sonomacounty.gov (opens in a new tab)Sonoma County Registrar of Voters -- "Local Candidates Who Have Filed," November 3, 2026 General Election: lists exactly three Santa Rosa "CITY CONTESTS" -- City Council Districts 2, 4, and 6 -- with per-contest candidate name, ballot designation, qualification date, and incumbent flag; no Santa Rosa Mayor contest appears anywhere on the page. Page last updated 8/17/26, unchanged on a live re-check 2026-09-01 after both the regular (Aug. 7) and extended (Aug. 12) nomination deadlines had passed.
srcity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Santa Rosa -- official "Notice of Offices and Nominations" (per Elections Code 10224.5), dated July 31, 2026: certifies three 4-year-term City Council seats -- Districts 2, 4, and 6 -- and states City Clerk Dina Manis furnished nomination papers to the incumbents for only District 2 and District 6, not District 4 -- confirming District 4 incumbent Victoria Fleming did not seek reelection.
srcity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Santa Rosa -- own "2026 Candidates" page: independently names the identical three-district, four-candidate field with matching ballot designations, links each candidate's filed candidate statement (Stapp, Sanders, and Okrepkie each filed one; Jones-Carter did not, per the page, because she "did not qualify for public financing") and each candidate's own campaign website.
en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Santa Rosa, California": used narrowly for the 2020 Census population (178,127), Sonoma County seat status, the council-manager government structure, and the current Council roster (Mayor Mark Stapp plus six district councilmembers, including Victoria Fleming and Jeff Okrepkie) -- does not cover the 2026 election.
en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Mayor of Santa Rosa, California": confirms Santa Rosa's Mayor is not a separately elected office -- "the mayor is elected by the council to a single two-year term" -- from among sitting councilmembers.
nf4.netfile.com (opens in a new tab)Santa Rosa's NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal (linked from the city's own Campaign Finance Information and Campaign Disclosure Filings pages): the landing page loads without a CAPTCHA, but its candidate/filing search runs entirely through client-side ASP.NET postback controls with no URL-parameter or REST-API path reachable by this session's fetch tooling (no browser extension connected this pass); its own real-time filing RSS feed (max. 15-day/1,000-item window) returned zero Santa Rosa items as of this retrieval -- a documented access limitation, not a claim that no filings exist.
srcity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Santa Rosa -- civic alert announcing the District 4 City Council nomination-period extension through 5 p.m. Aug. 12, 2026, "per Elections Code" because "an incumbent fails to return Candidate nomination papers by the deadline" (Aug. 7, 2026) -- corroborates Victoria Fleming's seat opening and Melanie Jones-Carter's later Aug. 12 qualification date.
srcity.org (opens in a new tab)Terry Sanders -- filed candidate statement for Santa Rosa City Council District 4, 2026, hosted on the city's own site: ballot designation "Planning Commissioner/Businessperson," describes 23 years as a firefighter/EMT/paramedic, sitting Planning Commission service, community-board roles, losing his home in the Tubbs Fire, and endorsements including Santa Rosa Fire Fighters Local 1401 and the Santa Rosa Police Officers Association.
pressdemocrat.com (opens in a new tab)The Press Democrat -- "'Public service has seasons': Fleming won't seek third term on Santa Rosa council, leaving open seat in District 4" (June 24, 2026, by Paulina Pineda): confirms Santa Rosa's seven-member, district-elected Council, Fleming's stated reason and term-end date, and profiles both D4 candidates as of that date -- Sanders as "a retired Oakland firefighter and city planning commissioner who previously challenged Fleming in 2022," and Jones-Carter as "a community organizer and Design Review and Preservation Board chair, endorsed by Fleming herself."
pressdemocrat.com (opens in a new tab)The Press Democrat -- "Terry Sanders formally concedes to Victoria Fleming in Santa Rosa District 4 race" (Nov. 28, 2022, by Paulina Pineda): independently corroborates Sanders as "retired firefighter Terry Sanders" and that this is his second run for the D4 seat, having lost to Fleming in 2022.
srcity.org (opens in a new tab)City of Santa Rosa -- own "Public Financing for City Council Elections" page: describes the city's voluntary Chapter 10-33 Election Campaign Spending Limit Agreement (adopted by voters in 2002) -- a $1,000-or-100-signatures qualifying threshold and an annually adjusted spending cap in exchange for inclusion in the mailed City Voter Update and a posted candidate statement on the city's website -- the basis for noting that Jones-Carter's lack of a posted statement reflects non-participation in this voluntary program, not any question about her ballot qualification.
vote411.org (opens in a new tab)League of Women Voters -- Vote411 voter guide, 'City of Santa Rosa City Council Member, District 4' race (statewide All Races list): each candidate's self-submitted ballot designation and campaign contacts, plus answers to the League's questions -- If elected, what are your top 3 priorities?; What background, experience and/or education qualify you for this elected office?; Is there anything else that you would like the voters to know about you? Answers on file from Melanie Jones-Carter, Terry Sanders. Capture in data/nov-2026/sources/vote411/santa-rosa-council-4.json.

Last updated October 7, 2026.

City of Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa City Council, District 4

This person would represent one of Santa Rosa's seven City Council districts. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. Santa Rosa is Sonoma County's largest city and county seat. It has 178,127 residents. A professional city manager runs day-to-day operations. There is no separately elected Mayor. The seven-member council elects one of its own members as Mayor. The Mayor serves a two-year term and also keeps their own district seat. Council seats are elected by district for staggered 4-year terms. Districts 2, 4, and 6 are up this November. Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7 are not up again until 2028.

Two candidates are running for Santa Rosa’s open District 4 council seat. Terry Sanders is a retired firefighter and a sitting Planning Commissioner. Melanie Jones-Carter is a community organizer and a city board chair. Whoever gets the most votes on November 3 wins. There is no runoff.

This seat is one of Santa Rosa’s seven district elected City Council seats. Santa Rosa is Sonoma County’s largest city and its county seat. Its population was 178,127 in the 2020 Census. The city runs under a council manager form. Councilmembers set the budget, ordinances, and land use policy. A professional city manager runs daily operations. There is no separately elected Mayor. The seven member Council picks one of its own to serve as Mayor for a two year term. Council seats are elected by district to staggered 4-year terms. Only Districts 2, 4, and 6 are up this November.

The seat is open because Victoria Fleming is not seeking a third term. She was first elected in 2018 and again in 2022. The city’s certified Notice of Offices and Nominations confirms it. She was not given nomination papers as a returning incumbent. A companion city notice extended District 4’s filing deadline. It did so because the incumbent did not return papers by the regular Aug. 7 cutoff. Jones-Carter qualified later, on Aug. 12, at the close of that extended window. The Press Democrat reported Fleming’s decision as a deliberate step back. She had led for eight years, through the Tubbs Fire and the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper called this race "the most competitive on the ticket." Two first-time District 4 winners are in the running.

Terry Sanders

Sanders is a retired firefighter, EMT, and paramedic with 23 years of service. He now sits on Santa Rosa’s Planning Commission. He runs on housing costs, climate resiliency, fire readiness, and community safety. This is his second run for the seat. He lost to Victoria Fleming in 2022.

Melanie Jones-Carter

Jones-Carter is a community organizer. She chairs Santa Rosa’s Design Review and Preservation Board. Outgoing incumbent Victoria Fleming has endorsed her. She did not join the city’s public financing program. So no candidate statement was posted for her.

Your pick

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

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