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City of Rialto · Statewide General Election

Rialto City Council

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 would hold one of two open, at-large seats on Rialto's City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use in this San Bernardino County city of about 104,000, alongside the separately elected Mayor. A 4-year term. All four Council seats are elected citywide rather than by district, on staggered terms -- the other two seats (Andy Carrizales and Karla Perez, term exp. 2028) aren't on this ballot.

Nine candidates -- more than any other San Bernardino County city race in this dataset -- are running for Rialto's two open, at-large City Council seats on the November 3, 2026 ballot. Whoever gets the two highest vote totals wins outright -- there is no primary or runoff.

This person would hold one of two open seats on Rialto's City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use in this San Bernardino County city of about 104,000, alongside the separately elected Mayor (Joe Baca, elected 2024, not on this ballot). A 4-year term. All four Council seats are elected citywide rather than by district, on staggered terms -- the other two seats (Andy Carrizales and Karla Perez, term exp. 2028) aren't up this cycle.

One of the two open seats belongs to Edward Montoya Jr., appointed in January 2025 after Joe Baca's own prior Council seat became vacant when Baca won the Rialto mayoralty that November; Montoya is now running to hold the seat for a full term. The other belongs to Ed Scott, the city's longest-serving candidate in this race -- first elected in 1996, by his own account, and now Mayor Pro Tem.

Edward J. Carrillo

Edward J. Carrillo is Rialto's sitting, separately elected City Treasurer (term expires 2028) -- his filed ballot designation for this City Council race is literally "City Treasurer." His 2026 council campaign committee formed on August 5, 2026, right before the Aug. 7 filing deadline, and reported $5,000 in contributions against $50 in expenditures in its first, short filing period, ending cash $4,950. No independent news coverage of his council candidacy was found in this pass.

Strengths

Direct, current experience with one of the city's own elected financial offices, distinct from any other candidate in the field.

Trade-offs

No independent reporting explains why a sitting Treasurer is also seeking a Council seat, and his committee's late formation, days before the deadline, leaves a thin financial record so far.

Keep in mind

Holding one elected city office while running for a second is a plainly unusual structural fact worth asking him about directly -- this dataset documents it without speculating on his reasons or on any eligibility question.

Celina Diaz

Celina Diaz is a candidate for Rialto City Council whose filed ballot designation is "Human Resources." She has no campaign committee registered with the city as of this retrieval, and no independent news coverage of her was found in this pass.

Strengths

A human-resources professional background is a distinct lens on municipal personnel and workforce matters compared to other candidates in this field.

Trade-offs

No independent verification of her platform or background was found beyond her filed designation, and she has no registered committee, so no financial disclosure exists to review.

Keep in mind

A candidate with no campaign committee this close to the election has less of a public paper trail than her rivals -- worth factoring into how much you can learn about her before voting.

Ed Scott

Ed Scott is Rialto's incumbent Mayor Pro Tem, first elected to the City Council in 1996 by his own account, making him the longest-serving candidate in this race. He is a retired mechanical engineer (Southland University) and, per a 2018 profile, a decades-long Rialto resident who has prioritized public safety, economic development, and street paving. Scott has also championed nitrous-oxide regulation since 2014, when his son Myles Edward "Eddie" Scott died in a car crash a week after graduating high school, after the vehicle's driver lost consciousness from inhaling nitrous oxide recreationally; Rialto banned nitrous-oxide sales and distribution in 2017 under Scott's push, reported at the time as a first for a U.S. city, and Scott has since praised the federal "Myles Edward Scott Act" addressing illicit nitrous-oxide distribution. His 2026 committee reported $18,800 in total contributions (including $5,900 nonmonetary) against $6,284.71 in expenditures for Jan-June 2026, ending cash $34,869.19 -- the largest war chest disclosed in this race.

Strengths

Three decades of Council experience, a well-funded 2026 campaign, and a documented, independently reported personal cause (nitrous-oxide regulation) with a concrete legislative record behind it.

Trade-offs

No independent coverage of his 2026 campaign or recent votes was found beyond the nitrous-oxide story; three decades in office is worth weighing against the knowledge it represents.

