# Rancho Cucamonga Mayor Compare records and positions simply between Marjorie Hamada, Oliver King, Lynne B. Kennedy, and 2 more for Rancho Cucamonga Mayor at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. Rancho Cucamonga elects its Mayor directly, citywide. The Mayor presides at Council meetings and votes as a full member. The Council has five members, the Mayor plus four district members. The term is four years, with no term limits. An appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. - Jurisdiction: City of Rancho Cucamonga - 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/rancho-cucamonga-mayor - 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: 90 out of 100 (Very strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Marjorie Hamada** — Business Owner / Attorney - **Oliver King** — Business Owner / Attorney - **Lynne B. Kennedy** — Mayor Pro Tem - **Michael R. Perez** — Retired - **Jaskirat Sondh** — Businessman A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Five candidates are running for Rancho Cucamonga's open Mayor seat on the November 3, 2026 ballot. They are Mayor Pro Tem Lynne B. Kennedy and businessman Jaskirat Sondh. Also running are attorneys Marjorie Hamada and Oliver King, plus retiree Michael R. Perez. Four-term incumbent L. Dennis Michael has been Mayor since 2010. He did not file for another term. Campaign-finance records show his own 2026 committee wound down by funding Kennedy's campaign instead. Whoever gets the most votes wins outright. There is no primary or runoff. Rancho Cucamonga directly elects its Mayor citywide, separate from the City Council: presides at Council meetings and votes as a full member of the 5-person body (Mayor plus four district councilmembers), which sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this general-law, council-manager city. The term is four years with no term limits; day-to-day operations run through an appointed City Manager. Kennedy, the sitting Mayor Pro Tem and a District 4 councilmember since 2014, is the only candidate who currently holds elected office. Campaign-finance filings from outgoing Mayor Michael's own committee -- which transferred funds to Kennedy's campaign and paid for a fundraiser hosted at a local Rancho Cucamonga venue, reported as an in-kind contribution to Kennedy -- point to Kennedy as his preferred successor, though neither he nor Kennedy has said so directly in any source found in this pass. King, a business owner and attorney, has raised a comparable war chest built substantially from a personal loan and family contributions. Sondh, Hamada, and Perez have no campaign-finance committee on file with the city's own NetFile portal and no independent profile found beyond their filed ballot designations. ## Lynne B. Kennedy Lynne B. Kennedy is Rancho Cucamonga's Mayor Pro Tem. They have represented District 4 since their first election in 2014. They were re-elected in 2024, and that seat is not up this cycle. They have lived in Rancho Cucamonga since 1980. They spent four decades in education. At Rialto Unified School District they were a math teacher, assistant principal, principal and eventually Superintendent. They retired from that in 2012. They then served as Executive Director of the Alliance for Education for the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. They retired from that role in 2019. They hold a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University. Per the city's own biography, their doctoral work on algebra education won that university's Urban Leadership Achievement Award. It also won a Phi Delta Kappa dissertation award. In their Vote411 questionnaire they describe more than twelve years on the City Council and a term as President of the League of California Cities, and say their advocacy there brought hundreds of millions of dollars to city projects, programs and infrastructure. Their three stated priorities are protecting quality of life by keeping growth from outrunning infrastructure or worsening traffic and neighborhoods; public safety, with support for police and fire partners, more technology and attention to e-bike safety, traffic enforcement and crime prevention; and fiscal responsibility, meaning healthy reserves, plans for long-term obligations and economic development that adds jobs and tax revenue. **Strengths:** Twelve years on the council, including as Mayor Pro Tem, and a four-decade education career ending in a superintendency. This race's largest donor base. **Trade-offs:** Their case is continuity with a council they have sat on since 2014, a cost if you want a break from its growth record. **Keep in mind:** Their campaign has drawn a broad mix of donors, detailed below. The funding they credit their advocacy with is their own claim in a candidate questionnaire, not independently verified. ## Jaskirat Sondh Jaskirat Sondh is a candidate for Rancho Cucamonga Mayor. They filed under the ballot designation "Businessman." In their Vote411 questionnaire they say they own several small businesses and hold a degree in accounting with an emphasis in taxation and a minor in real estate. No independent information about their background was found beyond that. No campaign-finance committee was found for them either. Their three stated priorities are affordable