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Orange Cove City Council

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City of Orange Cove

Orange Cove City Council

This person would hold one of Orange Cove's four at-large City Council seats. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Orange Cove is a Fresno County city of about 9,600 residents. An appointed City Manager runs the government day to day. The term is four years. Orange Cove's Mayor is also elected directly and at large. The city has no elected City Clerk or City Treasurer.

Four candidates are running for Orange Cove's two at-large City Council seats. They are Jaime Casillas, Alex Garcia, Isaiah Lopez, and Derek Greenwood.

This person would hold one of Orange Cove's four at-large City Council seats. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Fresno County city of about 9,600 residents, under a council-manager form of government with an appointed City Manager. The term is four years. Orange Cove's Mayor is also elected directly and at-large, and the city has no elected City Clerk or City Treasurer.

Whichever two candidates get the most votes win -- no runoff or ranked-choice voting is used. Both seats trace to the same mid-2026 vacancy: when then-Mayor Pro Tem Gilbert Garcia was appointed Mayor in May 2026, his own council seat went empty. The Council first voted to leave it vacant until the November election, then reversed course in July and appointed Jaime Casillas to it from a field of three interviewed residents (Casillas, Alex Garcia, and Isaiah Lopez) after a resident's repeated public-comment pressure over the four-member Council's quorum problems. All three interviewees, plus a fourth candidate, Derek Greenwood, separately qualified for the November ballot. The second seat belongs to Esperanza Rodriguez, who is not seeking reelection. This dataset found no independent biographical detail for any of the four candidates beyond what's noted below, despite a genuine multi-method search (the Mid Valley Times' own site search, Ballotpedia -- no Orange Cove page exists -- and Google News).

Jaime Casillas

Jaime Casillas is a Fresno police officer and a former Fire Protection District volunteer. The Council appointed him to the seat by a 3-1 vote on July 22, 2026. He ran under "No Ballot Designation" and did not file a candidate statement.

Alex Garcia

Alex Garcia is a local business owner, filed as "Business Owner/Chef." They were one of three residents interviewed for the vacant seat, but not chosen. Jaime Casillas was appointed instead, and Garcia did not file a candidate statement.

Isaiah Lopez

Isaiah Lopez is a community volunteer and youth mentor, according to the Mid Valley Times. He was one of three residents interviewed for the vacant council seat, but not chosen. He also qualified for a seat on the Orange Cove Police Protection District's Board.

Derek Greenwood

Derek Greenwood's filed occupation is "Fire Fighter." Unlike the other three candidates, Greenwood was not interviewed for the June council appointment. The Council instead appointed them to a 2-year Planning Commission term on July 9, 2026.

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A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

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