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City of Sonora · Statewide General Election

Sonora City Council

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 hold one of two seats up this cycle on Sonora's 5-member City Council (elected at-large, including the Mayor) -- city ordinances, the budget, and land use for Tuolumne County's only incorporated city, population about 5,000. A 4-year term. The Council chooses a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem from among its own members each year rather than electing either directly.

Three candidates are running for two seats on the Sonora City Council: Mayor Pro Tem Andy Merrill, Councilmember Mark Plummer, and former Mayor Jim Garaventa.

Sonora -- Tuolumne County's only incorporated city, population about 5,000 per the 2020 Census -- has a 5-member City Council that includes the Mayor. All five seats are elected at-large (no districts have been identified anywhere in city or county records), to 4-year terms. The Council chooses a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem from among its own members each year rather than electing either directly; Ann Segerstrom currently holds the Mayor's title.

Two of the five seats are up this November. Whoever gets the two highest vote totals wins the two seats outright, with no runoff.

Andy Merrill

Merrill was elected to the City Council in 2022 and currently holds the title of Mayor Pro Tem, per the city's own official roster. Local news coverage of the council's July 2024 reorganization shows he was a candidate for that title then too, but lost the council's vote to fellow member Suzanne Cruz, 5-0; this dataset could not independently confirm exactly when or how he later came to hold the title he has today, only that he does. His county ballot designation this year is "Incumbent."

Strengths

Four years of current council service, and the Mayor Pro Tem title today.

Trade-offs

No independent news coverage or campaign material describing his platform or priorities for a new term was found this pass.

Keep in mind

The one confirmed gap in his record -- exactly when he became Mayor Pro Tem after losing that vote in 2024 -- doesn't affect his underlying council tenure, but it's a detail this dataset couldn't pin down.

Mark Plummer

Plummer is a familiar face on the council: he served eight years as a Sonora Councilmember (including a term as Mayor) before not seeking re-election in 2024 to instead run for the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors, District One -- a campaign he suspended after placing second in the March 2024 primary. When fellow councilmember Suzanne Cruz resigned and left the state in January 2025, the council appointed Plummer to fill her vacant seat, and he has served since. The county's own candidate filing report does not mark him "incumbent" for this particular contest, despite his current council service -- a distinction this dataset reports without guessing at the underlying reason (his appointed seat may carry different term timing than the two seats up this cycle).

Strengths

Nine total years of council service across two stints, including a term as Mayor, plus a countywide campaign (for Supervisor) giving him name recognition beyond city limits.

Trade-offs

Did not seek reelection in 2024, running instead (unsuccessfully) for County Supervisor -- only returning via a January 2025 appointment to a different vacancy.

Keep in mind

His record combines real experience with an unusual, somewhat winding path back onto the council -- worth understanding if you're weighing continuity of service.

Jim Garaventa

Garaventa does not currently sit on the council, but has a documented history with it: elected to the City Council in June 2018 (finishing second of four candidates in a vote-for-2 race), he was serving as Vice Mayor within weeks and was then unanimously chosen by his council colleagues to serve as Mayor from July 2018 to July 2020, per contemporaneous myMotherLode.com news coverage. He ran unsuccessfully for the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors, District 1 in 2020 (placing third of four candidates), and lost an earlier bid for a council seat in 2004 by just six votes. His county ballot designation this year was not independently found.

Strengths

A real, multi-election civic record spanning more than 15 years, including two years as Sonora's Mayor and prior council service.

Trade-offs

Has not held elected office since his term ended in 2020, and lost his one attempt at a countywide office (Supervisor); no current platform statement was found for this run.

Keep in mind

This is a comeback bid, not a newcomer's -- his time already spent on the council (and as Mayor) predates the current term, so weigh his prior record rather than any incumbency.

