# Palm Springs City Council, District 3 Compare records and positions simply between Ron deHarte or Charles Brown for Palm Springs City Council, District 3 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Palm Springs's 5-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. The term is four years. The council chooses one of its own members to serve as Mayor and another as Mayor Pro Tem each year by a council vote -- the titles rotate rather than being separately elected citywide. - Jurisdiction: City of Palm Springs - 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/palm-springs-council-3 - 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 3, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 79 out of 100 (Mixed), across 6 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Ron deHarte** — Incumbent - **Charles Brown** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Incumbent Ron deHarte, a former mayor now seeking their first reelection, faces first-time candidate Charles Brown, a former Palm Springs high-school teacher, for the District 3 seat. This person holds your district's seat on Palm Springs's 5-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. The term is four years. The council chooses one of its own members to serve as Mayor and another as Mayor Pro Tem each year by a council vote -- the titles rotate rather than being separately elected citywide. DeHarte's nomination was verified July 28, 2026; Brown's was verified Aug. 9. The Palm Springs Post is the only independent roster-and-biography source reached for Brown in the time available for this profile -- no campaign site, second news source, or official candidate-statement document was found. ## Ron deHarte Ron deHarte is the District 3 councilmember, elevated by their colleagues to serve as the council's rotating mayor from December 2024 to December 2025 (succeeding Jeffrey Bernstein in that role); Naomi Soto succeeded them as mayor in December 2025. As mayor, deHarte described their priority as reassessing the city's numerous in-progress projects -- "My big, bold initiative is to put the brakes on" -- with a stated focus on quality of life, economic development, homelessness, crime reduction, and housing. No independent biography of their pre-council occupation or background beyond their time in office was found in the time available for this profile. **Strengths:** A full council term including a year as the city's rotating mayor, giving them direct experience setting citywide priorities rather than only district-level ones. **Trade-offs:** This is their first reelection bid, so voters have only one term's record to judge, and no independent reporting on their pre-council occupation or background was found in this pass. **Keep in mind:** Their stated mayoral priority -- reassessing the pace of city projects -- is a governing philosophy voters may want to weigh against Bernstein's project-completion-focused record in the neighboring District 2 race. ## Charles Brown Charles Brown is a Baristo-neighborhood resident and former Palm Springs high-school teacher, making his first run for elected office. He is running on what the Palm Springs Post describes as a "CARE" platform: community, affordability, responsible government, economic vitality, and sustainability. No independent biography, campaign site, or additional platform detail beyond that was found in the time available for this profile. **Strengths:** A former educator's direct, longtime residency in the district he seeks to represent. **Trade-offs:** No prior elected or appointed public service, and no independently reported platform detail beyond the five broad CARE priorities named above. **Keep in mind:** As a first-time candidate challenging a sitting former mayor, voters may want to weigh how much detail is publicly available about his specific positions before the election. ## Sources 1. [Riverside County Registrar of Voters — 2026 Annual Election Calendar (lists every November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election office by city, including "City of Cathedral City: City Council District 3 / District 4 / District 5 / City Treasurer")](https://voteinfo.net/sites/g/files/aldnop371/files/2026-02/Annual%20Election%20Calendar%202026.pdf) 2. [The Palm Springs Post -- "Two challengers join three incumbents in Palm Springs City Council race" (Mark Talkington, Aug. 13, 2026; names all five qualified candidates across Districts 1, 2, and 3 with nomination-verification dates, challenger occupation/background notes, and the Nov. 3, 2026 general-election date)](https://thepalmspringspost.com/two-challengers-join-three-incumbents-in-palm-springs-city-council-race/) 3. [The Palm Springs Post -- "Naomi Soto sworn in as Palm Springs' 28th mayor, pledges inclusive city for all" (Mark Talkington, Dec. 10, 2025; states Soto "became Palm Springs' 28th mayor through a unanimous City Council vote" for a one-year term, with David Ready appointed Mayor Pro Tem -- confirms the rotating, council-selected Mayor/Mayor Pro Tem structure)](https://thepalmspringspost.com/naomi-soto-sworn-in-as-palm-springs-28th-mayor-pledges-inclusive-city-for-all/) 4. [Wikipedia -- "Palm Springs, California": infobox lists the current City Council as of retrieval -- Mayor Naomi Soto, Mayor Pro Tem David Ready, and Councilmembers Grace Elena Garner, Jeffrey Bernstein, and Ron De Harte -- corroborating the five-person roster and confirming Garner/Bernstein/deHarte (the three Nov. 2026 candidates' shared incumbency) hold no Mayor/Mayor Pro Tem title this cycle.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Springs,_California) 5. [The Palm Springs Post -- "Palm Springs welcomes new mayor, councilmembers during mostly ceremonial meeting" (Post Staff, Dec. 12, 2024; Ron deHarte sworn in as mayor, succeeding Jeffrey Bernstein in the rotating role; Naomi Soto sworn in as Mayor Pro Tem alongside newly elected councilmember David Ready)](https://thepalmspringspost.com/palm-springs-welcomes-new-mayor-councilmembers-during-mostly-ceremonial-meeting/) 6. [City of Palm Springs NetFile — public campaign-disclosure search](https://netfile.com/public/CPS/campaign/search-entities) ## The rest of the ballot Palm Springs City Council, District 3 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, "Palm Springs City Council, District 3 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/palm-springs-council-3 (sources last retrieved September 3, 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.