housing modeled on Vienna's, where the city would retain the land and sell or lease buildings near cost, which they say would cut housing costs sharply; expanding public electricity and internet citywide, which they say would lower household bills; and free childcare for young families. They say they would pay for this without raising taxes, drawing on the General Fund, federal low-interest loans and grants. **Strengths:** An accounting and tax degree and a detailed housing, utilities and childcare platform, by their own account. **Trade-offs:** Their plan has the city owning land and running public utilities and childcare support, a cost if you prefer the city not take on those roles. **Keep in mind:** The savings they project and the funding sources they name are their own claims in a candidate questionnaire. No campaign-finance committee or independent coverage was found for them. ## Marjorie Hamada Marjorie Hamada is a candidate for Rancho Cucamonga Mayor. They filed under the ballot designation "Business Owner / Attorney." Fellow Mayor candidate Oliver King filed the identical designation. No source found establishes any professional or personal connection between the two. In Hamada's Vote411 questionnaire they describe more than twenty years as an Inland Empire attorney and small-business owner, representing thousands of clients and negotiating with people from the trades to government agencies. No campaign-finance committee was found for them. Their three stated priorities are a Residents' Advisory Council with a member from each district and one at-large seat, meeting regularly to advise the mayor; opposing excessive high-density development where roads, water, schools and evacuation routes cannot support it, while still meeting legal housing obligations; and keeping infrastructure and police and fire staffing in step with growth, along with a coordinated response to homelessness that pairs services with action on encampments. **Strengths:** More than twenty years as an Inland Empire attorney and small-business owner, by their own account, and a specific proposal for a residents' advisory council. **Trade-offs:** They would oppose excessive high-density building where they say services cannot keep up, a cost if you want faster housing production. The council they propose would only advise. **Keep in mind:** Their background and platform are their own account in a candidate questionnaire. No campaign-finance committee or independent coverage was found for them. ## Oliver King Oliver King is a candidate for Rancho Cucamonga Mayor. They filed under the ballot designation "Business Owner / Attorney." Their own 2026 campaign committee reports a $12,000 personal loan to their campaign. It reports a $5,900 contribution from Pamela P. King of Rancho Cucamonga, retired. It also reports a further $5,900 late contribution from Emily King, M.D. of Claremont. Both appear to be family contributions. The committee reports a $5,000 late contribution from a San Bernardino attorney. It also reports a $2,500 late contribution from a retired Oceanside donor. In their Vote411 questionnaire they say they are a fifth-generation Rancho Cucamonga resident raising their family there. By their own account they have represented sexual-abuse survivors and people harmed by institutional misconduct as an attorney, and served as general manager of a professional sports team, leading a front office within a budget. Their three stated priorities are supporting growth by planning development and infrastructure together; addressing homelessness with regional partners through enforcement, outreach, treatment and services; and protecting local open space and community character under the slogan "Keep Rancho, Rancho." **Strengths:** A fifth-generation resident with legal and executive experience, by their own account, and a substantial campaign largely self- and family-funded, detailed below. **Trade-offs:** Their priorities are stated in broad terms, a cost if you want specific proposals on growth and housing. No independent news coverage was found. **Keep in mind:** A campaign this heavily self- and family-funded is a specific, verifiable fact pattern. Their legal and sports-management background is their own account in a candidate questionnaire. ## Michael R. Perez Michael R. Perez is a candidate for Rancho Cucamonga Mayor. They filed under the ballot designation "Retired." In their Vote411 questionnaire they describe a bachelor's degree and MBA in business administration, city master-planning work when Chino Hills was preparing to become a city, budget and technology work in the San Bernardino County Sheriff's administration, and a post as a college vice president of administration. No independent information about their background was found beyond that. No campaign-finance committee was found for them either. Their three stated priorities are more police officers, to return the city to the level of safety they say it had 10 to 15 years ago; master planning with no high-density housing and a return to lower development density, which they say would also ease traffic; and adding 500 to 800 acres of parks and open space to reach the state's Quimby Act levels. They also say crimes against persons have risen more in Rancho Cucamonga than in surrounding