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City of Stockton · Statewide General Election

Stockton City Council, District 5

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Incumbent Brando Villapudua, censured by his Council colleagues in 2025, faces Desiree Lynch, a nurse who has withdrawn from the race after her August 2026 arrest on felony election-fraud charges -- though a judge has ruled her name stays on the printed ballot.

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.

Villapudua led a six-candidate June 2 primary field (including one qualified write-in) with 1,173 votes (34.04%) -- short of a majority -- followed by Lynch's 1,054 votes (30.59%). Mary Elizabeth (16.40%), Max Beas (12.83%), Ruben Harper (5.51%), and write-in candidate Sam Carpenter (0.64%) were eliminated. Because no candidate cleared 50%, Villapudua and Lynch advance to a November 3 runoff -- though as explained below, Lynch is no longer actively campaigning.

Brando Villapudua

The incumbent, elected to this District 5 seat in 2022 and sworn in January 2023; his filed ballot designation is "City Councilmember." He previously served two years as an at-large Stockton Planning Commissioner, appointed by then-Mayor Kevin Lincoln. He chairs the Council's Water Committee and the San Joaquin Area Flood Control Agency board, and serves as vice chair of committees on homelessness and community safety. In April 2025, the Council voted 6-0 (Villapudua abstaining) to censure him for making an obscene hand gesture toward an audience member during a heated January 2025 meeting, on a complaint filed by Vice Mayor Jason Lee and Councilmember Michele Padilla (District 1, also a candidate this cycle). Villapudua apologized before the vote, saying, "I regret any impact that this situation may have had in our community."

Strengths

A full first term's experience, chairmanship of the Water Committee and the regional flood-control agency board, and prior Planning Commission service.

Trade-offs

An April 2025 Council censure for an obscene gesture toward a constituent during a public meeting -- a real, documented conduct issue in his first term.

Keep in mind

With Lynch's withdrawal (below), Villapudua is the only candidate actively campaigning for this seat; barring a large write-in effort for someone else, he is very likely to win a second term regardless of who else appears on the printed ballot.

Desiree Lynch has withdrawn after a felony election-fraud arrest

Lynch, a post-surgery recovery nurse, has effectively left this race even though her name stays on the ballot. She first withdrew August 14, 2026, citing safety and health concerns amid public questions about where she actually lived, then reversed course four days later. She was arrested August 19, 2026 on five felony counts -- three counts of perjury, one voter-registration violation, and one count of filing a false candidacy declaration -- after a six-week District Attorney investigation concluded she had registered to vote and filed her candidacy using two District 5 addresses where she did not actually live (a bar and an apartment complex), while in fact residing in Lodi and in Stockton's District 1. She withdrew a second time on August 24, five days after her arrest, through her attorney. On August 26, a Superior Court judge denied a voter's emergency petition to strike her name from the ballot, ruling that because Lynch had qualified through the certified June primary, removing her name this close to the election would "disenfranchise the voters that voted for her" -- so her name appears on the November ballot despite her withdrawal. She is scheduled for arraignment September 2, 2026, and faces up to six years eight months in prison if convicted on all counts. A vote for Lynch is a vote for a candidate who is not campaigning; her name remains on the ballot only because of the judge's ruling, not because she is still seeking the seat.

June 2 primary — how they advanced

Brando Villapudua34.04% · 1,173 votes
Desiree Lynch30.59% · 1,054 votes
Mary Elizabeth16.40% · 565 votes
Max Beas12.83% · 442 votes
Ruben Harper5.51% · 190 votes
Sam Carpenter · write-in0.64% · 22 votes
Source review: Strong (89/100) · 14 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

Review note: Desiree Lynch is withdrawn; re-read this contest's editorial for claims that describe them as still running.

  • 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 Brando Villapudua (District 5): confirms his first term began January 2023, a prior two-year term as an at-large Stockton Planning Commissioner, and his committee roles.
  • stocktonia.org (opens in a new tab)Stocktonia -- "Stockton City Council votes 6-0 to censure Brando Villapudua": reports the Council's 6-0 vote to censure him on Apr. 15, 2025 for making an obscene hand gesture toward an audience member during a Jan. 9, 2025 meeting, on a complaint filed by Vice Mayor Jason Lee and Councilmember Michele Padilla.
  • stocktonia.org (opens in a new tab)Stocktonia -- "Stockton City Council candidate Desiree Lynch arrested on suspicion of election fraud": reports her Aug. 19, 2026 arrest on five felony counts following a six-week District Attorney investigation and the DA's allegation that she used two District 5 addresses where she did not live to register and file.
  • stocktonia.org (opens in a new tab)Stocktonia -- "Desiree Lynch released on bond after arrest in election fraud case": reports her release on $100,000 bond, District Attorney Ron Freitas's on-the-record statement, and the two specific addresses prosecutors say she falsely claimed.
  • stocktonia.org (opens in a new tab)Stocktonia -- "Desiree Lynch withdraws from Stockton City Council race days after election fraud arrest": reports her formal, second withdrawal on Aug. 24, 2026 through her attorney, the five felony charges, and the maximum six-years-eight-months sentence.
  • stocktonia.org (opens in a new tab)Stocktonia -- "Desiree Lynch withdrew from Stockton council race. A judge confirmed her name will remain on the ballot": reports Judge Robert T. Waters's Aug. 26, 2026 denial of a District 5 voter's emergency petition to strike Lynch's name from the printed ballot, ruling that removing her name would disenfranchise the voters who chose her.
  • 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.