Keep in mind

Scott's nitrous-oxide advocacy is well-documented and independently reported, not just self-described -- a meaningfully different kind of record than a platform statement alone.

Robert "Bobby" Bustamante

Robert "Bobby" Bustamante is a candidate for Rialto City Council whose filed ballot designation is "Iron Worker." His 2026 campaign committee has registered (Form 410/501, filed August 2026) but had filed no Form 460 as of this retrieval, so no dollar figures are available. No independent news coverage of him was found in this pass.

Strengths

A skilled-trades background distinct from any other candidate's occupation in this field.

Trade-offs

No independent verification of his platform or background was found beyond his filed designation, and with no Form 460 filed yet, his fundraising and spending are unconfirmed.

Keep in mind

A newly registered committee this close to the election isn't itself disqualifying, but it does mean voters have less to go on for him than for candidates with a longer filing history.

Ana Gonzalez

Ana Gonzalez is a 30-year Rialto resident (she moved to the city at age 9 in 1996) and a mother of two making her third run for this office, per independent headlines confirming Council bids in 2018 and 2024 as well as this cycle. Her filed ballot designation is "Nonprofit Executive Director." Per her own campaign site, she has served on the city's Budget Advisory Committee and General Plan Community Advisory Committee and chairs the California Transportation Commission's Interagency Equity Advisory Committee, and her platform centers infrastructure, housing, health and safety, small business, and services for seniors. Her 2026 committee reported $10,762 in contributions against $2,783.83 in expenditures for Jan-June 2026, ending cash $7,978.17 (her own filed summary page's beginning- and ending-cash figures don't fully reconcile with each other, reported here exactly as filed).

Strengths

Multiple prior city advisory-committee roles and a state-commission leadership post, plus persistence -- this is her third campaign for the same seat.

Trade-offs

Neither prior cycle won her the seat, and this dataset found only headline-level, not full-article, coverage of any of her three runs; her site doesn't name the nonprofit she leads.

Keep in mind

A third run for the same seat can reflect either sustained commitment to this specific office or a signal worth asking her directly about what would be different this time.

Blanca Mondragon

Blanca Mondragon is a candidate for Rialto City Council whose filed ballot designation is "Community Advocate." Her 2026 campaign committee registered on August 31, 2026 (Form 410) but had filed no Form 460 as of this retrieval, so no dollar figures are available. No independent news coverage of her was found in this pass.

Strengths

A self-described community-advocacy background suggests direct engagement with residents ahead of holding office.

Trade-offs

No independent verification of her platform was found beyond her filed designation, and with a committee registered only days before this retrieval, no fundraising record exists yet.

Keep in mind

A committee formed this late in the cycle is a genuinely thin starting point for evaluating a campaign -- worth knowing going in rather than assuming more information exists than this dataset found.

Edward Montoya Jr.

Edward Montoya Jr. is Rialto's incumbent Council member, appointed in January 2025 to the seat Joe Baca vacated on winning the Rialto mayoralty the previous November -- his filed ballot designation, "Appointed Incumbent," reflects that. He is a U.S. Army retired combat veteran (17 years as a Combat Medic and Medical Platoon Sergeant), works as a paramedic, and founded the Brotherhood Bridge Foundation, which he describes as helping veterans and first responders through crisis intervention and mental-health advocacy; his children were raised in Rialto and graduated from local schools. He represents the city on CONFIRE and the Veterans Committee, per his own site (which also names, in the same sentence, "the California Association of Public Cemeteries" -- an odd or possibly garbled pairing this dataset could not independently verify). His 2026 committee reported $25,841.25 in contributions against $17,627.21 in expenditures for Jan-June 2026, ending cash $18,456.16, with $1,334.12 in outstanding debt.

Strengths

A well-funded 2026 campaign, a substantive military and first-responder background, and roughly a year and a half of direct Council experience already under his belt as the sitting appointee.

Trade-offs

No independent coverage of his conduct in office was found beyond the appointment itself; his own site's list of board roles includes an odd, unverifiable pairing worth taking with caution.

Keep in mind

An appointed incumbent asking voters to make that appointment permanent is a distinct situation from an incumbent who already won the seat outright -- worth weighing on its own terms rather than as an ordinary reelection.

