pattersonca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Patterson -- "Final Nomination List," Consolidated General Municipal Election, Nov. 3, 2026 (posted by the City Clerk with each candidate's written permission): names all 5 qualified candidates across the city's 3 open offices (1 Mayor seat, 2-year term; 1 Council Member District B seat, 4-year term; 1 Council Member District D seat, 4-year term), with each candidate's office sought and exact filing/return/verification dates, all flagged "Qualified: Yes"
pattersonca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Patterson -- "Nominees for Public Office" Legal Notice, published Aug. 20, 2026 (after the Aug. 7/12 filing deadlines): the ballot-facing office/candidate listing -- Mayor At Large (Gabriela Hernandez, Michael S. Clauzel), Council Member District B (Chichi Jack, Carlos E. Ortega), and Council Member District D (Carlos Roque, the only qualified candidate) -- independently confirming the Final Nomination List's roster
pattersonca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Patterson -- "Mayor and City Council" page: names the 5 current officeholders and their term-expiration dates -- Mayor Michael Clauzel (at-large, term expires Nov. 2026), Gabriela Hernandez (District A, term expires Nov. 2028), Chinyere Jack (District B, term listed as running only Aug. 13, 2026-Nov. 2026, i.e. an appointment to complete a vacated term), Kendra Mora (District C, term expires Nov. 2028), and Carlos Roque (District D, term expires Nov. 2026) -- confirming which 3 seats are up this cycle and that Districts A/C are not
pattersonca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Patterson -- "November 3, 2026 Election - Candidate Information" page: confirms the same 3 open offices (Councilmember District B, Councilmember District D, Mayor At-Large) and the nomination period (July 13-Aug. 7, 2026, extended to Aug. 12 for any office an incumbent doesn't file for); as retrieved, posts no candidate statements or biographical detail for any 2026 candidate
ttownmedia.com (opens in a new tab)Patterson Irrigator (Timothy Benefield) -- "Election season is underway": independently names the same 5-candidate field and adds context found nowhere else in this dataset's Patterson sourcing -- Mayor Clauzel is "seeking a third term"; Gabriela Hernandez is "currently on the Patterson city council ... representing District A" and "was elected to this seat in November 2024"; Chinyere Jack was "recently appointed to complete the term" for District B
en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- Patterson, California: government section confirms a mayor-council system, mayor elected citywide to a 2-year term, four district councilmembers elected to staggered 4-year terms (2 seats plus the mayor up every 2 years), an appointed city manager, and a 2020 Census population of 23,781 -- cited only for this general structure, not for its own (stale) named council roster
netfile.com (opens in a new tab)A documented financial-info gap, not a claim about any candidate's fundraising: the City of Patterson's own Campaign Finances page (pattersonca.gov/2076) redirects to a NetFile public-disclosure portal (netfile.com/public/ptsn/campaign) that is a client-rendered single-page app; its own env-config.js names a Cloudflare Turnstile CAPTCHA site key guarding the underlying API, and a direct query against that API returned only an authentication error with no static content or discoverable public endpoint reachable to this session's fetch tooling -- the same recurring NetFile failure mode already documented elsewhere in this dataset

Last updated September 1, 2026.

City of Patterson

Mayor of Patterson

This person presides over City Council meetings and represents Patterson publicly. They vote as one of five members on the budget and city laws. An appointed city manager runs daily government. Patterson's mayor is the only council member elected citywide. The other members are elected by district. The term is two years.

Two candidates are running for Patterson's citywide Mayor seat. Incumbent Michael S. Clauzel is seeking a third term. Gabriela Hernandez, a sitting District A councilmember, is running instead of finishing her council term. Whoever gets the most votes on November 3 wins, with no runoff.

Patterson's Mayor presides over City Council meetings and represents the city publicly, but votes as one of five members on the budget and city ordinances -- day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. It's the only council seat elected citywide rather than by district, and unlike the four district council seats' 4-year terms, Patterson's mayor serves a 2-year term.

Both candidates already hold local elected office. Clauzel is completing his second two-year term as Mayor and seeking a third. Hernandez was elected to the District A council seat in November 2024 -- a four-year term not up again until 2028 -- and is running for the citywide Mayor's office instead of completing it.

Michael S. Clauzel

Michael S. Clauzel is Patterson's sitting Mayor, seeking a third term. He filed his nomination papers earliest of any 2026 candidate, on July 13, 2026. No independent news profile or biography of him could be found.

Gabriela Hernandez

Gabriela Hernandez is a sitting Patterson councilmember, elected to the District A seat in 2024. She is running for Mayor instead of finishing her four year term. She filed her nomination papers on August 3, 2026.

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