# Union City Council, District 4

Compare records and positions simply between Sarabjit Kaur Cheema, Qasim Lodhi, Vipan S. Bajwa, and 1 more for Union City Council, District 4 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would hold one of three Union City Council seats up this cycle. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. Union City is an Alameda County city of about 70,000 people. An appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. The term runs four years, from December 8, 2026 to December 10, 2030. Union City switched from at-large to district elections in November 2020. City ordinance limits the Mayor and Councilmembers to three terms in a row. That applies to the same office.

- Jurisdiction: City of Union 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/union-city-council-4
- 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: 85 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

- **Sarabjit Kaur Cheema** — High School Teacher
- **Qasim Lodhi** — Software Engineer/Father
- **Vipan S. Bajwa** — City Commissioner/Accountant
- **Ann Yap-Jequinto** — Planning Commissioner/Caregiver

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

District 4 is an open seat. Sitting Councilmember Scott Sakakihara is not on the county's certified candidate list for it. Four candidates are running. They are Sarabjit Kaur Cheema, Qasim Lodhi, Vipan S. Bajwa, and Ann Yap-Jequinto.

This person would hold one of three Union City Council seats up this cycle. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use in this Alameda County city of about 70,000, under a council-manager government with an appointed City Manager. The term is four years, from Dec. 8, 2026 to Dec. 10, 2030.

Union City switched from at-large to district-based Council elections in November 2020. City ordinance limits the Mayor and Councilmembers to three consecutive terms in the same office. The city's own roster page does not list Sakakihara among the county's certified District 4 candidates; this dataset treats that absence as confirmation he is not seeking reelection, without asserting a reason why.

## Sarabjit Kaur Cheema

Cheema's filed ballot designation is "High School Teacher." The city's own candidate statements page describes them as a former New Haven Unified School District Board member, from 2010 to 2022, with an engineering background. It says they are focused on economic development and public safety. NetFile records show they also ran a committee for Union City Mayor in 2020. Their 2026 committee is named Cheema, Sarabjit Kaur for Union City Council Dist4 2026. It has filed only initial FPPC Form 410 and 501 organizing paperwork. No Form 460 is on file yet. So no fundraising total exists to report.

**Strengths:** Named prior public service, 12 years on the New Haven Unified School District Board. Cheema also ran a citywide campaign in 2020. Their own NetFile filing history confirms both.

**Trade-offs:** No Form 460 is on file for their 2026 committee. So there is no fundraising total to report for them.

**Keep in mind:** Their school board service and engineering background come from their own candidate statement. The specific engineering claim was not independently verified.

## Qasim Lodhi

Lodhi is a first time candidate. Their filed ballot designation is "Software Engineer/Father." The city's own candidate statements page describes them as a resident since 2021, age 43. It says they emphasize transparent governance and affordable housing. It links a campaign site, Lodhi2026.com, which was not independently verified. Their campaign has filed only an initial FPPC Form 501. No committee or Form 460 is on file yet.

**Strengths:** Not established in the sourcing found for this race.

**Trade-offs:** Lodhi is a first time candidate with no committee or fundraising filing on record. Voters have little beyond their name and self declared occupation. They also know Lodhi qualified for the ballot.

**Keep in mind:** This is a gap in the sourcing, not evidence against them. A real search by several methods turned up nothing further to report.

## Vipan S. Bajwa

Their filed ballot designation is "City Commissioner/Accountant." The city's own candidate statements page describes them, at age 34, as a local Chamber of Commerce Vice President and a nonprofit board chair. It says they prioritize neighborhood safety and taxpayer accountability. It links a campaign site, VipanBajwa.com, which was not independently verified. Their Schedule A lists their occupation as a self employed accountant. NetFile records show they also ran for this same District 4 seat in 2022. For the first half of 2026 their campaign committee reported $0 in monetary contributions. It reported a $2,000 loan from Bajwa themselves, dated 5/27/2026 and still outstanding in full. It reported $0 in expenditures.