Carl Mayfield

Carl Mayfield is a candidate for Rialto City Council whose filed ballot designation is "Parole Agent Supervisor." He has no campaign committee registered with the city as of this retrieval, and no independent news coverage of him was found in this pass.

Strengths

A corrections/law-enforcement supervisory background is a distinct professional lens on public safety compared to other candidates in this field.

Trade-offs

No independent verification of his platform or background was found beyond his filed designation, and he has no registered committee, so no financial disclosure exists to review.

Keep in mind

A candidate with no campaign committee this close to the election has less of a public paper trail than his rivals -- worth factoring into how much you can learn about him before voting.

Rafael Trujillo

Rafael Trujillo is a Rialto resident, father of two, and repeat candidate for city office: campaign-finance records independently confirm committees for City Council in 2020, Mayor in 2024, City Council again in 2024, and now City Council in 2026 -- four runs in three cycles, none of which have won him the office sought. His filed ballot designation is "Case Manager/Parent." Per his own campaign site (which does not mention any of his prior runs), he has served on the San Bernardino County Committee on School District Organization, the West Valley Water District, and city parks commissions, and cites past work expanding first-time-homebuyer housing, establishing Fire Station 5, and pandemic relief. His 2026 committee reported just $200 in contributions against $282.51 in expenditures for Jan-June 2026, ending cash $736.19 -- the smallest campaign treasury disclosed in this race.

Strengths

A record of public-board service (school-district organization, a water district, parks commissions) apart from his campaigns, and firsthand familiarity with the nomination process.

Trade-offs

None of his three prior runs for Rialto office have succeeded, and his 2026 campaign's fundraising is the thinnest of any candidate with a filed Form 460 in this race.

Keep in mind

Persistence across four campaigns in three cycles is worth weighing on its own terms -- either as sustained civic commitment or as a pattern worth asking him directly about.

