positions simply between Sal Hernandez, Christopher Chavez, Benjamin Amaral, and 3 more for Oakdale City Council at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would hold one of Oakdale's two open City Council seats. Members vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Oakdale elects its Mayor and four council members at-large, citywide. All serve four-year terms, and two of four seats are up this year. - Jurisdiction: City of Oakdale - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Seats: 2 - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/oakdale-council - 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: September 1, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 87 out of 100 (Strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Sal Hernandez** — Correctional Officer - **Christopher Chavez** — Business Owner - **Benjamin Amaral** — Security Officer - **Fred Smith** — Business Owner - **Mary Buchanan** — Retired Sales Executive - **Kayleigh Gilbert** — Incumbent A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Six candidates are running for Oakdale's two open City Council seats. Incumbent Mayor Pro Tem Kayleigh Gilbert is one. The five challengers are 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. Their ballot designation is Correctional Officer. No independent news profile, campaign website, or civic-board record was found for them. The only record is their own filing with the city and county. **Strengths:** No independent source describes any record, background, or platform for them. Their name and ballot designation on the city's and county's candidate lists are all that is listed. **Trade-offs:** Voters have no statement, campaign site, or public record to weigh for them. All they have is Hernandez's filed occupation. **Keep in mind:** A thin public profile here is not a judgment about their candidacy or qualifications. The same gap applies to several of their opponents in this race. ## Christopher Chavez Christopher Chavez is running for one of Oakdale's two open Council seats. Their ballot designation is Business Owner. Chavez and fellow candidate Fred Smith run a joint campaign site, oakdalefirst.com. It describes them as "conservative" candidates for "fiscal discipline," "public safety," and "putting residents first." It opposes what the site calls closed-door decision-making and "unnecessary rate and tax increases." It pledges to protect Oakdale's "strong values, family roots, and small-town character." The site does not give their occupation or work background beyond the filed ballot designation. **Strengths:** A stated platform of fiscal discipline, public safety, and open decision-making. They co-published it with a running mate. That gives voters more to weigh than a bare ballot designation. **Trade-offs:** The joint site gives no occupation, work history, or specific policy proposal beyond broad campaign themes. No independent news coverage or civic-board record was found for them. **Keep in mind:** Chavez and Smith are campaigning together as an informal pair, not formally joint candidates. Voters choose two of six names one by one. Nothing requires backing both if backing either. ## Benjamin Amaral Benjamin Amaral is running for one of Oakdale's two open Council seats. Their ballot designation is Security Officer. The city's own candidate document lists no contact email for them. No independent news profile, campaign website, or civic-board record was found for them. The only record is their own filing with the city and county. **Strengths:** No independent source describes any record, background, or platform for them. Their name and ballot designation on the city's and county's candidate lists are all that is listed. **Trade-offs:** Voters have no statement, campaign site, or public record to weigh for them beyond their filed occupation. Amaral is the only 2026 candidate to list no contact email on the city's own document. **Keep in mind:** A thin public profile here is not a judgment about their candidacy or qualifications. The same gap applies to several of their opponents in this race. ## Fred Smith Fred Smith is running for one of Oakdale's two open Council seats. Their ballot designation is Business Owner. Smith and fellow candidate Christopher Chavez run a joint campaign site, oakdalefirst.com. It describes them as "conservative" candidates for "fiscal discipline," "public safety," and "putting residents first." It opposes what the site calls closed-door decision-making and "unnecessary rate and tax increases." It pledges to protect Oakdale's "strong values, family roots, and small-town character." The site does not give their occupation or work background beyond the filed ballot designation. **Strengths:** A stated platform of fiscal discipline, public safety, and open decision-making. They co-published it with a running mate. That gives voters more to weigh than a bare ballot designation. **Trade-offs:** The joint site gives no occupation, work history, or specific policy proposal beyond broad campaign themes. No independent news coverage or civic-board record was found for them. **Keep in mind:** Chavez and Smith are campaigning together as an informal pair, not formally joint candidates. Voters choose two of six names one by one. Nothing requires backing both if backing either. ## Mary Buchanan Mary Buchanan is running for one of Oakdale's two open Council seats. Their ballot designation is Retired Sales Executive. No independent news profile, campaign website, or civic-board record was found for them. The only record is their own filing with the city and county. **Strengths:** No independent source describes any record, background, or platform for them. Their name and ballot designation on the city's and county's candidate lists are all that is listed. **Trade-offs:** Voters have no statement, campaign site, or public record to weigh for them. All they have is Buchanan's filed occupation. **Keep in mind:** A thin public profile here is not a judgment about their candidacy or qualifications. The same gap applies to several of their opponents in this race. ## Kayleigh Gilbert Kayleigh Gilbert is Oakdale's sitting Mayor Pro Tem. They were seated on the Council December 14, 2022. They are now running for another 4-year term. They're the only incumbent in this 6-candidate field. They have an active "Kayleigh Gilbert for Oakdale City Council" campaign page on Facebook confirming their 2026 candidacy. Its content beyond that header wasn't readable. Their only FPPC filings on the city's own disclosure page are Form 470s from the 2022 election cycle. Nothing has been posted yet for 2026. **Strengths:** Nearly four years of sitting-council experience. That includes the council-selected Mayor Pro Tem role. It gives them a checkable record their five challengers lack. **Trade-offs:** No independent news coverage or specific vote from their term was found. Their Facebook page's content wasn't reachable. No 2026 finance filing has been posted for them yet. **Keep in mind:** As the only incumbent running, a vote for them is a vote for continuity on the council. The open question is what they have done or proposed in their current term. ## Review notes - 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. ## Sources 1. [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.](https://www.stanvote.gov/pdf/candidate-list.pdf) 2. [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.](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y1H5bgv-GCw4BwiSZ3lzYIbOQGnxGsme/view) 3. [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.](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MwwppsdjbvFTd09lbofoiYCnloG7HFm0/view) 4. [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.](https://www.oakdalegov.com/city-council) 5. [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.](https://www.oakdalegov.com/elected-officials) 6. [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.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakdale,_California) 7. [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.](https://www.oakdalefirst.com) 8. [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.](https://www.oakdalegov.com/fppc-statements-and-reports) ## The rest of the ballot Oakdale City Council 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, "Oakdale City Council — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/oakdale-council (sources last retrieved September 1, 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.