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City of Santa Cruz · Statewide General Election

Mayor of Santa Cruz

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 serve a 4-year term as Santa Cruz's directly elected Mayor, presiding over the city's district-elected City Council in this Santa Cruz County coastal city of about 62,956 residents (2020 Census). The city moved to district Council elections with a separately elected Mayor in 2022 -- Fred Keeley became the city's first directly elected Mayor that year -- so this is only the second direct mayoral election under the new system.

Ryan Coonerty and Ami Chen Mills are the only two candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot for Mayor of Santa Cruz -- incumbent Mayor Fred Keeley did not qualify as a candidate for a second term.

Santa Cruz's Mayor is directly elected citywide to a 4-year term, presiding over the city's district-elected City Council: land use, the budget, and city services for this Santa Cruz County coastal city of about 62,956 residents (2020 Census). The city moved from an at-large council with a mayor chosen for a one-year term by fellow council members to today's system -- district council elections plus a separately, directly elected mayor -- in 2022, when Fred Keeley became the city's first directly elected Mayor. This is only the second election under that system.

Santa Cruz County's own candidate roster for this cycle lists just Coonerty and Chen Mills for Mayor; Keeley does not appear on it. Neither the county's own records nor independent local reporting found this pass explains why Keeley isn't seeking a second term, so this dataset states the plain fact rather than guessing at a reason.

Why does Santa Cruz elect its Mayor directly now?

Until 2022, Santa Cruz's Mayor wasn't on the ballot at all -- the City Council chose one of its own members to serve a largely ceremonial one-year term as Mayor. A city charter change replaced that with direct election of the Mayor to a 4-year term, alongside a switch from at-large to district Council elections. Fred Keeley won the inaugural direct election in 2022; this November's race is only the second time Santa Cruz voters have chosen their Mayor directly.

Ryan Coonerty

Coonerty's own filed candidate statement, under the ballot designation "Educator/Non-Profit Director," points to decades of local public-service work: launching programs for low-income families, bringing the Warriors to Santa Cruz, passing the Clean Oceans, Rivers and Beaches initiative, and establishing the Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument. His platform centers on fighting out-of-scale development while creating affordable housing, ending unmanaged homeless encampments through what he calls "accountability and effective, humane solutions," cleaning up downtown, and requiring UC Santa Cruz to build housing before it expands.

Strengths

A long record of hands-on civic projects to point to -- the Warriors relocation, the Clean Oceans initiative, the Cotoni-Coast Dairies monument -- rather than only stated positions.

Trade-offs

Opposes a six-story mixed-use project at Seabright and Soquel that would include 100% affordable or senior units, calling it "Soviet-looking" and vowing to fight it "with every legal tool available."

Keep in mind

His statement pledges to require UCSC to build housing before growing and to fight out-of-scale development -- specific, checkable commitments to weigh against his eventual votes on individual development proposals.

Ami Chen Mills

Chen Mills's own filed statement, under the ballot designation "Journalist/Lecturer/Consultant," describes her as the daughter of an immigrant mother, a 30-year Santa Cruz resident, and a longtime civic volunteer who has served on the Westlake School Site Council and the city's Homelessness Committee. Her platform centers on affordable housing and tenant protections, "missing middle" duplexes in single-family neighborhoods, and limits on mass surveillance: she organized the "Get the Flock Out" campaign that led the City Council to cancel its automatic license-plate-reader contract.

Strengths

A concrete organizing win to point to -- the license-plate-reader contract cancellation -- plus an explicit pledge not to accept real-estate or Big Tech campaign donations.

Trade-offs

Per Lookout Santa Cruz's own opinion coverage, her housing platform was still developing as of late August 2026, and she has said Santa Cruz has already built its share of state-mandated housing.

Keep in mind

Her statement proposes district-rotating town halls and community meetings ahead of City Council sessions -- a process-focused platform distinct from Coonerty's more project-focused one, worth watching for follow-through.