Source review: Strong (81/100) · 14 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Ana Gonzalez's own campaign site (voteanagonzalez.com), self-description attributed in text: describes her as a 30-year Rialto resident (moved to the city at age 9 in 1996), a mother of two, and cites service on the city's Budget Advisory Committee and General Plan Community Advisory Committee, plus chairing the California Transportation Commission's Interagency Equity Advisory Committee -- consistent with, though not naming the specific organization behind, her filed ballot designation "Nonprofit Executive Director." Lists five platform priorities: infrastructure, housing, health and safety, small business, and seniors., Edward Montoya Jr.'s own campaign site (edwardmontoya4rialtocitycouncil.com), self-description attributed in text: describes him as a U.S. Army retired combat veteran (17 years as a Combat Medic and Medical Platoon Sergeant), a paramedic with law-enforcement experience, and founder of the Brotherhood Bridge Foundation, which he describes as having helped thousands of veterans and first responders through crisis intervention and mental-health advocacy; says his children were raised in Rialto and graduated from local schools; and lists, in his own words, "CONFIRE, the California Association of Public Cemeteries, and the Veterans Committee" as bodies he represents the city on -- quoted verbatim rather than independently verified, since that pairing (a fire-dispatch authority alongside a cemetery association) reads as an odd or possibly garbled description on the candidate's own site., and Rafael Trujillo's own campaign site (rafaeltrujillo.com), self-description attributed in text: describes him as a father of two living with his wife Mirella, cites past service on the San Bernardino County Committee on School District Organization, the West Valley Water District, and city parks commissions, and credits himself with expanding first-time-homebuyer housing programs, establishing Fire Station 5, and pandemic relief efforts; does not mention his prior, unsuccessful runs for this office in 2020 and 2024 or for Mayor in 2024 (independently confirmed instead by his own campaign-finance committee history -- see rialto-netfile-2026). may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • uploads.rov.sbcounty.gov (opens in a new tab)San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters -- "Offices Up for Election, November 3, 2026, General Election" (the same document as sb-offices-up-2026, a different section): the "City of Rialto" section lists exactly one office, a 4-year term -- Member, City Council (2 seats, no district number given).
  • uploads.rov.sbcounty.gov (opens in a new tab)San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters -- statewide "Report_CandidateList.pdf" candidate-filing report (the same document as sb-candidate-list-2026, a different section): the "City of Rialto" section (pp. 173-176 of 249) names all nine qualified 2026 City Council candidates for the two open at-large seats -- Edward Montoya Jr. (flagged Incumbent), Ana Gonzalez, Robert "Bobby" Bustamante, Ed Scott (flagged Incumbent), Carl Mayfield, Edward J. Carrillo, Blanca Mondragon, Celina Diaz, and Rafael Trujillo -- each with their filed ballot designation, "Last Updated: 8/28/2026."
  • rialtoca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Rialto -- official bilingual "Notice of Election, November 3, 2026," signed by City Clerk Barbara A. McGee: confirms exactly "2 (two) Members" of the City Council, "Full term of 4 (four) years," a July 13-August 7, 2026 nomination period (extendable to August 12 if an incumbent doesn't file), and cites Elections Code section 10229 as the mechanism for filling a seat by appointment if no one or only one person is nominated.
  • rialtoca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Rialto -- the City Clerk's own "2026 Candidates List" (updated 8/13/2026), giving the certified ballot order from the California Secretary of State's randomized-alphabet drawing (Aug. 13, 2026) for all nine City Council candidates -- Edward J. Carrillo, Celina Diaz, Ed Scott, Robert "Bobby" Bustamante, Ana Gonzalez, Blanca Mondragon, Edward Montoya Jr., Carl Mayfield, and Rafael Trujillo -- each with their filed ballot designation and voluntarily provided contact/campaign-website information, headed "CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL MEMBER" with no district breakout for any name.
  • rialtoca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Rialto -- "City Council & Elected Officials" page: confirms a five-member elected body (Mayor plus four Council Members), naming Mayor Joe Baca (term expires 2028), Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott (term expires 2026), and Council Members Andy Carrizales (2028), Karla Perez (2028), and Edward Montoya Jr. (2026) -- exactly matching the two seats up this cycle -- and separately naming Edward J. Carrillo as the city's sitting, separately elected City Treasurer (term expires 2028).
