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City of San Rafael · Statewide General Election

San Rafael City Council, District 2

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On the ballot

This person would represent San Rafael's District 2 (the city's western neighborhoods) on the City Council for a full 4-year term. San Rafael, Marin County's largest city at about 61,271 residents (2020 Census), runs under a council-manager government with a directly elected, at-large Mayor and four Councilmembers elected by district. The city moved from at-large to district Council elections in 2018 after receiving a California Voting Rights Act demand letter alleging racially polarized voting.

Incumbent Eli Hill is running unopposed for a second term representing District 2 on San Rafael's City Council -- he is the only candidate who qualified for this seat.

San Rafael's City Council has five members: a Mayor elected directly, citywide, to a 4-year term, and four Councilmembers each elected by district to staggered 4-year terms. District 2 covers San Rafael's western neighborhoods. The city, Marin County's largest at about 61,271 residents (2020 Census), runs under a council-manager government -- day-to-day operations are handled by an appointed City Manager. The city moved from at-large to district Council elections in 2018, after an attorney's November 2017 letter alleged racially polarized voting under the California Voting Rights Act.

District 2 drew only one qualified candidate, so the seat could, in principle, have been filled by City Council appointment instead of an election under California Elections Code Section 10229. That didn't happen here: the city's own Notice of Election limits an appointment to races with "no nominees or an insufficient number of nominees," and one nominee for one seat is a sufficient number. The city's own election page lists Hill under "Qualified Candidates on the Ballot" for District 2, in the same section as the contested District 3 race -- a separate part of that page, reserved for three San Rafael City Schools trustee seats decided under a different law, is where an actual in-lieu appointment is flagged. District 2 is a genuine, printed, unopposed ballot race.

Eli Hill

Eli Hill is District 2's incumbent Councilmember, seeking a second term. In his own filed candidate statement, he describes a first term spent on housing solutions, street safety, public safety, homelessness response, sustainability and resilience investments, and Downtown vibrancy. Before joining the Council he served on San Rafael's Planning Commission and Fire Commission, and while on the Council his fellow elected officials throughout Marin selected him as President of the Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers. He describes more than two decades of professional experience helping public agencies and organizations manage budgets and solve complex problems. If reelected, he says he'll keep working on neighborhood preservation, Downtown and the local economy, transportation and public spaces, housing, and fiscal transparency.

Strengths

A full term already in the seat, prior Planning and Fire Commission service, and recognition from Marin peers as Council of Mayors and Councilmembers President.

Trade-offs

His statement is broad on themes -- housing, safety, sustainability, Downtown -- but names no specific votes or first-term numbers.

Keep in mind

Running unopposed, he is effectively reelected regardless of turnout -- a vote to confirm him for a second term, not a comparison against an alternative.

