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City of Taft · Statewide General Election

Taft City Council

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

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 one of three seats up this cycle on Taft's five-member City Council, elected at-large in this Kern County city of roughly 8,500 residents: city ordinances, the budget, and land use. A 4-year term. The other two seats -- Mayor Dave Noerr and Councilmember Orchel Krier -- aren't up until 2028.

Five candidates are running for three at-large seats on Taft's City Council: incumbents Josh Bryant and Ron Waldrop against challengers Bob Leikam, Jeremy Gregory, and Dennis Schertz. Vote for up to three -- no primary.

Council seats carry 4-year terms. Winners join two seats not up this cycle -- Mayor Dave Noerr and Councilmember Orchel Krier, whose terms run through 2028 -- to make Taft's five-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, in this Kern County city of roughly 8,500 residents. A third incumbent, Carlos Chavira, held one of the three seats up this cycle but chose not to seek a second term, leaving it open to challengers.

With two incumbents and three challengers competing for three at-large seats, the practical choice is less which incumbent to keep -- neither faces a direct threat to their own seat, since Chavira's open seat guarantees at least one new member either way -- and more which of the three challengers, all current or former city Planning Commission or school/community-college board members, should fill it. This dataset found no candidate statements, campaign platforms, or comparative news coverage beyond the Taft Midway Driller's biographical reporting: no campaign websites or social-media pages were found for any of the five, and Kern County's own candidate-statement documents (which would carry each candidate's own stated platform) were unreachable behind kernvote.com's bot-blocking WAF.

Josh Bryant

The incumbent mayor pro tem, seeking a fourth term. He was first elected in 2014 and is a business owner who also serves as chief business officer at Taft Union High School, per the Taft Midway Driller's reporting.

Strengths

A dozen years on the council (first elected 2014, currently mayor pro tem) and a day job in school-district finance that could bring budget experience to the table.

Trade-offs

This dataset found no independent reporting evaluating his record in office beyond his stated intent to run again -- the Driller's coverage is biographical, not evaluative.

Keep in mind

He confirmed his candidacy early (the Jul. 27 filing-period article) and was never among the incumbents in doubt about running, unlike Waldrop and Chavira.

Ron Waldrop

An incumbent seeking a fourth term. A business owner who has served on the council across three separate stints -- 1998 to 2002, 2010 to 2014, and again since being elected to a third term in 2022 -- per the Taft Midway Driller.

Strengths

The longest, most intermittent council tenure in this field, spanning three stints back to 1998 -- either sustained community trust or a pattern of stepping away and back.

Trade-offs

He was still only "considering" reelection as late as Aug. 3, a week before the deadline, later than either other incumbent -- this dataset found no reporting on why.

Keep in mind

His non-consecutive service (1998-2002, then a gap, then 2010-2014, then a gap, then 2022-present) is distinct from Bryant's continuous tenure since 2014, though both now seek a fourth term.

Bob Leikam

A challenger and retired business owner who previously served on the Taft Planning Commission, per the Taft Midway Driller. This dataset found no further independent biographical detail or platform for him.

Strengths

Prior appointed service on the Planning Commission gives him some city-government experience, though this dataset could not confirm when he served or for how long.

Trade-offs

As a retired business owner with no current city role, he lacks the currently-serving board experience the other two challengers (Schertz, Gregory until recently) can point to.

Keep in mind

No campaign statement, website, or news coverage beyond his name and background in the Driller's race-preview reporting was found for him; he has never held elected office.

Jeremy Gregory

A challenger and retired law enforcement officer who has served on both the Taft Union High School District board and, more recently, the West Kern Community College District board, per the Taft Midway Driller. He resigned his West Kern Community College District board seat in mid-2026; the city's Aug. 3 election-update coverage names an appointee expected to fill that vacancy.

Strengths

Service on two different local boards (Taft Union High School District, then West Kern Community College) gives him more governance experience than the other challengers.

Trade-offs

He resigned his community-college board seat mid-term in 2026; this dataset found no reporting stating his reason, so it cannot confirm whether it was tied to this council run or unrelated.

Keep in mind

A retired law-enforcement background is distinct from the other four candidates' business or planning-commission backgrounds and could shape how he weighs public-safety issues on the council; no independent reporting evaluates that record here.

Dennis Schertz

A challenger, business owner, and currently a member of the Taft Planning Commission, per the Taft Midway Driller. This dataset found no further independent biographical detail or platform for him.

Strengths

Currently serving on the Planning Commission, unlike Leikam (a past member) -- the most recent appointed-government experience of the three challengers.

Trade-offs

No campaign statement, website, or news coverage beyond his name and background in the Driller's race-preview reporting was found for him; he has never held elected office.

Keep in mind

This dataset found no reporting on how long he has served on the Planning Commission or what he has done in that role.

Source review: Strong (87/100) · 5 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • taftmidwaydriller.com (opens in a new tab)Taft Midway Driller -- "Filing period open for Taft City Council election" (Jul. 27, 2026): three Councilmen -- Josh Bryant, Carlos Chavira, and Ron Waldrop -- have 4-year terms expiring this year; Bryant (mayor pro tem, first elected 2014, in his third term) confirms he is running again, Chavira (first elected 2022, one term) did not respond, and Waldrop (on the council 1998-2002 and 2010-2014, in his third term) says he is "considering" reelection. Confirms Mayor Dave Noerr and Councilman Orchel Krier's terms don't end until 2028
  • taftmidwaydriller.com (opens in a new tab)Taft Midway Driller -- "Local election update: Some incumbents may run unopposed" (Aug. 3, 2026): a week before the filing deadline, Bryant confirms he's running again, Chavira confirms he will not seek a second term, and Waldrop remains "considering" reelection
  • taftmidwaydriller.com (opens in a new tab)Taft Midway Driller -- "Crowded city council races in Taft, Maricopa" (Aug. 10, 2026), about 48 hours before the filing deadline: two incumbents (Bryant, Waldrop) and three challengers -- Dennis Schertz (Taft Planning Commission member), Bob Leikam (a past Planning Commission member), and Jeremy Gregory (served on the Taft Union High School District board and, more recently, the West Kern Community College District board) -- are in the running for three seats; states "the top 3 vote getters on Nov. 3 will be elected" and that Chavira decided not to seek a second term
  • taftmidwaydriller.com (opens in a new tab)Taft Midway Driller -- "Five candidates running for three council seats" (Aug. 17, 2026), sourced to "the final candidates lineup ... released by the City of Taft last week after the deadline to file passed at 5 p.m. Wednesday": confirms the final field -- incumbents Josh Bryant (business owner, chief business officer at Taft Union High School, seeking a fourth term) and Ron Waldrop (business owner, seeking a fourth term) against challengers Bob Leikam (retired business owner, past Taft Planning Commission member), Jeremy Gregory (retired law enforcement officer, served on the West Kern Community College District and Taft Union High School District boards), and Dennis Schertz (business owner, currently a Taft Planning Commission member); "the election will be held on Nov. 3"
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)A negative-result campaign-finance search: California's Cal-Access campaign-finance search (cal-access.sos.ca.gov) returned only an empty, unrenderable page for a direct query this session, the same recurring bot-detection failure mode already documented elsewhere in this dataset. Cal-Access covers only state-level committees in any case, not local city-council candidates

Last updated September 1, 2026.