# Oxnard City Council, District 2

Compare records and positions simply between Lizanne Nañez or Gabriel "Gabe" Teran for Oxnard City Council, District 2 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would hold one of six district seats on Oxnard's City Council. Oxnard also has a separately, directly elected Mayor. Council members vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Oxnard is Ventura County's largest city, with about 202,000 people. Council terms are four years and staggered. Districts 1, 2, and 5 are up this cycle. Districts 3, 4, and 6 were last elected in 2024 and aren't up now. Mayor Luis McArthur was elected in November 2024. The City Clerk and City Treasurer are also directly elected, but not this cycle. Oxnard runs under a council-manager government with an appointed city manager.

- Jurisdiction: City of Oxnard
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/oxnard-council-2
- 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: October 7, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 89 out of 100 (Strong), across 10 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Lizanne Nañez** — Oxnard Businesswoman
- **Gabriel "Gabe" Teran** — Councilmember/Educational Trainer · Incumbent

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

Incumbent Gabe Teran, appointed to the seat in 2021 and elected outright that November, faces Lizanne Nañez -- a fellow applicant for that same 2021 appointment who is now making her own run for the seat.

This person would hold one of six district seats on Oxnard's City Council. Oxnard also has a separately, directly elected Mayor. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Oxnard is Ventura County's largest city, with about 202,000 residents. Terms are four years. They are staggered, so roughly half the six districts are up every two years. Districts 1, 2, and 5 are up this cycle. Districts 3, 4, and 6 were last elected in 2024 and are not. The Mayor is Luis McArthur, elected in November 2024. The City Clerk and City Treasurer are also directly elected citywide. None of the three is on this cycle's ballot. The county's on-ballot and off-ballot November 2026 candidate documents list no contest for any of them. Oxnard runs under a council-manager form of government. An appointed city manager runs day-to-day operations.

Teran was appointed to this seat in February 2021. He filled a vacancy left by Carmen Ramirez. She had been elected to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. He then won a November 2021 special election over two other candidates. That gave him the rest of Ramirez's term, which ran through November 2022. Whether he also won a separate November 2022 election for a full term was not independently verified. He has held the seat continuously since 2021. That comes from the city's current roster and Wikipedia's infobox. The infobox separately lists him as Mayor Pro Tempore.

## Gabriel "Gabe" Teran

Appointed to the District 2 seat in February 2021 -- then a Ventura County Office of Education employee, a three-time elected chair of the Fremont South Neighborhood Council, and a Parks & Recreation commissioner since 2017 -- and elected outright that November over challengers Tai Hartley and Eduardo Huerta. He holds a master's degree in management and leadership from Western Governors University and cited 18 years of youth, family, and educator-focused direct-service work in his 2021 candidate Q&A. Wikipedia's current infobox for the city also lists him as Mayor Pro Tempore. In his Vote411 questionnaire he describes nearly 25 years in health education, mental health promotion, substance-use prevention and youth development, including training for people who work with youth locally, statewide and nationally. He says he was born and raised in Oxnard, and was the first in his family to earn a master's degree.

His three stated priorities are continuing the city's progress on paving, pipes and parks; continuing to invest in youth programming meant to prevent social problems; and working directly with residents to solve neighborhood issues.

**Strengths:** More than five years on the Council and Mayor Pro Tempore, with nearly 25 years in youth and public-health education by his own account.

**Trade-offs:** His priorities are framed as continuing current work, a cost if you want a different direction on paving, pipes, parks or city services.

**Keep in mind:** His 2021 priorities centered on restoring city services cut in earlier budget rounds. His experience claims are his own account, not independently verified.

## Lizanne Nañez

One of roughly a dozen applicants who interviewed for the same District 2 council appointment Teran ultimately received in February 2021, and told the Ventura County Star at the time that she intended to run in that fall's special election. The special election's actual three-candidate field that October, however, did not include her, per the Star's own coverage -- the reason is not documented. She now runs under the ballot designation 'Oxnard Businesswoman.' In her Vote411 questionnaire she describes being born and raised in Oxnard, nearly 40 years in District 2, and a 42-year career at Procter & Gamble that took her from the production floor to a global process-improvement leadership role. She also lists volunteer service with groups including United Way, Food Share and the Boys & Girls Clubs, and says she has been going door to door in the district.

Her three stated priorities are public safety; fiscal responsibility and accountability; and transparent government with community engagement. The priorities answer is a one-line list without specifics. Elsewhere she says she wants city government to get more done with existing resources rather than spend more.

**Strengths:** A 42-year Procter & Gamble career in process improvement, by her own account, plus volunteer service with several local family and youth groups.

**Trade-offs:** Her platform is a one-line list of three priorities without specifics, and no sourced record in city office backs it.

**Keep in mind:** She said in 2021 she would run but was not in that year's special-election field. Her career and volunteer claims are her own account, not independently verified.

