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.
vote411.org (opens in a new tab)League of Women Voters -- Vote411 voter guide, 'City of Stockton City Council District 1' race (statewide All Races list): each candidate's self-submitted ballot designation and campaign contacts, plus answers to the League's questions -- top three priorities; qualifying background, experience and education. Answers on file from Tamica Small (a three-item priorities list and a one-sentence background). Capture in data/nov-2026/sources/vote411/stockton-council-1.json.

Last updated October 6, 2026.

City of Stockton

Stockton City Council, District 1

This person would hold your district's seat on Stockton's City Council. The council has seven members. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Stockton also has a directly elected Mayor. An appointed City Manager runs day to day operations. The term is four years, with a two term limit. This cycle covers only Districts 1, 3, and 5. Stockton's Mayor was elected in November 2024. The Mayor is not on this ballot.

Incumbent Michele Padilla faces Tamica Small in a runoff for this council seat. Neither won a majority in the June 2 primary. So the top two advanced. Whoever gets more votes wins outright, with no further round.

Stockton's City Council has seven voting members. Six are elected by district and the Mayor is elected citywide. Terms run four years, with a 2-term limit. The city runs council-manager, so an appointed City Manager handles day-to-day work. 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 was elected citywide in November 2024. She is in her first term as Mayor and is not up again until 2028. That 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

Michele Padilla is the incumbent, first elected in 2022. She teaches at Stockton Unified School District. In November 2024, the council voted 5-0 to censure her. The vote followed her spending of roughly $10,000 in city funds on a barbecue.

Tamica Small

Tamica Small is the challenger. Her ballot title is Retired Law Enforcement. Her campaign site calls her a Stockton native and former county probation officer. Vice Mayor Jason Lee gave her campaign $5,000 in March. Lee has endorsed her. In April, actress Tiffany Haddish donated $5,900 through Lee's friendship with her.

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

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