**Strengths:** A named local commission role, City Commissioner, though the commission is not specified. Bajwa also holds Chamber of Commerce leadership. They ran for this same seat in 2022.

**Trade-offs:** No independent reporting on their candidacy was found, apart from official and campaign finance records. Their 2026 committee has drawn no outside monetary contributions so far.

**Keep in mind:** The entire $2,000 their committee has reported is a loan to themselves. It is not outside support. It says nothing about broader donor backing.

## Ann Yap-Jequinto

Yap-Jequinto's filed ballot designation is "Planning Commissioner/Caregiver." The city's own candidate statements page describes them, at age 57, as founder of the nonprofit Rodhi's Hope. It says they focus on homelessness and disability advocacy. They have been a Union City resident since 1977. Their own NetFile filing lists their occupation as Classroom Assistant IV with the New Haven Unified School District. Their campaign committee is named Yap-Jequinto for Union City Council 2026. For the first half of 2026 it reported $800 in monetary contributions, from their treasurer, Martin Jequinto. It also reported a $3,000 loan from Yap-Jequinto themselves, dated 2/1/2026 and still outstanding in full. It reported $3,464.99 in expenditures. It ended the period with $385.01 cash on hand and $3,050 in total outstanding loan debt.

**Strengths:** Named local commission experience as Planning Commissioner. They founded a local nonprofit. Their stated District 4 residency, since 1977, is the longest in this race.

**Trade-offs:** No independent reporting on their candidacy was found. Most of their $3,850 raised is a personal loan. They ended with the lowest cash on hand of the four District 4 candidates.

**Keep in mind:** $3,050 of their reported total is loans to themselves, still outstanding. Only the $800 from their treasurer reflects outside support so far.

