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Stockton City Council, District 5

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City of Stockton

Stockton City Council, District 5

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 Brando Villapudua faces Desiree Lynch, a nurse, for this seat. Villapudua's Council colleagues censured him in 2025. Lynch withdrew from the race after her August 2026 arrest on felony election fraud charges. A judge 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

Brando Villapudua is the incumbent District 5 City Councilmember, elected in 2022. He previously served as a Stockton Planning Commissioner and now chairs the Council's Water Committee. In 2025, the Council censured him 6 to 0 for an obscene gesture.

Desiree Lynch withdraws

Desiree Lynch withdrew from this race on August 24, 2026. Five days earlier, she was arrested on felony election-fraud charges.

Lynch is a nurse who cares for patients recovering from surgery. She first withdrew on August 14, 2026. She said she was worried about her safety and her health. At the time, people were asking in public where she really lived. Four days later, she changed her mind and got back in the race.

She was arrested on August 19, 2026, after a six-week investigation by the District Attorney. She faces five felony charges. Three are for perjury, one is a voter-registration violation, and one is for filing a false candidacy declaration. Prosecutors say she registered to vote and filed to run using two District 5 addresses where she did not live. One was a bar and the other was an apartment complex. They say she really lived in Lodi and in Stockton's District 1. Her arraignment, the first court hearing, was set for September 2, 2026. If she is convicted on every count, she could get up to six years and eight months in prison.

Her name is still on the ballot next to Brando Villapudua's. A voter asked a judge to take it off. On August 26, 2026, the judge said no. The judge ruled that Lynch earned her place in the June primary, and that removing her name this close to the election would "disenfranchise the voters that voted for her."

She is still a choice on this ballot, but she is no longer running for the seat.

Your pick

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

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