# Mayor of Suisun City Compare records and positions simply between Alma Hernandez, Amit Pal, Michael Jefferson, and 2 more for Mayor of Suisun City at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would be Suisun City's directly elected Mayor. The Mayor is one of five members on the City Council. The Council sets the budget, land use, and city ordinances. A professional city manager runs day-to-day operations. Voters in Suisun City elect their Mayor directly, unlike many nearby cities. - Jurisdiction: City of Suisun City - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/suisun-city-mayor - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: September 1, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 86 out of 100 (Strong), across 7 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Alma Hernandez** — Incumbent - **Amit Pal** — Councilmember / Business Owner - **Michael Jefferson** — Political Consultant - **Lilia Dardon** — Retired Teacher - **Chauncey Banks** — Entrepreneur A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Five candidates are running for Suisun City Mayor: incumbent Alma Hernandez, sitting Councilmember Amit Pal, and challengers Chauncey Banks, Lilia Dardon, and Michael Jefferson. Vote for one -- no primary. Suisun City's Mayor is directly elected at-large -- one of the few Solano County cities in this dataset where voters pick the Mayor themselves rather than the City Council selecting one of its own members. The winner joins a 5-member Council (alongside two Councilmembers up this cycle in a separate race, plus Amit Pal's own seat if Pal loses this one, plus Parise Shepherd, not up this cycle) that sets the budget, land use, and city ordinances for this Solano County city of 29,518 residents (2020 Census), while a professional city manager runs day-to-day operations. The county's own ballot labels this a "Full Term" seat; no Suisun City resolution or notice specifying the exact number of years in that term was reachable this pass -- the city's own site returned an access error to every attempt. Amit Pal is a sitting Councilmember (elected 2023) running for Mayor rather than for re-election to their own Council seat, which is not up this cycle -- if they lose the Mayor's race, they keep their current Council seat; if they win, a Council vacancy opens for the remaining Council to fill. Hernandez is the only other candidate with direct City Hall experience, as the sitting Mayor. Dardon brings a different kind of public record -- prior appointed service on the city's Parks, Recreation, Marina and Arts Commission -- while Banks and Jefferson are first-time candidates for city office. Eight of the nine Mayor and Council candidates combined filed an official ballot statement with the county; Jefferson is the only one who did not, so this dataset has no independent description of Jefferson's platform beyond their filed ballot designation, "Political Consultant." ## Alma Hernandez Alma Hernandez is the incumbent Mayor, 43, and a project manager by occupation; their filed ballot designation is "Incumbent." Their statement says they grew up in Suisun City, brings more than 20 years of community-leadership experience, and recently completed a fellowship with Harvard and the Mayor's Institute on City Design. They cite leading the city through post-pandemic economic recovery, championing long-term strategic plans, helping bring millions of dollars in grants for parks, community programs, and infrastructure, prioritizing public safety, and work on workforce assistance, mobile health clinics, resource fairs, and youth activities. **Strengths:** A full term's record as sitting Mayor to run on. Hernandez also has a recent fellowship with Harvard and the Mayor's Institute on City Design. It is specific to the job they're asking to keep. **Trade-offs:** Hernandez's statement's claims on grant totals and strategic plan outcomes are their own account. No independent local news accounting of their term was found to check them against. **Keep in mind:** Hernandez is the only incumbent in this race. A vote for Hernandez is explicitly a referendum on their existing term, distinct from every challenger's first time bid. ## Amit Pal Amit Pal is a sitting Councilmember and small-business owner; their filed ballot designation is "Councilmember / Business Owner." Their statement says they moved to Suisun City as a child in 1993 after immigrating from India, and that Pal and their wife are raising their family there. Pal has served as a volunteer Police Cadet and as a Planning Commissioner, and helped establish the Suisun City Community Foundation, which they credit with saving the downtown Fourth of July celebration. Pal has served on the City Council since 2023, where they cite helping bring one of Solano County's first entertainment-zone policies to revitalize downtown restaurants and pushing for an open bidding process on the city's garbage and recycling contract to save residents money. Pal states a commitment to protecting Travis Air Force Base from encroachment. **Strengths:** Current Council experience with specific, checkable legislative actions cited. Those are the entertainment zone policy and the garbage contract rebid, rather than general themes alone. **Trade-offs:** Pal's own Council seat isn't up this cycle, so a loss here costs them nothing. Unlike Hernandez, they aren't risking their current office to run. **Keep in mind:** A Pal win would open a Council vacancy for the remaining members to fill by appointment. That is a downstream effect specific to their candidacy. Voters choosing between Pal and Hernandez may want to weigh it. ## Lilia Dardon Lilia Dardon is a retired Special Education teacher; their filed ballot designation is "Retired Teacher." Their statement says they have called Suisun City home for more than 20 years and previously served as a Parks, Recreation, Marina and Arts Commissioner, alongside work as a community volunteer, an author, and a former Daily Republic columnist. They hold master's degrees in Special Education and Human Services. They are running on transparent leadership, fiscal responsibility, and a renewed focus on residents, with stated priorities of strengthening public safety, supporting local businesses, improving city services, maintaining infrastructure, and spending taxpayer dollars wisely. **Strengths:** Prior appointed service on the city's Parks, Recreation, Marina and Arts Commission. That is the closest thing to City Hall experience among the four candidates other than Pal. **Trade-offs:** Dardon's stated priorities are transparency, fiscal responsibility, and public safety. Those are broad, shared themes rather