# Palmdale City Council, District 3 Compare records and positions simply between Carlos Cordero, Franzelle Johnson Jr., and 3 more for Palmdale City Council, District 3 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Palmdale's 5-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. The term is four years. - Jurisdiction: City of Palmdale - 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/palmdale-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: August 31, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 82 out of 100 (Strong), across 7 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Carlos Cordero** - **Franzelle Johnson Jr.** - **Laura Bettencourt** — Incumbent - **Anain Robles** - **Jeremiah Farrell** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Five candidates are running for the District 3 seat on Palmdale's City Council: incumbent Laura Bettencourt against four challengers — Carlos Cordero, Jeremiah Farrell, Franzelle Johnson Jr. and Anain Robles. Palmdale elects its council by district directly each November; there is no primary for these seats. Council seats carry 4-year terms. The winner joins four other district representatives as one of five votes on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, with day-to-day operations run by an appointed city manager rather than any single elected official. With an incumbent on the ballot, the practical choice is whether Bettencourt's 17-year record on the council outweighs what a challenger specifically offers. That varies a lot by challenger here: Johnson has published a detailed platform, Robles names a few themes, and two of the four challengers have no public record at all to weigh. ## Laura Bettencourt The incumbent, first elected in 2009 and reelected several times since (most recently in 2018); the council designated her Mayor Pro Tem on January 1, 2025. A 22-year crime and intelligence analyst with the LA County Sheriff's Department, she has also taught criminal justice as an adjunct instructor at Antelope Valley College for two decades (per the city's official bio). She sits on the city's Audit Committee, Airport Authority and Housing Authority, among other boards. **Strengths:** 17 years on the council, the Mayor Pro Tem post since January 2025, and two decades teaching criminal justice at Antelope Valley College. **Trade-offs:** A long incumbency is a lot of record for a voter to weigh against what any single challenger specifically offers this cycle. **Keep in mind:** Her career — a sheriff's-department analyst and law-enforcement instructor — gives her background a public-safety lean; ask her directly about other issue areas. ## Franzelle Johnson Jr. A local small-business owner and 12-year Palmdale resident, challenging the incumbent. Johnson proposes a hiring requirement for subsidized developers, rent stabilization for older housing, and redirecting a portion of sheriff's-overtime spending into youth and mental-health programs (per their campaign site). Johnson's is the most detailed published platform of any District 3 candidate, incumbent included. **Strengths:** A specific, multi-part platform — developer hiring rules, rent stabilization, and a youth fund — the most detailed platform in this race. **Trade-offs:** No elected or appointed government experience; their platform is untested against the budget and land-use work the seat actually does. **Keep in mind:** Their rent-stabilization and youth-fund proposals would need votes from colleagues they don't have yet; ask what Johnson would trade to pass them. ## Anain Robles A small-business owner and founder of Almas Mexicanas, a local community organization, also challenging the incumbent. Robles's campaign names supporting local businesses, investing in youth, and community events as their focus (per their campaign's Facebook page); they have not published a detailed policy platform. No independent news coverage of their campaign has surfaced as of this writing. **Strengths:** Founded a local community organization (Almas Mexicanas) and runs a small business — direct community involvement in the district. **Trade-offs:** No elected or appointed government experience, and no platform beyond a few stated themes on their campaign's Facebook page. **Keep in mind:** No independent news coverage has surfaced to corroborate or add detail to their own campaign material. ## Carlos Cordero One of five candidates on the District 3 ballot, challenging the incumbent. No campaign platform or biography has surfaced in the city's records or in local press coverage as of Aug. 31, 2026. Cordero filed their nomination papers Aug. 6, 2026, one day before the deadline, according to the Antelope Valley Press. **Strengths:** None documented from official sources or local coverage as of this writing. **Trade-offs:** No public record exists to weigh Cordero against the incumbent or the other challengers. **Keep in mind:** They filed their nomination papers Aug. 6, 2026 — one day before the deadline — per the Antelope Valley Press; no other detail about their candidacy has surfaced. ## Jeremiah Farrell One of five candidates on the District 3 ballot, challenging the incumbent. No campaign platform or biography has surfaced in the city's records or in local press coverage as of Aug. 31, 2026. Farrell filed their nomination papers Aug. 3, 2026, the earliest of the four District 3 challengers, according to the Antelope Valley Press. **Strengths:** None documented from official sources or local coverage as of this writing. **Trade-offs:** No public record exists to weigh Farrell against the incumbent or the other challengers. **Keep in mind:** They filed their nomination papers Aug. 3, 2026 — the earliest of the four District 3 challengers — per the Antelope Valley Press; no other detail has surfaced. ## Review notes - Anain Robles for Palmdale City Council and Franzelle Johnson Jr. for Palmdale City Council District 3 may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [City of Palmdale City Clerk — 2026 City Council Final Candidate List](https://cityofpalmdaleca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/21186/public_candidate_list_final_08_18_2026) 2. [Antelope Valley Press — "Alarcón won't run to keep council seat" (Aug. 8, 2026, updated Aug. 11, 2026)](https://www.avpress.com/news/alarc-n-won-t-run-to-keep-council-seat/article_5c56a4fe-7dfa-406d-a71d-cc051b18c540.html) 3. [City of Palmdale — Councilmember Laura Bettencourt (official biography)](https://www.cityofpalmdaleca.gov/305/Councilmember-Laura-Bettencourt) 4. [Franzelle Johnson Jr. for Palmdale City Council District 3 — campaign site](https://www.votezelle.com) 5. [Anain Robles for Palmdale City Council — campaign Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/AnainRoblesforPalmdaleCityCouncil) 6. [City of Palmdale — City Elections (nomination timeline, District 5 incumbent non-filing notice)](https://www.cityofpalmdaleca.gov/322/City-Elections) 7. [City of Palmdale — Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure (NetFile)](https://ssl.netfile.com/pub2/Default.aspx?aid=CPD) ## The rest of the ballot Palmdale 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, "Palmdale City Council, District 3 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/palmdale-council-3 (sources last retrieved August 31, 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.