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)City of Rialto's own city-specific NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal (aid=RIAL, distinct from the county-wide aid=SBD portal used elsewhere in this file), queried directly by name for all nine 2026 candidates via its own QuickNameSearch/filings-by-filer JSON API (reverse-engineered from the portal's own downloaded JS bundle), with each available candidate's most recent Form 460 downloaded directly via the portal's own CampaignDocuments/download endpoint. Ed Scott reported $18,800 in total contributions (incl. $5,900 nonmonetary) against $6,284.71 in expenditures for Jan-June 2026, ending cash $34,869.19. Edward Montoya Jr. reported $25,841.25 in contributions against $17,627.21 in expenditures, ending cash $18,456.16, with $1,334.12 in outstanding debt. Ana Gonzalez reported $10,762 in contributions against $2,783.83 in expenditures, ending cash $7,978.17 (her own filed summary page's beginning- and ending-cash figures do not arithmetically reconcile with each other; reported here exactly as filed, not corrected or guessed at). Edward J. Carrillo's committee, formed August 5, 2026, reported $5,000 in contributions and $50 in expenditures for its first (July 1-28, 2026) filing period -- a scanned image PDF with no extractable text layer, read by rendering it to an image and reading the figures directly -- ending cash $4,950. Rafael Trujillo reported $200 in contributions against $282.51 in expenditures for Jan-June 2026, ending cash $736.19. Robert Bustamante's and Blanca Mondragon's 2026 committees have filed only Form 410/501 threshold paperwork, no Form 460 yet; Carl Mayfield and Celina Diaz have no committee registered with the city at all as of this retrieval.
  • kvcrnews.org (opens in a new tab)KVCR News -- "Rialto appoints Army veteran and nonprofit leader Edward Montoya Jr. to vacant seat": headline, outlet, and publish date confirmed via Google News RSS's own structured metadata; kvcrnews.org itself was not fetchable directly in this pass, so the article body could not be read or cited for any claim beyond what the headline itself states.
  • sbsun.com (opens in a new tab)San Bernardino Sun -- four separate headlines tracking Joe Baca's council-seat vacancy and its filling, confirmed via Google News RSS's own structured metadata (sbsun.com itself was not fetchable directly in this pass, so no article body was read beyond each headline): "Rialto City Council to appoint new member to fill vacancy in January" (Dec. 12, 2024); "Rialto City Council has an opening. Here's how you can apply to fill it" (Dec. 18, 2024); "How the Rialto City Council filled its open seat" (Jan. 8, 2025) -- consistent with and independent of kvcrnews.org's Jan. 9, 2025 report naming Edward Montoya Jr. as the appointee.
  • iecn.com (opens in a new tab)Inland Empire Community News (iecn.com, by Manny Sandoval) -- "Mayor Pro-Tem Ed Scott vying for another term on Rialto City Council": read in full. Scott's own quote, "I was first elected into office in 1996," plus his account of a mechanical-engineering degree from Southland University, 32 years as a Rialto resident, and his priorities (public safety, the Rialto Marketplace's economic development, and street paving).
  • iecn.com (opens in a new tab)Inland Empire Community News (iecn.com) -- "Rialto Mayor Pro Tem Scott praises bill, named in honor of his late son, that would address illicit distribution of nitrous oxide": read in full. Reports that Scott's son Myles Edward "Eddie" Scott died in 2014 in a car crash a week after graduating high school when the vehicle's driver lost consciousness after inhaling nitrous oxide; that Rialto banned nitrous-oxide sales/distribution in 2017 under Scott's push (reported as a first for a U.S. city); and quotes Scott praising the federal "Myles Edward Scott Act," introduced by Rep. Norma Torres and co-sponsored by Rep. Pete Aguilar.
  • voteanagonzalez.com (opens in a new tab)Ana Gonzalez's own campaign site (voteanagonzalez.com), self-description attributed in text: describes her as a 30-year Rialto resident (moved to the city at age 9 in 1996), a mother of two, and cites service on the city's Budget Advisory Committee and General Plan Community Advisory Committee, plus chairing the California Transportation Commission's Interagency Equity Advisory Committee -- consistent with, though not naming the specific organization behind, her filed ballot designation "Nonprofit Executive Director." Lists five platform priorities: infrastructure, housing, health and safety, small business, and seniors.
  • iecn.com (opens in a new tab)Two outlets' headlines independently confirming Ana Gonzalez ran for this same office in each of her two prior eligible cycles, confirmed via Google News RSS's own structured metadata (neither article's full body was fetchable in this pass): Inland Empire Community News's "Ana Gonzalez eyes Rialto City Council seat" (Dec. 28, 2018) and the San Bernardino Sun's "Ana Gonzalez, Rialto City Council, 2024 election questionnaire" (Oct. 7, 2024).
  • edwardmontoya4rialtocitycouncil.com (opens in a new tab)Edward Montoya Jr.'s own campaign site (edwardmontoya4rialtocitycouncil.com), self-description attributed in text: describes him as a U.S. Army retired combat veteran (17 years as a Combat Medic and Medical Platoon Sergeant), a paramedic with law-enforcement experience, and founder of the Brotherhood Bridge Foundation, which he describes as having helped thousands of veterans and first responders through crisis intervention and mental-health advocacy; says his children were raised in Rialto and graduated from local schools; and lists, in his own words, "CONFIRE, the California Association of Public Cemeteries, and the Veterans Committee" as bodies he represents the city on -- quoted verbatim rather than independently verified, since that pairing (a fire-dispatch authority alongside a cemetery association) reads as an odd or possibly garbled description on the candidate's own site.
  • rafaeltrujillo.com (opens in a new tab)Rafael Trujillo's own campaign site (rafaeltrujillo.com), self-description attributed in text: describes him as a father of two living with his wife Mirella, cites past service on the San Bernardino County Committee on School District Organization, the West Valley Water District, and city parks commissions, and credits himself with expanding first-time-homebuyer housing programs, establishing Fire Station 5, and pandemic relief efforts; does not mention his prior, unsuccessful runs for this office in 2020 and 2024 or for Mayor in 2024 (independently confirmed instead by his own campaign-finance committee history -- see rialto-netfile-2026).

Last updated August 31, 2026.