than specific proposals to compare against the incumbent's record. **Keep in mind:** Dardon's commission service was appointed, not elected. That is a different kind of public record than Hernandez's or Pal's time facing voters directly. Dardon also brings decades of local visibility as a former Daily Republic columnist. ## Chauncey Banks Chauncey Banks is 60 and an entrepreneur, owner of the Fonky Chicken clothing brand; their filed ballot designation is "Entrepreneur." Their statement frames their candidacy as "The Birth of Regeneration," pledging to rebuild trust in city government through honesty, accountability, and transparency. Their public-safety proposals include safer routes to school, stronger partnerships with law enforcement, and exploring bicycle, e-bike, and electric-scooter registration to improve accountability and help recover stolen property. They envision the marina as the heart of the city, with an annual Fish and Fry Festival and Zydeco and Gospel music events, and want to attract family-friendly destinations -- a bowling alley, a roller-skating rink, and businesses like Chick-fil-A -- to create youth jobs and strengthen the local economy. **Strengths:** The most specific, itemized list of proposed events and destinations of any candidate in the field. That gives voters concrete ideas to evaluate rather than general themes alone. **Trade-offs:** No prior appointed or elected city role is stated in Banks's statement. No independent source was found describing their business background beyond the statement itself. **Keep in mind:** Several of Banks's proposals depend on private investment decisions outside a Mayor's direct control. Those include attracting specific named businesses and a bowling alley. That is worth weighing against how achievable they are if elected. ## Michael Jefferson Michael Jefferson is a political consultant; their filed ballot designation is "Political Consultant." They did not file a ballot statement -- their page in the county's Voter Information Guide reads "No Candidate Statement provided." This dataset found no campaign website, social media presence, or local news coverage describing their platform this pass. California's Secretary of State lists an active campaign committee under their name, "Jefferson for Suisun Mayor 2026," but this pass could not confirm what, if anything, it has filed. **Strengths:** None independently confirmed beyond their filed candidacy, ballot designation, and a registered campaign committee. **Trade-offs:** Of the five Mayor candidates, Jefferson has the thinnest public record. No ballot statement, no campaign site, and no news coverage were found. **Keep in mind:** This is a gap in sources, not a claim that Jefferson lacks a platform. No independently verifiable description was reachable, including from the state's own registered committee record. ## Sources 1. [Solano County Registrar of Voters -- official "Candidate Filed Log - November 3, 2026 General Election" (as of 8/20/2026): its "CITY OF SUISUN CITY" section lists Mayor - Full Term (Vote for 1, 5 candidates including incumbent Alma Hernandez) and Councilmember (Vote for 2, 4 candidates including incumbents Princess Washington and Jenalee Dawson), both voted at-large -- the identical document cited by the county-level shard's own "solano-candidate-log-2026," re-downloaded fresh this session and confirmed unchanged against the county's own live current-election page](https://content.solanocounty.gov/sites/default/files/2026-07/CANDIDATE_FILED_LOG_Nov_3_2026_7.13.26.pdf) 2. [Solano County Registrar of Voters -- "November 3, 2026 General Election Candidate Guide," its own countywide incumbent table: lists "City of Suisun City Mayor -- Alma Hernandez" and "City of Suisun City Councilmember -- Princess Washington" / "...Jenalee Dawson," each unmarked (an elected, not appointed, incumbent) -- independently corroborates the candidate log's own incumbent flags and, by omission, confirms sitting Councilmember Amit Pal's own seat is not up this cycle](https://content.solanocounty.gov/sites/default/files/2026-06/Candidate_Guide_Nov_3_2026_v4.pdf) 3. [Solano County Registrar of Voters -- November 2026 Voter Information Guide, Ballot Type 28 (the booklet covering City of Suisun City races): carries the official, filed Statement of Candidate for eight of the nine Suisun City Mayor/Council candidates under Elections Code 13307 -- the candidates' own words on background and platform -- and confirms Michael Jefferson filed none ("No Candidate Statement provided"), matching the candidate log's own "N" flag for him](https://content.solanocounty.gov/sites/default/files/2026-08/SOLA11031028_-_VIG_28_ES.pdf) 4. [Wikipedia -- "Suisun City, California": used narrowly for the 2020 Census population (29,518), the council-manager government type, and the current 5-member Council roster (Mayor Alma Hernandez, Mayor Pro-tem Jenalee Dawson, Princess Washington, Amit Pal, Parise Shepherd) -- corroborating the candidate log's incumbent flags; does not state term length or general-law-vs-charter status, and does not cover the 2026 election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suisun_City,_California) 5. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Michael Jefferson" surfaces "JEFFERSON FOR SUISUN MAYOR 2026; MICHAEL" (Filer #1490640), status ACTIVE -- the site's own Incapsula bot-protection began blocking every further automated query this session before the committee's own filing-detail page (Form 460/461/450) could be checked; a documented access gap, not a finding of no filings](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Michael%20Jefferson) 6. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Amit Pal" surfaces two filers: "PAL FOR CITY COUNCIL 2014, AMIT" (Filer #1369457, Terminated) and "PAL FOR SUISUN CITY COUNCIL 2024; AMIT" (Filer #1474816, status ACTIVE) -- the latter's own name still reflects his 2024 Council candidacy; the site's Incapsula bot-protection blocked every further query before its filing-detail page could confirm whether or how it is being used for his 2026 Mayor run](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Amit%20Pal) 7. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Lilia Dardon": no results at all -- no committee or candidate filer registered under her name](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Lilia%20Dardon) ## The rest of the ballot Mayor of Suisun City is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Mayor of Suisun City — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/suisun-city-mayor (sources last retrieved September 1, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.