Source review: Mixed (74/100) · 9 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Ami Chen Mills's own campaign website (amichenmills.com): independently corroborates her filed candidate statement and adds detail, including founding the "Get the Flock Out" campaign that led the City Council to cancel its automatic license plate reader contract and directing the National Community Resiliency Project. Its own endorsements content is not used here, per this dataset's endorsements-are-descoped rule. and Ryan Coonerty's own campaign website (ryancoonerty.org): independently corroborates his filed candidate statement's background and platform in more detail. Its own endorsements list is not used here, per this dataset's endorsements-are-descoped rule. may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • votescount.santacruzcountyca.gov (opens in a new tab)Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections -- "Contact Candidates" roster for the November 3, 2026 General Election (votescount.santacruzcountyca.gov), part of the county's own "Contests on the November 3, 2026 ballot" candidate document (retrieved 2026-08-27, re-confirmed 2026-09-02): names exactly two qualified City of Santa Cruz Mayor candidates, Ryan Coonerty (ballot designation "Educator/Non-Profit Director") and Ami Chen Mills (ballot designation "Journalist/Lecturer/Consultant"), each with a filed candidate statement on record and permission to post contact information. Incumbent Mayor Fred Keeley does not appear on this roster.
  • votescount.santacruzcountyca.gov (opens in a new tab)Ryan Coonerty's filed "Statement of Candidate" for Mayor of Santa Cruz (downloaded directly from the county's own votescount.santacruzcountyca.gov/Portals/16/nov26/ document store and read directly): ballot designation "Educator/Non-Profit Director"; describes decades of local public service and lists a detailed platform -- fighting out-of-scale development, ending unmanaged encampments, cleaning up downtown, a permanent Farmers' Market, and requiring UCSC to build housing before it grows.
  • ryancoonerty.org (opens in a new tab)Ryan Coonerty's own campaign website (ryancoonerty.org): independently corroborates his filed candidate statement's background and platform in more detail. Its own endorsements list is not used here, per this dataset's endorsements-are-descoped rule.
  • votescount.santacruzcountyca.gov (opens in a new tab)Ami Chen Mills's filed "Statement of Candidate" for Mayor of Santa Cruz (downloaded directly from the county's own votescount.santacruzcountyca.gov/Portals/16/nov26/ document store and read directly): describes her as the daughter of an immigrant mother, a 30-year Santa Cruz resident, journalist, and educator who served on the Westlake School Site Council and the city's Homelessness Committee, and lists a platform -- affordable housing, tenant protections, opposing mass surveillance and data centers, re-wilding the Benchlands -- and states she does not accept real-estate or Big Tech campaign donations.
  • amichenmills.com (opens in a new tab)Ami Chen Mills's own campaign website (amichenmills.com): independently corroborates her filed candidate statement and adds detail, including founding the "Get the Flock Out" campaign that led the City Council to cancel its automatic license plate reader contract and directing the National Community Resiliency Project. Its own endorsements content is not used here, per this dataset's endorsements-are-descoped rule.
  • lookout.co (opens in a new tab)Lookout Santa Cruz -- Richard McGahey, "Santa Cruz mayoral candidates need a 'Mamdani moment' on housing policies" (Aug. 27, 2026): a bylined OPINION column, treated here as opinion rather than straight news. Reports both candidates oppose a proposed six-story mixed-use project at Seabright and Soquel avenues despite it offering either 100% affordable units or housing for older adults; quotes Coonerty calling the project "Soviet-looking" and pledging to fight it "with every legal tool available"; reports Chen Mills favors "missing middle" housing while still developing a fuller platform; and frames its critique against Santa Cruz's ranking as America's most expensive rental market for four consecutive years.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "Santa Cruz, California": used narrowly for three claims not independently reachable from the city's own site this session (santacruzca.gov returned HTTP 403 on every structural-page attempt) -- that the city "switched from an at-large city council system to representation by district, with a separate elected mayor" in 2022, that Fred Keeley became "the first directly elected mayor with a four year term" (previously a one-year term selected by fellow council members), and the 2020 Census population figure (62,956). The article does not state the exact size of the district-elected Council, so this shard does not either.
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)NetFile -- the City of Santa Cruz's public campaign-finance portal (agency code scrz; public.netfile.com/pub2/?AID=scrz redirects to netfile.com/public/scrz/campaign): a client-rendered single-page application that returned only a bare "Public Portal" header to a direct fetch, with no discoverable Form 460/497 filings for either candidate and no live-browser fallback available this session. Documents the absence of a reachable financial-disclosure source, not either candidate's actual campaign finances.
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- a committee-search query for "Coonerty" returned a blank page, consistent with Cal-Access's documented Incapsula bot-detection block seen elsewhere in this dataset. Cal-Access's own documented scope also covers state-level filings only, which excludes a city mayoral candidate in any case.

Last updated September 2, 2026.