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City of Stockton · Statewide General Election

Stockton City Council, District 1

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 your district's seat on Stockton's 7-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside a directly elected Mayor and an appointed City Manager who runs day-to-day operations. A 4-year term, with a 2-term limit. This cycle covers only Districts 1, 3, and 5; Stockton's Mayor was elected in November 2024 and is not on this ballot.

Incumbent Michele Padilla, a first-term councilmember and Stockton Unified School District teacher, faces Tamica Small, a retired county probation officer whose campaign drew a $5,900 donation from actress Tiffany Haddish, in a runoff after neither cleared a majority in the June 2 primary.

Stockton's City Council has seven voting members -- six elected by district plus a Mayor elected citywide -- serving 4-year terms with a 2-term limit, under a council-manager form of government in which an appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. Only Districts 1, 3, and 5 are on this ballot; their winners serve January 2027 through December 2030. Districts 2, 4, and 6 are not up this cycle. Mayor Christina Fugazi, elected citywide in November 2024, is in her first term as Mayor and is not up for reelection until 2028, which is why no Mayor's race appears on this ballot.

Padilla led a five-candidate June 2 primary field with 4,844 votes (49.11%) -- just short of the majority needed to win outright -- followed by Small's 2,722 votes (27.60%). Annette Sanchez (11.41%), Lan Nguyen (9.52%), and Shelly B. Hollis (2.36%) were eliminated. Because no candidate cleared 50%, Padilla and Small advance to a November 3 runoff; whoever gets more votes wins outright, with no further round.

Michele Padilla

The incumbent, first elected in 2022 and sworn in January 2023; her filed ballot designation is "Stockton Councilmember/Educator." A teacher with Stockton Unified School District, she chairs the Council's Ad Hoc Committee on Homelessness and its Charter Review Ad Hoc Committee, and also sits on the Audit Committee, the Legislation/Environmental Committee, and the Stockton Parks & Recreation Commission. In August 2024, colleagues Michael Blower and Brando Villapudua -- both themselves candidates elsewhere on this ballot, in Districts 3 and 5 -- filed a complaint after Padilla spent roughly $10,000 in Council discretionary funds on a July 2024 community barbecue at which political candidates gave campaign speeches, a use city officials said would not have been approved had they known of the political content. On November 13, 2024, the Council voted 5-0 (Mayor Lincoln absent, Padilla not voting) to censure her. She told the Council at the time, "I had no intention, no motivation. There was no promotion, no endorsement, no ask of political activity for any specific candidate."

Strengths

Two committee-chair roles (Homelessness Ad Hoc, Charter Review Ad Hoc) plus seats on the Audit and Legislation/Environmental committees.

Trade-offs

A unanimous Council censure in November 2024 for spending roughly $10,000 in city funds on an event where candidates gave political speeches.

Keep in mind

Padilla says the political content was unplanned and that counsel had reviewed the spending beforehand; the Council found that didn't excuse it. Blower and Villapudua, who filed the complaint, are also on this ballot.

Tamica Small

A challenger whose filed ballot designation is "Retired Law Enforcement"; her own campaign site describes her as "a Stockton native and former county probation officer." Her campaign drew national attention in spring 2026 when actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish donated $5,900 to it in April, arranged through Vice Mayor Jason Lee's personal friendship with Haddish -- Lee had given Small's campaign $5,000 of his own in March, then hosted Haddish on his podcast, where she spoke warmly about Stockton. Lee has publicly endorsed Small, saying she "understands the real struggles families face and the importance of restoring trust, accountability, and leadership that listens to the people."

Strengths

A law-enforcement/probation career relevant to Council's frequent public-safety votes, and a campaign that has drawn attention from a well-connected donor base.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office, and this dataset found no independent (non-campaign, non-donor-coverage) reporting evaluating her probation-department record.

Keep in mind

Her highest-profile support -- Haddish's donation and Vice Mayor Jason Lee's endorsement -- traces to a personal friendship between Lee and Haddish, not necessarily to broader institutional backing; voters may want to weigh that alongside her own record and platform.

