ocvote.gov (opens in a new tab)OC Registrar of Voters -- Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election 11/3/2026 -- City of Seal Beach section (pages 154-156 of 188, downloaded directly and parsed locally with pypdf since a plain fetch returns undecodable PDF stream data): confirms Member City Council District 1 (Contest 5231) as the city's sole November 2026 race, Vote for 1, 4 qualified candidates, none of them the incumbent of record (Joe Kalmick) -- and that no other Seal Beach contest appears anywhere in the document
sealbeachca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Seal Beach -- City Council page: confirms the sitting 5-member, district-elected body (Joe Kalmick, District 1; Ben Wong, District 2; Lisa Landau, District 3; Patty Senecal, District 4; Nathan Steele, District 5), the annually rotating Mayor/Mayor Pro Tem chosen from among councilmembers (2026 Mayor Pro Tem: Ben Wong), and 4-year staggered terms
sealbeachca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Seal Beach -- Voter & Election Information page: states Districts 1, 3, and 5 opened a nomination period for the 2026 cycle (July 13-August 7, 2026) and that councilmembers serve 4-year terms with a two-term (8-year) limit -- though only District 1 appears as an actual contest in the county's own candidate proof list
sealbeachca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Seal Beach -- Municipal Code & City Charter page: links a document titled "City Charter - 2014," confirming Seal Beach is a charter city, correcting this dataset's initial assumption (carried from the local-authoring queue's task framing) that it was a general-law city
en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia's Seal Beach, California article: confirms a council-manager form of government administered by a 5-member City Council serving four-year alternating terms, with the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem selected from among councilmembers rather than directly elected -- corroborating the county document's lack of a separate Seal Beach Mayor contest

Last updated August 31, 2026.

City of Seal Beach

Seal Beach City Council, District 1

This person holds District 1's seat on Seal Beach's five-member City Council. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. An appointed city manager runs daily operations. Seal Beach is a charter city with a council-manager government. The Mayor is not separately elected. Each year, councilmembers choose one of their own to be Mayor. They choose another member to be Mayor Pro Tem. The term is four years. Members are limited to two terms, or 8 years.

Four candidates are running for Seal Beach City Council District 1. They are Scott Davis, Matt Smith, Perla Mendoza, and Matthew Terry. It is an open seat because incumbent Joe Kalmick did not run again. Whoever gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright, with no runoff.

This person holds District 1's seat on Seal Beach's 5-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside an appointed city manager who runs day-to-day operations. Seal Beach is a charter city with a council-manager government. The Mayor isn't separately elected -- each year, councilmembers choose one of their own to serve as Mayor and another as Mayor Pro Tem. The term is four years, and members are limited to two terms (8 years).

The county's own record flags Joe Kalmick as District 1's sitting incumbent, but he does not appear among the four qualified candidates here -- the same county document separately lists a "Joe Kalmick" qualifying for a Coast Community College District trustee seat under the ballot designation "City of Seal Beach City Councilmember," consistent with (though not independent confirmation of) the sitting councilmember seeking a different office rather than reelection this cycle. Beyond each candidate's filed occupation, no independent profile, platform statement, or news coverage was found for any of the four in this pass despite a real, time-boxed search effort -- documented below as a gap, not filled in with speculation.

Scott Davis

Scott Davis filed their candidacy under the ballot designation "Real Estate Entrepreneur." No campaign website or news coverage of them could be found.

Matt Smith

Matt Smith filed their candidacy under the ballot designation "Sports Broadcaster." No campaign website or news coverage of them could be found.

Perla Mendoza

Perla Mendoza filed their candidacy under the ballot designation "CEO/Nonprofit Boardmember." No campaign website or news coverage of them could be found.

Matthew Terry

Matthew Terry filed their candidacy under the ballot designation "Architect." No campaign website or news coverage of them could be found.

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