Source review: Strong (89/100) · 13 cited sources

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

  • marincounty.gov (opens in a new tab)Marin County Elections Department -- official "Status of local candidates for office 11/03/26" page: a table of contents of every county-administered and city/town contest in the county, listing "City of San Rafael Councilmember District 2/3" as a verified, filed contest; the county's own page note states the list only shows contests with papers filed with the county, and that "City and town contests signify verification of nomination signatures only" -- no candidate names appear on this page, only office titles.
  • cityofsanrafael.org (opens in a new tab)The City of San Rafael's own official "November 3, 2026 Election (Candidates)" page, published by the City Clerk's office: states the terms of Councilmember Maribeth Bushey (District 3) and Councilmember Eli Hill (District 2) expire in November 2026, and lists "Qualified Candidates on the Ballot" directly -- Councilmember District 2: Eli Hill; Councilmember District 3: Robert Sandoval and Daryoush Davidi -- each with a linked, filed Statement of Qualifications PDF. Separately lists three San Rafael City Schools trustee seats under "Unopposed Candidates -- Appointment in Lieu of Election" (Education Code Sections 5326/5328), a distinct section from the Council races, confirming the Council seats are on the printed ballot rather than cancelled.
  • storage.googleapis.com (opens in a new tab)The City of San Rafael's own official Notice of Election, filed and signed by City Clerk Lindsay Lara, dated July 11, 2026: sets the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election, names the District 2/Western and District 3/Eastern Councilmember seats as each a full 4-year term, sets the candidate-filing period (July 13 -- Aug. 7, 2026, with a 5-day extension to Aug. 12 only if an incumbent fails to file), and states that any California Elections Code Section 10229 appointment applies only "in the event there are no nominees or an insufficient number of nominees for such office" -- one nominee for District 2's one seat is a sufficient number, not an insufficient one.
  • storage.googleapis.com (opens in a new tab)The City of San Rafael's own "Roster of City Officials" PDF, dated 6/18/2026: confirms the current elected Council (Kate Colin, Mayor; Maika Llorens Gulati, District 1; Eli Hill, District 2, term ending 11/2026; Maribeth Bushey, District 3, term ending 11/2026; Rachel Kertz, District 4/Vice Mayor), and independently cross-checks both District 3 challengers' committee service as claimed in their own statements -- it lists Robert Sandoval on the Park and Recreation Commission and Daryoush Davidi on the Police Advisory & Accountability Committee.
  • cityofsanrafael.org (opens in a new tab)The City of San Rafael's own "District Elections" page: explains the city's 2018 transition from at-large to district-based City Council elections (the Mayor remains directly elected at-large), tracing it to a November 2017 attorney letter alleging racially polarized voting under the California Voting Rights Act and the City Council's Jan. 16, 2018 resolution beginning the transition process.
  • marinij.com (opens in a new tab)Marin Independent Journal -- Richard Halstead, "Slew of Marin offices up for grabs in November election" (July 27, 2026, an early-filing-period roundup): reports "In San Rafael, the terms of District 2 Councilmember Eli Hill and District 3 Councilmember Maribeth Bushey are ending. Robert Sandoval and Daryoush Davidi have filed for the District 3 seat," with no opposing filer yet named for District 2.
  • marinij.com (opens in a new tab)Marin Independent Journal -- Keri Brenner, "Marin candidate list lengthens for November election" (Aug. 8, 2026, published as the initial filing deadline closed): reports "In San Rafael, the terms of District 2 Councilmember Eli Hill and District 3 Councilmember Maribeth Bushey are ending. Robert Sandoval and Daryoush Davidi have filed for the District 3 seat. Hill has filed to seek reelection in District 2."
  • marinij.com (opens in a new tab)Marin Independent Journal -- Keri Brenner, "More contenders pile into Marin's fall elections" (published Aug. 13, 2026, updated Aug. 15, 2026, after the extended filing deadline closed): the final post-deadline roster, reporting "San Rafael City Council: Terms are expiring for Eli Hill in District 2 and Maribeth Bushey in District 3. Hill filed for reelection in District 2. Robert Sandoval and Daryoush Davidi filed for the open District 3 seat" -- an identical roster to the Aug. 8 piece, independently confirming no further filings or withdrawals occurred in the extension window for San Rafael.
  • marinij.com (opens in a new tab)Marin Independent Journal -- Dick Spotswood, "Seats across Marin are up for grabs in November" (July 18, 2026, a pre-filing-deadline preview): "San Rafael and Novato, Marin's two largest cities, elect their council by districts. Both communities each have two city council seats held by incumbents up for grabs in November. In San Rafael that includes District 3's Maribeth Bushey and Eli Hill in District 2. Bushey has spread the word that she does not plan to run again" -- the earliest dated, on-the-record account of why District 3 became an open seat.
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)A negative-result local campaign-finance check: the City of San Rafael's own NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal (agency code RAF, linked directly from the city's own November 2026 election page) returns only a client-rendered single-page-application shell (a bare <div id="app"> with no server-rendered content) -- the same access gap documented dataset-wide for other NetFile jurisdictions. The portal's own env-config.js additionally references a Cloudflare Turnstile site key, confirming the underlying API is bot-gated. Documents the absence of a reachable financial-disclosure source, not any candidate's actual campaign finances.
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)A negative-result access check: California's statewide Cal-Access campaign-finance filer/candidate search was queried directly this pass and returned only a near-empty Incapsula bot-challenge stub (212 bytes, no candidate or filer content) -- consistent with the Cal-Access bot-wall documented elsewhere in this dataset. Local candidates for a seat like this typically file with the city rather than the state in any case. Documents an access gap, not a claim about any candidate's actual state-level filings.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "San Rafael, California": used narrowly for the fixed, dated 2020 Census population figure (61,271) and as an independent cross-check of the city's government type ("Council-manager with directly elected mayor") and current Mayor (Kate Colin), which independently matches every city and Marin IJ source in this pass.
  • storage.googleapis.com (opens in a new tab)Eli Hill's own filed Statement of Qualifications for District 2, published by the City of San Rafael: age 49, occupation "Incumbent"; describes his first term's record (housing, street safety, public safety, homelessness, sustainability, Downtown vibrancy), prior service on the San Rafael Planning Commission and Fire Commission, and his selection by fellow Marin elected officials as President of the Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers.

Last updated September 2, 2026.