June 2 primary — how they advanced

Michele Padilla49.11% · 4,844 votes
Tamica Small27.60% · 2,722 votes
Annette Sanchez11.41% · 1,125 votes
Lan Nguyen9.52% · 939 votes
Shelly B. Hollis2.36% · 233 votes
Source review: Strong (88/100) · 12 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • sjgov.org (opens in a new tab)San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters -- official "Offices Up for Election" document for the Nov. 3, 2026 General Election: lists the City of Stockton's three offices -- Member of City Council, Districts 1, 3, and 5, each a 4-year term, elected by district -- under the "MUNICIPAL OFFICES -- ADVANCED FROM PRIMARY" heading, with no separate Mayor line, confirming all three are June-to-November runoffs and the Mayor is not up this cycle.
  • sjgov.org (opens in a new tab)San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters -- official "Candidate List" (report CFMR009), Qualified Candidates Only, printed 8/20/2026: confirms exactly two qualified candidates per Stockton district, each "On Ballot: Yes" -- District 1 (Tamica Small, Michele Padilla), District 3 (Michael Blower, Jessica Toccoli), District 5 (Brando Villapudua, Desiree Lynch) -- with each candidate's filed ballot designation.
  • sjgov.org (opens in a new tab)San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters -- official, certified "Statement of Votes Cast," Statewide Direct Primary, June 2, 2026 (certified by Registrar of Voters Olivia Hale, 6/25/2026): its District Results section gives exact per-candidate vote totals and percentages for all three Stockton City Council contests, establishing that no candidate cleared a majority in any district -- Padilla 49.11% (Small 27.60%, Sanchez 11.41%, Nguyen 9.52%, Hollis 2.36%) in D1; Blower 48.24% (Toccoli 36.19%, Veltri 10.02%, Alfaro 5.55%) in D3; Villapudua 34.04% (Lynch 30.59%, Elizabeth 16.40%, Beas 12.83%, Harper 5.51%, write-in Carpenter 0.64%) in D5.
  • stocktonca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Stockton -- official "Elections" page (City Clerk): independently confirms the same three November 2026 Council contests and the same six qualified candidates as the county's own lists, states the majority-or-runoff mechanic directly, and gives the Jan. 1, 2027-Dec. 31, 2030 term for the winners.
  • stocktonca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Stockton -- official "City Council" index page: confirms the Council's 7-member structure (six district-elected Councilmembers plus a citywide-elected Mayor), 4-year terms with a 2-term limit, and a council-manager form of government.
  • stocktonca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Stockton -- official biography page for Mayor Christina Fugazi: confirms she was elected Mayor citywide in November 2024 (her first term as Mayor, after two prior Council terms beginning 2014), explaining why no Mayor's race appears on this cycle's ballot.
  • stocktonca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Stockton -- official biography page for Councilmember Michele Padilla (District 1): confirms her first term began January 2023, her work as a Stockton Unified School District teacher, and her committee assignments.
  • stocktonia.org (opens in a new tab)Stocktonia -- "Stockton City Council moves ahead with censure investigation of Michele Padilla": reports Councilmembers Michael Blower and Brando Villapudua's Aug. 2024 complaint against Padilla for using roughly $10,000 in city discretionary funds on a July 2024 community barbecue at which political candidates gave campaign speeches.
  • stocktonia.org (opens in a new tab)Stocktonia -- "Padilla censured by Stockton City Council for misuse of public funds": reports the Council's 5-0 vote to censure Padilla on Nov. 13, 2024 over the July 2024 barbecue funding, and confirms the censure carries no fine or suspension.
  • stocktonia.org (opens in a new tab)Stocktonia -- "Hollywood star Tiffany Haddish supports Stockton City Council candidate with big donation": reports a $5,900 April 28, 2026 donation from actress Tiffany Haddish to Tamica Small's District 1 campaign, arranged through Vice Mayor Jason Lee's personal friendship with Haddish, plus Lee's own $5,000 donation and public endorsement.
  • stocktonia.org (opens in a new tab)Stocktonia -- "'Record time' ballot counting in San Joaquin County shows all three Stockton City Council incumbents could be heading into November runoffs": a June 11, 2026 recap of the semi-final count independently corroborating the same top-two pairing and near-identical percentages in all three districts, later confirmed by the county's certified final Statement of Votes Cast.
  • stocktonca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Stockton -- official "Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC)" page (City Clerk): links the same NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal (netfile.com/public/SJC/campaign) the county uses countywide -- a negative-result citation, since the portal is a client-rendered single-page application that returned no readable content to this pass's fetch tooling.

Last updated September 1, 2026.