Skip to main content

City of Rocklin · Statewide General Election

Rocklin City Council

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 Rocklin's five at-large City Council seats, elected to a 4-year term: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for a Placer County city of about 71,601 residents per the 2020 Census. The city runs under a council-manager government -- day-to-day operations are handled by an appointed City Manager -- and rather than voters directly electing a Mayor, the Council appoints one of its own members as Mayor and another as Vice Mayor every year.

Three candidates are running for two at-large seats on Rocklin's City Council: incumbents Bill Halldin, the council's Vice Mayor, and Jill Gayaldo, who served as the city's rotating Mayor in 2025, are both seeking new terms, challenged by first-time candidate Walter Moore, a local pastor. Rocklin's other three council seats -- held by Mayor David Bass and Councilmembers Ken Broadway and Greg Janda -- aren't up again until 2028.

Rocklin, a Placer County city of about 71,601 residents per the 2020 Census, runs under a council-manager government: a 5-member City Council, elected entirely at large to staggered 4-year terms, sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use, while an appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. Rocklin voters don't elect a Mayor directly -- the council chooses one of its own members as Mayor and another as Vice Mayor each year. This November's election fills the two seats Halldin and Gayaldo currently hold; the new term begins Dec. 8, 2026.

Nomination papers were open July 13 to Aug. 7, 2026, with a possible extension to Aug. 12 for any office whose incumbent hadn't yet filed. Placer County's own notice of which races needed that extension names only the City of Auburn and City of Colfax councils among city offices -- Rocklin isn't on it, meaning both Halldin and Gayaldo filed within the regular window. Moore, a newcomer with no prior elected or appointed office, also qualified in that same window, giving voters a genuine three-candidate choice for two seats rather than a race decided by default.

Bill Halldin

Bill Halldin, the council's Vice Mayor, is seeking another term after eight years on the council. He and his wife, Susan, have lived in Rocklin for 27 years and ran a business there for 20 years; he's a past chairman of the Rocklin Area Chamber of Commerce and holds a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and an MBA from Yale. His stated priorities are public safety and response times, safeguarding tax dollars, and maintaining Rocklin's parks. He lists Mayor David Bass, three former Mayors, and Rocklin's police officers and firefighters among his supporters.

Strengths

Eight years of council experience, plus two decades running a local business and chairing the Chamber of Commerce -- deep ties to Rocklin's civic and business community.

Trade-offs

One of two incumbents in a three-candidate field; a vote to keep him is also a vote against the race's only newcomer.

Keep in mind

His listed endorsers are entirely current or former Rocklin elected officials and civic leaders rather than outside groups.

Jill Gayaldo

Councilmember Jill Gayaldo, who served as Rocklin's rotating Mayor in 2025, is running for reelection. Her family has lived in Rocklin for six generations, and she and her husband, Dan, have raised their children and grandchildren in the city. She describes her occupation as small-business owner. Her stated priorities include public safety, expanding Rocklin's parks and trails, and protecting open space; she points to the roughly 600-acre Clover Valley and Sunset Whitney open-space purchase during her tenure and Rocklin's AAA credit rating, and cites the support of Rocklin's firefighters and police officers.

Strengths

A 2025 term as the council's sitting Mayor, deep multi-generational family roots in the city, and a concrete accomplishment: the roughly 600-acre Clover Valley/Sunset Whitney open-space purchase.

Trade-offs

One of two incumbents in a three-candidate field; the same continuity-versus-change tradeoff that applies to Halldin's seat applies to hers.

Keep in mind

Her own filing doesn't name her business beyond "small business owner"; no further detail on what it is was independently confirmed this pass.

Walter Moore

Walter Moore, a pastor at Rocklin's Mt. Moriah Church, is the only non-incumbent in the race. He spent 36 years at Pacific Gas & Electric, where he says he managed employees and coordinated college recruiting, holds a degree in political science and public administration, and served as foreperson of the Placer County Grand Jury. He's also a nonprofit founder, a Tri City Little League board member, and a participant in the Leadership Rocklin civic-training program. He's running, in his own words, to bring "practical leadership and a fresh perspective," with stated priorities of safe streets, a strong local economy, and what he calls "smart growth."

Strengths

The only candidate not currently on the council; three decades of private-sector management experience plus a public-oversight role, Grand Jury foreperson.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed government experience beyond the Grand Jury, a temporary civil-oversight body, unlike his two opponents' council tenure.

Keep in mind

This dataset found no outside news coverage of his candidacy beyond his own official candidate filing with the county.

