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City of San Clemente · Statewide General Election

San Clemente City Council, District 1

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 San Clemente's 4-member district City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the citywide-elected Mayor and an appointed city manager who runs day-to-day operations. A 4-year term.

Aaron Washington, Steve Camp, and Donna Vidrine are running for San Clemente City Council District 1, an open seat -- the county's own record flags no incumbent here. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff.

This person holds District 1's seat on San Clemente's 4-member district City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the citywide-elected Mayor and an appointed city manager who runs day-to-day operations. Only Districts 1 and 2 have terms expiring this cycle. A 4-year term.

The county's own record marks this seat "No Incumbent Appointed to Vacancy" -- an open seat, with no source found in this pass explaining why it was vacant. None of the three candidates holds current city office per this dataset's research. Beyond each candidate's filed occupation, no independent profile, platform statement, or news coverage was found for any of the three in this pass despite a real, time-boxed search effort -- documented below as a gap, not filled in with speculation.

Aaron Washington

Filed his candidacy under the ballot designation "Deputy Program Manager." No campaign site, official city biography, or news coverage describing his background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort.

Strengths

The earliest filer in this race (filed 7/21/2026), which at minimum signals an established campaign timeline, plus a program-management background suggesting project and budget experience.

Trade-offs

No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of his priorities beyond his listed occupation, and no record of prior office was found.

Keep in mind

CAL-ACCESS's filer-search tool was not checked in this pass -- see Financial info.

Steve Camp

Filed his candidacy under the ballot designation "Architect/Business Owner." No campaign site, official city biography, or news coverage describing his background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort.

Strengths

A self-described architecture and small-business background, which could be directly relevant to a council seat's land-use and permitting work.

Trade-offs

No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of his priorities beyond his listed occupation, and no record of prior office was found.

Keep in mind

CAL-ACCESS's filer-search tool was not checked in this pass -- see Financial info.

Donna Vidrine

Filed her candidacy under the ballot designation "Nurse/Business Owner." No campaign site, official city biography, or news coverage describing her background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort.

Strengths

A healthcare and small-business background, which could bring a distinct perspective to council budget and public-health-adjacent decisions.

Trade-offs

No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of her priorities beyond her listed occupation, and no record of prior office was found.

Keep in mind

CAL-ACCESS's filer-search tool was not checked in this pass -- see Financial info.

Source review: Mixed (74/100) · 2 cited sources

Only procedural records are cited (candidate lists, results, finance filings); no source describes the candidates, so the score is capped.

Review note: No cited source describes the candidates; add descriptive coverage to lift the cap.

  • ocvote.gov (opens in a new tab)OC Registrar of Voters -- Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election 11/3/2026 -- City of San Clemente section (pages 145-148 of 188, downloaded directly and parsed locally with pypdf since a plain fetch returns undecodable PDF stream data): confirms Mayor (3 qualified candidates), Member City Council District 1 (3), and Member City Council District 2 (2) as the city's three November 2026 races, each Vote for 1, with incumbent flags (blank for Mayor and District 2; "No Incumbent Appointed to Vacancy" for District 1) and every candidate's filed ballot designation
  • sanclemente.gov (opens in a new tab)City of San Clemente -- City Council page: confirms the sitting 5-member body (Mayor Rick Loeffler; Steve Knoblock, Mayor Pro Tem; Victor Cabral; Mark Enmeier; Zhen Wu), that the city established four council districts in November 2024 on four-year terms, and that the Mayor is newly directly elected at-large for a two-year term beginning in 2026

Last updated August 31, 2026.