Source review: Strong (84/100) · 10 cited sources

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

  • tuolumnecounty.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Tuolumne County Elections Department -- "Candidate Filing Report" (November 3, 2026 General Election; "As of: 8/12/2026 8:53:25AM"): names Juli Healy and incumbent Ryan P Campbell for Supervisor District 2, and Abby Sunday (unopposed) for Board of Education Trustee Area 1, Short Term.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Sonora, California": 2020 Census population 5,003; "Sonora uses a city council consisting of five council members, including the mayor."
  • sonoraca.com (opens in a new tab)City of Sonora -- official "City Council" directory page: names the current roster -- Mayor Ann Segerstrom, Mayor Pro-Tem Andy Merrill, Councilmembers Bess Levine, Stephen Opie, and Mark Plummer -- confirming Merrill's and Plummer's current titles. Does not state whether seats are elected at-large or by district.
  • mymotherlode.com (opens in a new tab)myMotherLode.com (B.J. Hansen) -- "Segerstrom Is New Sonora Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem Spurs Debate" (published Jul 2, 2024): reports that "the three winners during the March [2024] election took the oath of office" and that Andy Merrill and Suzanne Cruz "both ... joined the council at the same time, being elected in 2022" -- independently confirming Merrill's council seat dates to a 2022 election. Merrill was a candidate for Mayor Pro Tem at this meeting but lost the council's vote to Cruz 5-0; the city's own current roster (above) shows Merrill now holds that title, which this dataset attributes to a later change (e.g., after Cruz's Jan. 2025 resignation, below) not independently pinned down to an exact date.
  • mymotherlode.com (opens in a new tab)myMotherLode.com -- "Plummer Selected To Fill Cruz's City Council Seat" (published Jan 7, 2025): Suzanne Cruz resigned from the council and relocated out of state; the council appointed Mark Plummer to replace her. "Plummer previously served eight years on the council but did not seek re-election last year, in an attempt to win a seat on the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors."
  • mymotherlode.com (opens in a new tab)myMotherLode.com -- "Update: Plummer Suspends District One Supervisor Campaign": reports Plummer, then Sonora's sitting Mayor, ended his campaign for the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors, District One, after placing second in the March 2024 primary (35% Mike Holland, 29% Plummer, 26% Matt Hawkins) and heading toward a runoff he ultimately did not contest.
  • mymotherlode.com (opens in a new tab)myMotherLode.com (B.J. Hansen) -- "Garaventa Is Sonora's New Mayor" (published Jul 2, 2018): "After serving the past two years as Vice Mayor, Sonora City Council member Jim Garaventa was unanimously picked to step into the role of Mayor," a two-year term running through July 2020; he appointed Matt Hawkins as the new Vice Mayor. The same article reports Garaventa and Colette Such "were given the ceremonial oath of office, as they were the top vote-getters in the June [2018] primary election" -- a contemporaneous, named-source confirmation that Garaventa won election to the council that year (see the county's own election-history database below for the underlying vote count).
  • electionhistory.tuolumnecounty.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Tuolumne County Elections -- official election-history database, Jim Garaventa's candidate page (a different, non-Akamai-walled subdomain than tuolumnecounty.ca.gov, reached directly): certified vote totals confirm Garaventa placed 2nd of 4 candidates in the June 2018 Sonora City Council election (548 votes, 32.7%, behind Colette Such's 639/38.2%, in a vote-for-2 race -- the top two won, matching the contemporaneous news report above) and 3rd of 4 in the March 2020 primary for Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors, District 1 (558 votes, 13.9%, won by David Goldemberg).
  • mymotherlode.com (opens in a new tab)myMotherLode.com -- "Unofficial Results: Sheppard Defeats Garaventa for City Seat" (published Mar 5, 2004): incumbent David Sheppard narrowly defeated Jim Garaventa for a Sonora City Council seat, 651 votes to 645 -- an earlier, unsuccessful run than his later 2018 election.
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS filer search: failed outright this pass with a TLS certificate mismatch -- a documented access failure, not evidence about either candidate's actual campaign finances. No Tuolumne County-run local disclosure portal could be located either.

Last updated September 2, 2026.