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City of Poway · Statewide General Election

Poway City Council, District 3

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person holds your district's seat on Poway's 5-member City Council, alongside the citywide-elected mayor: city ordinances, the budget, and land use. A 4-year term.

Incumbent Peter De Hoff faces challenger Bob Walder for Poway City Council, District 3. Whichever candidate receives the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there is no runoff.

This person holds District 3's seat on Poway's 5-member City Council, alongside the citywide-elected mayor: city ordinances, the budget, and land use. District 3 covers east of Twin Peaks and Community roads, encompassing Midland Road, Tierra Bonita Road, Del Poniente Road, and northern Pomerado Road. A 4-year term.

De Hoff is campaigning on his first term's record -- balanced budgets, open-space acquisition, and two ordinances he initiated -- while Walder, a first-time candidate, argues recent development hasn't followed the city's own Poway Road Corridor Specific Plan and should be held to it more strictly. De Hoff also spent part of his term entangled in a colleague's scandal: then-Councilmember Tony Blain, later charged with four felonies including an alleged vote-trading scheme, proposed dropping a recall effort against De Hoff and voting to make him deputy mayor in exchange for De Hoff's support on an unrelated special-election question. De Hoff did not take the deal; Blain resigned in November 2025, days after voters supported his own recall. This is context about the surrounding council turmoil, not a reflection on De Hoff's own conduct -- he was the target of the offer, not its author.

Peter De Hoff

Incumbent Peter De Hoff, 51, has lived in District 3 for 17 years and works as a molecular-biology scientist -- the last 10 of his 18-year career at UC San Diego, where he manages a biomarker program for early detection of pregnancy disorders and a CDC-funded respiratory-disease-testing program. First elected in 2022 on a platform of fiscal discipline, public safety, and infrastructure, he points to balanced budgets with no service cuts, more than 300 acres of open-space acquisition, a hillside Dark Sky Ordinance, and a Pickleball Noise Ordinance as results. He's endorsed again by the Deputy Sheriffs' Association and the Poway Firefighters Association, and says his next-term priority is expanding the open-space protections he's already secured.

Strengths

A first term with concrete results -- open-space acreage and two named ordinances -- plus renewed law-enforcement and firefighter endorsements.

Trade-offs

He was the target, not the source, of a vote-trading offer from an ex-colleague later charged with felonies and recalled; De Hoff declined the offer (see context above).

Keep in mind

He has an ACTIVE Cal-Access committee for 2026 -- see Financial info. A separate, terminated Cal-Access committee shows he also faced his own recall push around the same period.

Bob Walder

Challenger Bob Walder, 74, has lived in District 3 for 28 years and is a retired healthcare executive and physician's assistant -- formerly a cardiopulmonary perfusionist who operated heart-lung bypass machines during surgery. He's running because he believes the city isn't following its own Poway Road Corridor Specific Plan as development proceeds, and wants new projects held to that plan's standards; he says he isn't opposed to development itself, just development that doesn't match what the plan describes. He has run the Rancho Bernardo Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol for a decade and rebuilds classic muscle cars.

Strengths

A specific, checkable critique -- that development strays from the city's own Poway Road Corridor plan -- not a blanket anti-development stance.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed government experience, and no outside record of civic involvement with city planning bodies found in this pass.

Keep in mind

No Cal-Access committee was found under his name as of this retrieval -- see Financial info.

Source review: Very strong (95/100) · 7 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • sdvote.com (opens in a new tab)San Diego County Registrar of Voters -- Candidate List, November 3, 2026 General Election (current through the 8/24/2026 2:44pm snapshot): confirms Mayor, City Council Districts 1 and 3, City Clerk, and City Treasurer as Carlsbad's five November 2026 races, and Mayor plus City Council Districts 1 and 3 as Poway's three November 2026 races, each Vote for 1
  • poway.org (opens in a new tab)City of Poway -- Election Information page: confirms the Nov. 3, 2026 General Municipal Election fills an at-large Mayor seat plus one Councilmember each from Districts 1 and 3, each a 4-year term; council districts adopted 2017
  • poway.org (opens in a new tab)City of Poway -- Candidate Roster, November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election (PDF, dated Aug. 13, 2026): lists all six qualified candidates by office -- Dellena Olps, Steve Vaus, and Jenny Maeda for Mayor; Chris Pikus for District 1; Peter De Hoff and Bob Walder for District 3
  • sandiegouniontribune.com (opens in a new tab)San Diego Union-Tribune / Pomerado News (Julie Gallant) -- "Six campaigning for Poway City Council seats": detailed residency, age, occupation, platform, and biographical profiles of all six candidates across Mayor, District 1, and District 3
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)CAL-ACCESS filer search for "Hoff": an ACTIVE "De Hoff for Poway City Council District 3, 2026" committee, alongside a terminated 2022 committee for the same seat and a terminated "Neighbors in Support of Peter De Hoff" recall-related committee
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)CAL-ACCESS filer search for "Walder": no results -- no campaign committee registered with the state under his name
  • kpbs.org (opens in a new tab)KPBS -- "Poway Councilmember Tony Blain charged with four felonies": Blain accused of offering to drop a recall effort against Councilmember Peter De Hoff and vote for De Hoff as deputy mayor in exchange for De Hoff's support on a District 1 special-election question; Blain resigned Nov. 2025 after voters supported his own recall

Last updated August 31, 2026.