communities. **Strengths:** A business degree and MBA plus college and sheriff's-office administration experience, by their own account, with numeric targets for added park land. **Trade-offs:** Their plan calls for no high-density housing and more land for parks, a cost if you want more homes built to ease housing prices. **Keep in mind:** Their background and their claim that crime has risen faster here than nearby are their own account in a candidate questionnaire. No campaign-finance committee or independent coverage was found. ## Sources 1. [San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters -- "Offices Up for Election, November 3, 2026, General Election": lists County Board of Education Areas A, B, and D (under the School category) as the county's only expiring-term seats this cycle -- no Board of Supervisors, row office, or Superior Court seat appears anywhere in the 11-page document](https://uploads.rov.sbcounty.gov/ROV/Elections/2026/1103/Report_OfficesUpForElection.pdf) 2. [San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters -- statewide "Report_CandidateList.pdf" candidate-filing report linked from the county's own November 3, 2026 candidates page: within the San Bernardino County section, only Area B carries any candidates (Rita Fernandez-Loof, Miki R. Inbody, Kimberly L. Watson); Areas A and D, both confirmed expiring this cycle by the county's own Offices Up for Election document, have no candidates anywhere in the report and will not appear on the November ballot](https://uploads.rov.sbcounty.gov/ROV/Elections/2026/1103/Report_CandidateList.pdf) 3. [City of Rancho Cucamonga -- "Elections" page (cityofrc.us/elections): states the three November 3, 2026 offices (Mayor at-large, City Council District 2, City Council District 3, all 4-year terms, no term limits) and lists all ten candidates verbatim by office with their filed ballot designations, plus the October 19, 2026 voter-registration deadline and December 17, 2026 installation date.](https://www.cityofrc.us/elections) 4. [City of Rancho Cucamonga -- "Mayor & City Council" page: names all five sitting council members (Mayor L. Dennis Michael; Mayor Pro Tem Lynne B. Kennedy, District 4; Ashley N. Stickler, District 1; Kristine D. Scott, District 2; Ryan A. Hutchison, District 3) with each one's district, first-elected/re-elected year, and term-expiration date -- confirming Districts 1 and 4 are not up until 2028, and that Districts 2 and 3 (plus the separately elected Mayor) expire in 2026.](https://www.cityofrc.us/your-government/mayor-city-council) 5. [City of Rancho Cucamonga -- outgoing Mayor L. Dennis Michael's own official bio page: a lifelong Rancho Cucamonga resident who served on the City Council 2004-2010 before four Mayoral terms (2010, 2014, 2018, 2022); a 27-year career with the Rancho Cucamonga Fire Protection District, rising to Fire Chief in 1984 and serving in that role until his 2003 retirement; regional seats including the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority and SCAG's Regional Council.](https://www.cityofrc.us/directory/l-dennis-michael) 6. [City of Rancho Cucamonga -- Mayor Pro Tem Lynne B. Kennedy's own official bio page (District 4 seat, not up this cycle): a Rancho Cucamonga resident since 1980, first elected to the council in 2014 and re-elected in 2024; a four-decade education career in Rialto Unified culminating in Superintendent (retired 2012), then Executive Director of the Alliance for Education for the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools (retired 2019); a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University and degrees from the University of Redlands and Cal State San Bernardino.](https://www.cityofrc.us/directory/lynne-b-kennedy) 7. [City of Rancho Cucamonga -- public NetFile campaign-finance disclosure portal (netfile.com/public/CRC; legacy search interface ssl.netfile.com/pub2/?aid=CRC), queried directly by candidate name and cross-checked against the portal's own live filing-log RSS feed: confirms active, itemized 2026 committees for Lynne Kennedy, Kristine Scott, Oliver King, David VanGorden, and DeJonae Marie Shaw (the last four with Form 497 24-hour late-contribution reports filed in the final two weeks of August 2026), a prior 2022 committee for VanGorden, three separate personal contributions from Stacy Henry to Kennedy's committees (2016, 2020, 2026), and the wind-down transfers from outgoing Mayor L. Dennis Michael's and outgoing Councilmember Ryan Hutchison's own 2026 committees; returns no committee at all for Jaskirat Sondh, Marjorie Hamada, Michael R. Perez, or Connie Velazquez.](https://netfile.com/public/CRC/campaign) 8. [League of Women Voters -- Vote411 voter guide, 'City of Rancho Cucamonga Mayor' 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? Answers on file from Marjorie Hamada, Oliver King, Lynne B. Kennedy, Michael R. Perez, Jaskirat Sondh. Capture in data/nov-2026/sources/vote411/rancho-cucamonga-mayor.json.](https://www.vote411.org/plan-your-vote) ## The rest of the ballot Rancho Cucamonga Mayor 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, "Rancho Cucamonga Mayor — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/rancho-cucamonga-mayor (sources last retrieved October 7, 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.