# San Pablo City Council Compare records and positions simply between Rita Xavier, Caden Cotton-Blake, Elizabeth Pabon-Alvarado, and 1 more for San Pablo City Council at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. San Pablo elects its five-member City Council entirely at-large. Terms are four years and staggered. Council members vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. The council picks one of its own as Mayor and another as Vice Mayor. These titles rotate among sitting councilmembers rather than being elected separately. Two seats are up this cycle. - Jurisdiction: City of San Pablo - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Seats: 2 - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/san-pablo-council - 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: September 7, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 83 out of 100 (Strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Rita Xavier** — Incumbent - **Caden Cotton-Blake** - **Elizabeth Pabon-Alvarado** — Incumbent - **Anna M. Villalobos** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Four candidates are running for San Pablo's two at-large City Council seats: incumbents Vice Mayor Rita Xavier and Mayor Elizabeth Pabon-Alvarado, both first elected in 2018, challenged by first-time candidates Caden Cotton-Blake and Anna M. Villalobos. San Pablo's City Council has five members, all elected at-large to staggered 4-year terms. The Council sets city ordinances, the budget, and land-use policy; an appointed city manager runs day-to-day operations. San Pablo's Mayor and Vice Mayor are not elected to those titles directly -- the council assigns them among its own members, which is why the city's own Notice of Offices and Nominations lists both Xavier's and Pabon-Alvarado's seats simply as "City Councilmember." Only two of the five seats are up this cycle; the other three (Abel Pineda, Patricia Ponce, Arturo Cruz) run through November 2028. This is a direct plurality election with no primary and no runoff -- the two candidates who receive the most votes on November 3 win the two seats outright. ## Rita Xavier The incumbent Vice Mayor, seeking a third council term; first elected in 2018. A San Pablo resident since 1991, Xavier chairs the council's Public Safety Standing Committee and an ad hoc subcommittee on the city's new police department headquarters, and represents San Pablo on several regional bodies: the League of California Cities' East Bay Division, the Association of Bay Area Governments, the West Contra Costa Transportation Commission, the West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority, and the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, which they have previously chaired. Earlier city roles include chairing the Planning Commission and the Advisory Committee on Aging. They also serve as Treasurer of the Lao Family Community Development Inc. board and were formerly president of the League of Women Voters of West Contra Costa County. **Strengths:** Eight years of council experience. Xavier chairs the city's public-safety committee. They also sit on a range of regional transportation and waste-management bodies. **Trade-offs:** No independent reporting evaluating their most recent term was found. What is documented here comes from the city's own page, not outside scrutiny. **Keep in mind:** Their regional-agency workload is unusually broad, even among San Pablo's councilmembers. Voters weighing Xavier against a first-time challenger weigh incumbency and institutional reach against a fresh perspective. ## Elizabeth Pabon-Alvarado The incumbent Mayor, seeking a third council term (Mayor is a title the council assigns among its own members, not a separately elected office); first elected to the council in 2018. A San Pablo resident for 29 years with over 20 years' experience in accounting, payroll, and HR leadership, she holds an MBA from Golden Gate University (2014) and is bilingual in English and Spanish. She previously served as San Pablo's City Clerk and as board treasurer of the city's Economic Development Corporation, and currently chairs the Manzanillo-San Pablo Sister City Committee and sits on the council's Budget, Fiscal & Legislative standing committee. **Strengths:** A finance and HR background relevant to the council's budget work. She also has hands-on city government experience as a former City Clerk. **Trade-offs:** No independent reporting evaluating her most recent term as Mayor was found. What is documented here comes from the city's own page, not outside scrutiny. **Keep in mind:** She once held the City Clerk post she now oversees as a councilmember. That gives her unusual familiarity with the city bureaucracy. Voters differ on long civic careers concentrated in one city hall. ## Caden Cotton-Blake A first-time candidate and, by his own campaign site, a lifelong San Pablo resident who works as a community engagement manager and youth/civic organizer. His platform rests on three stated pillars -- investing in families, strengthening neighborhoods, and creating opportunity -- with a focus on affordable housing, public safety, and economic opportunity. He is the only 2026 San Pablo candidate, for any of the city's three offices, to open a real fundraising committee (an FPPC Form 410) rather than file the short form used by candidates who expect to stay under $2,000; see Financial info below. **Strengths:** A real, active fundraising campaign, the only one among San Pablo's 2026 candidates. He also states a three-part platform. **Trade-offs:** No prior elected or appointed public office. No independent news coverage of his candidacy was found, despite a real search. **Keep in mind:** This is a sourcing gap, not evidence against him. A small city's first-time council challenger often draws little outside press. ## Anna M. Villalobos A first-time candidate. Villalobos's own Statement of Economic Interests (FPPC Form 700) lists their occupation as Records Secretary