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City of Upland · Statewide General Election

Upland City Council, District 3

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 your district's seat on Upland's 4-member, fully district-elected City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, under a council-manager government where an appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. A 4-year term, staggered so only some districts are up in any given November -- District 1 next goes before voters in 2028; Districts 2, 3, and 4 are up this cycle. Upland's Mayor and City Treasurer are separately elected citywide offices, not council seats -- neither is up for election in 2026.

Incumbent Carlos A. Garcia is unopposed for reelection to Upland's District 3 council seat on the November 3, 2026 ballot -- so this contest is settled and your vote here does not change the outcome.

This person holds District 3's seat on Upland's 4-member, fully district-elected City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, under a council-manager government where an appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. A 4-year term ending November 2030. Upland's Mayor (Bill Velto) and City Treasurer (Greg Bradley) are separately elected citywide offices, not council seats -- neither is up for election this November. Upland moved from at-large to by-district council elections in 2016 after a California Voting Rights Act challenge; District 3's lines were last redrawn in a 2022 post-Census redistricting.

Garcia's filed ballot designation is simply "Incumbent." With no opponent, the useful question is what he's done in office and what to watch, not who to choose -- accountability for this seat over the next four years runs through the council and the public rather than through the ballot.

Carlos A. Garcia

Carlos A. Garcia is Upland's incumbent District 3 councilmember, first elected in 2018 and seeking reelection unopposed. His own official bio describes him as an entrepreneur who owns an information-technology and social-media-marketing company, and a former high-school and adult Career Technical Education instructor; he holds a Bachelor's in Information Technology and a Master's in Educational Technology, both from Pepperdine, plus a CTE teaching credential from the University of San Diego. Before his election he served two years on the city's Community Development Block Grant Committee representing District 3. His own FPPC campaign filing (see financial info below) also discloses, in its own "related committees" section, a second controlled committee formed for a 2024 California State Senate run -- confirming from his own state paperwork that he sought a state office in addition to his council seat; no further detail about that race was found in this pass and none is speculated here.

Strengths

A specific professional background (IT/marketing business, prior CTE teaching) plus CDBG Committee service predating his election, giving some verifiable civic history beyond the seat.

Trade-offs

No independent news coverage of him -- either his 2018-2026 council tenure or his disclosed 2024 state Senate run -- was found in this pass despite a real search effort.

Keep in mind

An uncontested seat means this term's record, not a head-to-head choice, is what's actually on the ballot here; his disclosed but unexplained 2024 state run is worth asking about directly if it matters to you.

Source review: Very strong (91/100) · 6 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • uploads.rov.sbcounty.gov (opens in a new tab)San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters -- "Offices Up for Election, November 3, 2026, General Election": the City of Upland section lists exactly three offices -- Member, City Council, Districts 2, 3, and 4 -- each a single seat with a 4-year term, and no Mayor or Treasurer contest.
  • uploads.rov.sbcounty.gov (opens in a new tab)San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters -- statewide "Report_CandidateList.pdf" candidate-filing report: the City of Upland section (pages 183-186 of 249) names all three qualified 2026 candidates -- James Breitling (District 2), Carlos A. Garcia (District 3), Rudy Zuniga (District 4) -- each the sole candidate for their seat, each flagged Incumbent, and each with zero candidate statements filed.
  • uplandca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Upland -- City Clerk's "November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election" page: states that Districts 2, 3, and 4 are up this cycle, that the nomination period closed August 7, 2026, and names all three qualified candidates with qualification dates (Garcia 7/27/26, Breitling 8/4/26, Zuniga 8/6/26), stating directly that "each district has one candidate running unopposed." Also covers Measure M (a business-license reform measure, out of scope under this dataset's ballot-measures rule).
  • uplandca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Upland -- "City Council & Treasurer" page: lists all four council districts plus the separately elected citywide Mayor (Bill Velto) and City Treasurer (Greg Bradley) -- confirming James Breitling (District 2), Carlos A. Garcia (District 3), and Rudy Zuniga (District 4, Mayor Pro Tem) as sitting incumbents, and that neither the Mayor nor Treasurer office is a council seat.
  • uplandca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Upland -- Councilmember Carlos A. Garcia's own official bio page: owns an IT and social-media-marketing company, previously worked as a high-school and adult CTE technology instructor, holds a Bachelor's in Information Technology and a Master's in Educational Technology from Pepperdine plus a CTE teaching credential from the University of San Diego, and served two years on the city's CDBG Committee representing District 3 before his election.
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)City of Upland's own NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal (aid=upl), queried by name for Carlos Garcia: his committee ("Garcia for City Council 2022," still the active filer name) filed an itemized FPPC Form 460 for Jan. 1-June 30, 2026 -- downloaded directly and read locally with pypdf -- showing $2,750 in itemized monetary contributions (Ryan Hutchison, a Rancho Cucamonga realtor, $250; San Bernardino Police Officers Association PAC, $1,000; E. Burr, CEO of Burrtec Inc., $500; Protect Our County PAC, $1,000), a $540 nonmonetary contribution (discounted fundraiser venue use), $5,101 in total expenditures (including travel to a California Republican Party event and several Upland restaurant tabs), an ending cash balance of $3,805.72, and -- in the form's own "Related Committees Not Included" section -- discloses a second controlled committee, "Garcia For State Senate 2024" (FPPC ID# 1463901).

Last updated August 31, 2026.