## Sources

1. [Alameda County Registrar of Voters -- official Candidate List system (electionId 260, "General Election - 11/03/2026 (Official)"), queried directly via its own JSON/HTML API (POST /rov_app/candidatelist/) for all three Union City races (categoryId 600, raceIds 134-136): For Member Of City Council #2, Union City (Jaime Patino, Victor Lopez Pulido); #3 (Jeff Wang, Cheris Crocker-Root); #4 (Vipan S. Bajwa, Sarabjit Kaur Cheema, Qasim Lodhi, Ann Yap-Jequinto). Names ballot designations verbatim as filed: "Councilmember/Finance Manager" (Patino), "Legal Advocate/Translator" (Lopez Pulido), "Incumbent" (Wang), "Financial Asset Manager" (Crocker-Root), "City Commissioner/Accountant" (Bajwa), "High School Teacher" (Cheema), "Software Engineer/Father" (Lodhi), "Planning Commissioner/Caregiver" (Yap-Jequinto). The system's own "Incumbent" field reads "N" for every Union City candidate here too, including Patino and Wang -- this dataset does not treat that field as reliable and instead confirms incumbency independently against the City of Union City's own roster page (see union-city-clerk-roster-2026).](https://www.alamedacountyca.gov/rov_app/candidatelist)
2. [City of Union City -- "November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election" overview page: states in its own words that three City Council seats are up (District 2, District 3, District 4), each seat's term running Dec. 8, 2026-Dec. 10, 2030, and quotes the city's term-limit ordinance (Municipal Code Chapter 2.07): three consecutive terms in the same office, partial terms don't count, and a former officeholder may run again after sitting out two years. Links the city's candidates/filing-status page, candidate-statements page, and its NetFile campaign-finance portal, all used as separate sources below.](https://www.unioncityca.gov/982/November-3-2026-General-Municipal-Electi)
3. [City of Union City -- "Candidates and Filing Status" page: lists each district's qualified candidates by filing and qualifying date (District 2: Patino filed 8/3, qualified 8/4; Lopez Pulido filed 8/7, qualified 8/9. District 3: Wang filed and qualified 7/27; Crocker-Root filed and qualified 8/4. District 4: Cheema filed 8/10, qualified 8/11; Lodhi filed and qualified 8/5; Bajwa filed and qualified 8/7; Yap-Jequinto filed 8/6, qualified 8/7) and states all are "listed in ballot order per the randomized alphabet drawing conducted August 13, 2026" -- the option order used throughout this dataset. Also names two people issued District 3 nomination papers who did not file them: Allan Samson (issued 7/22/2026) and Kashif Wasim (issued 7/24/2026); neither is a candidate here.](https://www.unioncityca.gov/1055/Candidates-and-Filing-Status)
4. [City of Union City -- "Candidate Statements" page: real, candidate-submitted biographical statements for all eight 2026 Council candidates, several linking a personal campaign website (not independently verified by this dataset). Notable detail beyond bare ballot designations: Sarabjit Kaur Cheema is a former New Haven Unified School District Board member (2010-2022); Vipan S. Bajwa is a local Chamber of Commerce Vice President and nonprofit board chair; Ann Yap-Jequinto founded the nonprofit Rodhi's Hope and has lived in the city since 1977; Cheris Crocker-Root has 17 years of district residency plus Park Commission and Parks & Trails Commission leadership experience.](https://www.unioncityca.gov/1009/Candidate-Statements)
5. [City of Union City -- "Mayor & City Council" page: names Jaime Patino as District 2's sitting Councilmember and Vice Mayor, and Jeff Wang as District 3's sitting Councilmember; District 4's sitting Councilmember, Scott Sakakihara, is not on the county's certified candidate list for District 4 -- the basis for treating that seat as open. Also names Mayor Gary Singh (not up this cycle -- Union City's eight-race City category on the county's own candidate list has no Union City Mayor race at all) and District 1's Lance Nishihira (not up this cycle either).](https://www.unioncityca.gov/202/Mayor-City-Council)
6. [Wikipedia's Union City, California article -- 2020 census population (70,143); incorporated Jan. 26, 1959 (combining the communities of Alvarado and Decoto); council-manager government; states the city "switched from citywide elections to districts" on November 3, 2020; states the mayor and council members serve 4-year terms with a 3-consecutive-term limit, cross-checked against the city's own election page's identical term-limit language.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_City,_California)
7. [City of Union City's own NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal (agency code UNION, linked directly from the city's own election page), queried directly via its own QuickNameSearch and filings/byCandidate JSON API for all eight 2026 candidates, with each available candidate's most recent H1 2026 FPPC Form 460 downloaded directly via the portal's own CampaignDocuments/download endpoint and read for its actual reported totals. Real H1 2026 totals (monetary contributions raised / total expenditures, this period): Jaime Patino $19,678 plus a $1,000 loan from Patino himself (dated 4/10/2026, still outstanding in full) / $14,839.54, ending with $6,059.65 cash on hand; Victor Lopez Pulido $11,780 / $1,944.79, ending with $9,883.21 cash on hand; Jeff Wang $30,819 / $3,331.10, ending with $27,487.90 cash on hand; Cheris Crocker-Root $5,520 raised this period (plus an $11,283.16 beginning balance carried from H2 2025) / $3,295.78, ending with $13,507.38 cash on hand; Sarabjit Kaur Cheema no Form 460 on file yet, only a Form 410/501; Qasim Lodhi no committee yet, only a Form 501; Vipan S. Bajwa $0 monetary plus a $2,000 loan from Bajwa himself (dated 5/27/2026, still outstanding in full) / $0, ending with $2,000 cash on hand; Ann Yap-Jequinto $800 (from her treasurer, Martin Jequinto) plus a $3,000 loan from Yap-Jequinto herself (her own Schedule A lists her occupation as Classroom Assistant IV, New Haven Unified School District) / $3,464.99, ending with $385.01 cash on hand and $3,050 in outstanding loan debt.](https://netfile.com/public/UNION/campaign)

## The rest of the ballot

Union City Council, District 4 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, "Union City Council, District 4 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/union-city-council-4 (sources last retrieved September 1, 2026).

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