for the American Postal Workers Union. This dataset's real, multi-method search -- the city's own site, Ballotpedia, TheBallotBook, and general web and news search -- found no campaign website, independent news coverage, or further biographical detail beyond what their own official filings state. **Strengths:** Not established in the sourcing found for this race. **Trade-offs:** Villalobos is a first-time candidate with no located public record beyond their filed occupation. Voters have little more than their name and union role to go on. **Keep in mind:** This is a sourcing gap, not evidence against them. Several search methods turned up nothing further. Villalobos has filed no campaign-finance statement of any kind, unlike the other three candidates. ## Review notes - Caden Cotton-Blake for San Pablo City Council -- his own campaign site: occupation, three-pillar platform, and stated priorities. may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [Contra Costa County Elections Division -- "Positions Up for Election, November 3, 2026, General Election": the only county-section contest in the document is County Board of Education Areas 2, 4, and 5 (under Schools) -- no Board of Supervisors, row office, or Superior Court seat appears anywhere, consistent with both Supervisor seats up this cycle (Districts 1 and 4) having been decided outright in the June 2026 primary](https://www.contracostavote.gov/wp-content/uploads/26Nov03_PositionsUpForElection.pdf) 2. [City of San Pablo -- "Notice of Offices and Nominations" (signed Aug. 6, 2026 by Deputy City Clerk Casey Erlenheim, under Elections Code Sec. 10224.5): confirms three offices on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot -- Two (2) Members of the City Council, One (1) City Clerk, One (1) City Treasurer, each a 4-year term -- and names the four incumbents furnished nomination papers: Rita Xavier and Elizabeth Pabon-Alvarado (each listed as "City Councilmember," not Mayor), Dorothy Gantt (City Clerk), and Viviana Toledo (City Treasurer)](https://www.sanpabloca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/19100/2026-08-05-CITY-OF-SAN-PABLO-NOTICE-OF-OFFICES-AND-NOMINATIONS) 3. [City of San Pablo -- "Notice of Election" (City Clerk Dorothy Gantt, published July 1, 2026): independently confirms the same three offices -- Two (2) City Councilmembers, One (1) Treasurer, One (1) City Clerk, each a 4-year term -- for the Nov. 3, 2026 General Municipal Election, plus the nomination period (July 13-Aug. 6, 2026) and Elections Code Sec. 10229 uncontested-office procedure](https://www.sanpabloca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/18928/NTC-2026-11-03-ELECTION) 4. [City of San Pablo -- "2026 Campaign Docs Combined" (45-page PDF bundle of every 2026 candidate's FPPC filings, linked from the city's own Elections page; several pages are scanned images read visually, no extractable text layer): the only source found with an actual candidate roster. Shows a four-candidate City Council field -- incumbents Rita Xavier (Form 501 filed July 17, 2026) and Elizabeth Pabon-Alvarado (Form 501 filed Aug. 5, 2026), plus challengers Caden Cotton-Blake (Form 501 filed March 10, 2026; Form 410 committee opened March 2026, amended July 2026, reporting $2,896 in contributions and $566 in expenditures for Jan.-June 2026 on his Form 460) and Anna M. Villalobos (Form 501 filed May 28, 2026; her Form 700 lists her occupation as Records Secretary, American Postal Workers Union) -- and confirms City Clerk Dorothy Gantt (Form 501 Aug. 3, 2026; Form 470) and City Treasurer Viviana Toledo (Form 501 July 29, 2026; Form 470; Form 700 disclosing real property in Yuba City) each drew no opponent](https://www.sanpabloca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/19105/2026-Campaign-Docs-Combined) 5. [City of San Pablo -- official City Council page: names the sitting council (Mayor Elizabeth Pabon-Alvarado, Vice Mayor Rita Xavier, Councilmembers Abel Pineda, Patricia Ponce, Arturo Cruz) with each member's term-expiration date, confirming Pabon-Alvarado's and Xavier's seats both expire November 2026](https://www.sanpabloca.gov/319/City-Council) 6. [City of San Pablo -- official biography page for Vice Mayor Rita Xavier: elected Nov. 2018, a San Pablo resident since 1991, her regional-agency assignments (League of California Cities/East Bay Division, ABAG, West Contra Costa Transportation Commission, West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority, Contra Costa Transportation Authority), prior service chairing the Planning Commission and Advisory Committee on Aging, and community roles including Treasurer of the Lao Family Community Development Inc. Board and former President of the League of Women Voters West Contra Costa County](https://www.sanpabloca.gov/888/Rita-Xavier-Vice-Mayor) 7. [City of San Pablo -- official biography page for Mayor Elizabeth Pabon-Alvarado: elected Nov. 2018, a San Pablo resident for 29 years, over 20 years' experience in accounting, payroll, and HR leadership, an MBA from Golden Gate University (2014), bilingual English/Spanish, prior service as San Pablo City Clerk and Board Treasurer of the Economic Development Corporation, and current chair of the Manzanillo-San Pablo Sister City Committee](https://www.sanpabloca.gov/889/Elizabeth-Pabon-Alvarado-Mayor) 8. [Caden Cotton-Blake for San Pablo City Council -- his own campaign site: describes him as a lifelong San Pablo resident and Community Engagement Manager/youth and civic organizer, running on a three-pillar platform (Invest in Families, Strengthen Neighborhoods, Create Opportunity) centered on affordable housing, public safety, and economic opportunity](https://cadenforsanpablo.com) ## The rest of the ballot San Pablo City Council 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, "San Pablo City Council — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/san-pablo-council (sources last retrieved September 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.