Source review: Very strong (91/100) · 9 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

  • placercountyelections.gov (opens in a new tab)Placer County Elections -- official "Offices to Appear on the Ballot for the November 3, 2026 Gubernatorial Election" PDF: its "City and Town" section lists a single Rocklin row, "City of Rocklin -- City Council -- 2 seats -- December 8, 2026," confirming the office structure (at-large, no district breakdown) independently of the city's own materials; transcribed at sources/placer-candidates-nov2026.txt.
  • rocklin.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Rocklin -- official "2026 General Municipal Election" page (City Clerk's Office, rocklin.ca.gov, the city's new domain after migrating off rocklin.ca.us this cycle): names three "Qualified City Council Candidates" for the two seats up this cycle -- Walter Moore, Jill Gayaldo, and Bill Halldin -- links each candidate's own Candidate Statement of Qualifications (CSQ), and gives the full election calendar, including nomination-period dates (July 13 - Aug. 7, 2026, extendable to Aug. 12) and the first pre-election campaign disclosure deadline (Sept. 24, 2026).
  • rocklin.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Walter Moore's own signed Candidate Statement of Qualifications (CSQ), filed with Placer County and hosted unedited by the City of Rocklin: lists his occupation as Pastor at Mt. Moriah Church, his 36-year career at Pacific Gas & Electric, a degree in political science and public administration, service as foreperson of the Placer County Grand Jury, nonprofit founding, a Tri City Little League board seat, and participation in the Leadership Rocklin program, alongside his stated priorities (safe streets, a strong local economy, smart growth, transparency).
  • rocklin.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Jill Gayaldo's own signed Candidate Statement of Qualifications (CSQ), filed with Placer County and hosted unedited by the City of Rocklin: describes her occupation as Rocklin City Councilmember/Small Business Owner, her 2025 term as the council's rotating Mayor, six generations of her family in Rocklin, the city's purchase of nearly 600 acres of open space (Clover Valley and Sunset Whitney) during her tenure, and Rocklin's AAA credit rating.
  • rocklin.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Bill Halldin's own signed Candidate Statement of Qualifications (CSQ), filed with Placer County and hosted unedited by the City of Rocklin: describes his occupation as Rocklin Councilmember/Businessman/Community Volunteer, a Bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and an MBA from Yale, eight years on the council, 27 years living in Rocklin and 20 years running a business there with his wife Susan, his past chairmanship of the Rocklin Area Chamber of Commerce, and a list of endorsers including Mayor David Bass and several former Mayors.
  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)City of Rocklin -- own City Council page (Wayback Machine snapshot of the city's former rocklin.ca.us domain, captured July 26, 2026, before the city's migration to rocklin.ca.gov): states, in the city's own words, that "the City of Rocklin City Council consists of five ... members ... elected at large ... to serve a four-year term" with no term limits, that the "Mayor and Vice Mayor are elected by the City Council each November"; and lists the sitting roster with each member's term-expiration date -- Mayor David Bass (12/2028), Vice-Mayor Bill Halldin (12/2026), Councilmember Ken Broadway (12/2028), Councilmember Jill Gayaldo (12/2026), and Councilmember Greg Janda (12/2028) -- confirming Halldin's and Gayaldo's are the two seats up this November.
  • goldmountaincanews.com (opens in a new tab)Gold Mountain California News Media -- "Candidate filing period extended for several offices on Nov. 3 ballot" (sourced from a Placer County press release): reports that the county extended the candidate-filing deadline past Aug. 7, 2026 only for offices whose incumbent failed to file, and lists every eligible office by name -- among city races, only the City of Auburn and City of Colfax councils are named, meaning Rocklin's own filing period was not extended and both incumbents, Halldin and Gayaldo, filed on time.
  • southtechhosting.com (opens in a new tab)A negative-result local campaign-finance check: a direct search of the City of Rocklin's own CampaignDocs eRetrieval portal (southtechhosting.com, a Granicus-hosted public disclosure system the city's own election page links as its financial-disclosure source) for "Halldin" as a Filer Name, with the November 3, 2026 election selected, returned "No data to display" / "Data not found." Documents the absence of any 2026-cycle campaign-finance filing as of this pass, not any candidate's actual finances -- consistent with the city's own election calendar, which puts the first pre-election disclosure deadline at Sept. 24, 2026, after this pass.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "Rocklin, California": used narrowly for the fixed, dated 2020 Census population figure (71,601).

Last updated September 2, 2026.