## Sources

1. [Ventura County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters -- November 3, 2026 General Election Contest/Candidate Proof List (filtered to on-ballot contests): the City of Oxnard section carries exactly three contests -- District 1 (three qualified candidates: John Barrick, incumbent Bert E. Perello, Eduardo Huerta), District 2 (three filers shown but only two qualified: Lizanne Nañez, incumbent Gabriel "Gabe" Teran), and District 5 (two qualified candidates: Noemi Corpuz, incumbent Gabriela Basua) -- with each candidate's self-filed ballot designation](https://clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/cfmcfmr001_contcanddataproof_08-18-2026-on-ballot-alpha-order-applied.pdf)
2. [Ventura County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters -- November 3, 2026 General Election Contest/Candidate Proof List, off-ballot companion document (single-filer and appointed-in-lieu contests under Elections Code Section 10229): carries no City of Oxnard entry of any kind -- corroborating, by absence, that Oxnard's Mayor, City Clerk, and City Treasurer seats are simply not up this cycle rather than quietly decided by a single filer](https://clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/cfmcfmr001_contcanddataproof_08-17-2026-off-ballot.pdf)
3. [Ventura County Star -- "Who's running for city council, mayor this November? Here's the lineup" (Cheri Carlson, Aug. 17, 2026): independently lists the same seven Oxnard candidates across the same three districts as the county's own document, and lists no Oxnard mayoral race among any city in the county](https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/08/17/whos-running-for-city-council-mayor-in-ventura-county-this-november/91274941007/)
4. [Wikipedia -- Oxnard, California: infobox government section -- council-manager government type, Mayor Luis McArthur, Mayor Pro Tempore Gabe Teran, City Council (Gabriela Basua, Bert Perello, Michaela Perez, Gabriela Rodriguez, Aaron Starr), City Treasurer Phil Molina, City Clerk Luly Lopez, and the 2020 Census population of 202,063](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxnard,_California)
5. [Ventura County Star -- "Some Oxnard neighborhoods are in line for new City Council members. Here's the breakdown" (Brian J. Varela, March 2, 2022): confirms Oxnard has six council districts and, as of that redistricting cycle, that Gabe Teran represented District 2, Bert Perello District 1, and Gabriela Basua District 5 -- the same three seats and, for two of the three, the same incumbents on this cycle's ballot](https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/2022/03/02/some-oxnard-neighborhoods-line-new-city-council-members-district-map/6976214001/)
6. [A negative-result campaign-finance check (Cal-Access covers state-level contests only; no filer found for any of the seven District 1/2/5 candidates in this dataset's cached statewide snapshot)](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Candidates/)
7. [A negative-result local campaign-finance check: Ventura County's own NetFile public portal (public.netfile.com/pub2/?AID=VCO), linked from the county's own campaign-finance-reports-by-city page, is a client-rendered single-page app with no static content and no reachable public API endpoint found this session; Oxnard's own city-clerk campaign-disclosure page (oxnard.gov/city-clerks-office/election-information/campaign-disclosure-statements) returned a bare Cloudflare 403 on every automated attempt, browser User-Agent included](https://public.netfile.com/pub2/?AID=VCO)
8. [Ventura County Star -- "Oxnard parks commissioner Gabe Teran to serve on City Council through November" (Wendy Leung, Feb. 5, 2021): Teran, then 38, appointed to the District 2 seat vacated by Carmen Ramirez (elected to the county Board of Supervisors); his prior roles as a Ventura County Office of Education employee, Fremont South neighborhood council chair, and Parks & Recreation commissioner; names Lizanne Nañez among six other applicants who told the Star they intended to run in the November 2021 special election](https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/2021/02/05/oxnard-parks-commissioner-gabe-teran-serve-city-council/4335124001/)
9. [Ventura County Star -- "Oxnard City Council District 2 candidates lay out priorities ahead of special election" (Brian J. Varela, Oct. 23, 2021): the actual Nov. 2, 2021 special election field was three candidates -- incumbent Gabe Teran, Tai Hartley, and Eduardo Q. Huerta (a then-Assembly Speaker's-office-adjacent consultant, age 40) -- with no Lizanne Nañez on the ballot despite her stated intent in Feb. 2021; Q&A responses give Teran's master's degree and 18 years of youth/health-services work and Huerta's political-consulting background](https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/2021/10/23/oxnard-city-council-district-2-candidates-lay-out-priorities/6119604001/)
10. [League of Women Voters -- Vote411 voter guide, 'City of Oxnard City Council Member, District 2' race (statewide All Races list): each candidate's self-submitted ballot designation and campaign contacts, plus answers to the League's questions -- If elected, what are your top 3 priorities?; What background, experience and/or education qualify you for this elected office?; Is there anything else you'd like voters to know? Answers on file from Lizanne Nañez, Gabriel "Gabe" Teran. Capture in data/nov-2026/sources/vote411/oxnard-council-2.json.](https://www.vote411.org/plan-your-vote)

## The rest of the ballot

Oxnard City Council, District 2 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, "Oxnard City Council, District 2 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/oxnard-council-2 (sources last retrieved October 7, 2026).

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