City of San Diego · Statewide General Election
San Diego City Council, District 6
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
- Mark Powell — Business Owner/Educator
- Kent Lee — City Councilmember · Incumbent
This person holds your district's seat on San Diego's 9-member City Council: city laws, the budget, and land use.
Incumbent Kent Lee faces Mark Powell in a two-candidate race covering University City, Kearny Mesa, Sorrento Valley and Mira Mesa. With only two candidates, both were guaranteed to advance from June (per KPBS); San Diego's charter stages the decisive vote in November either way.
The winner holds one of nine seats on the San Diego City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and the land-use decisions behind the district's biggest fights. A four-year term.
This is the cycle's cleanest ideological contrast in San Diego: an incumbent Democrat running on housing attainability and fiscal accountability against a Republican challenger who opposes new parking fees and density and supports removing bike lanes (per KPBS). The district's street-redesign fights make those abstractions concrete.
Kent Lee
The sitting councilmember, a Democrat and former arts-nonprofit director. His stated priorities are housing attainability and fiscal accountability; he raised about $37,500 in the primary (per KPBS).
Strengths
A first-term record to point to and the incumbent's command of the district's active files — street redesigns, growth planning.
Trade-offs
The district's development and street-redesign tensions cut across his own coalition; his votes are the record his opponent runs against.
Keep in mind
Nonprofit-sector experience shapes his governing style more than legal or business backgrounds do elsewhere on this ballot — judge whether that fits the district's disputes.
Mark Powell
A Republican real-estate broker and former school-board member. He opposes parking fees and added density, supports removing bike lanes, and raised over $50,000 in the primary (per KPBS).
Strengths
Prior elected service on a school board and primary fundraising ahead of the incumbent's (per KPBS).
Trade-offs
His platform runs against the council's prevailing direction on housing and streets — effectiveness would depend on colleagues who mostly disagree.
Keep in mind
A two-candidate race is a clean referendum: his positions on parking, density and bike lanes are specific enough to vote on directly.
Source review: Very strong (95/100) · 2 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with a narrow source base.
- sandiego.gov (opens in a new tab)San Diego City Clerk — 2026 election information (November runoff rosters)
- kpbs.org (opens in a new tab)KPBS — San Diego City Council races explainer, Districts 2, 4, 6, 8 (Apr 30, 2026)
Last updated August 22, 2026.