stanvote.gov (opens in a new tab)Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters -- "Unofficial Candidate List," General Election, Nov. 3, 2026 (refetched fresh this session; PDF metadata date-stamped 8/31/2026, page footers time-stamped 7:57 AM 8/31/2026): the "CITY OF WATERFORD" block of the "MUNICIPAL OFFICES" section names one office -- COUNCIL MEMBER (Vote for 2): *Christine R. Harris (Incumbent), Jeremy T. Hedden (Retail Merchandiser), Todd R. Valdez (Sales Consultant), Desiree Turnbough (Accounting Clerk) -- with each candidate's filed ballot designation; no Mayor heading appears for Waterford anywhere in the document.
stanvote.gov (opens in a new tab)Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters -- "City Clerks" directory: confirms that Waterford candidate filing runs through the city's own clerk, not the county, and gives the city's official contact information (101 E Street / PO Box 199, Waterford, CA 95386; 209-874-2328; cityofwaterford.org)
en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- Waterford, California: 2020 Census population (9,120, up from 8,456 in 2010) and the current council roster -- Mayor Charlie Goeken, Vice Mayor Jamie Hilton, Council Members Lupita Gutierrez, Christine Harris, and Elizabeth Talbott -- independently confirming Christine Harris as a sitting Council Member.
web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)City of Waterford -- own "City Council" page, read via a Wayback Machine capture dated 12/26/2025 since the live site is Cloudflare-gated this session: confirms a council-manager government organized as a general law city in 1969, a directly elected Mayor serving a 2-year term versus Council Members' 4-year terms, all at-large/citywide with no districts, and $300/month council compensation (text unchanged from an earlier 2021 capture).
web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)City of Waterford -- own "FPPC Campaign Statements" index, read via a Wayback Machine capture dated 11/11/2025 (predating the 2026 candidate-filing window): lists historical 2020-2025 filings for council members Hilton, Kitchens, Harris, Stepp, and Talbott, and shows Mayor Charlie Goeken filed an FPPC Form 501 candidate-intention statement for "Election 2024"; no 2026-cycle filing is visible in this capture for any of the four 2026 Council candidates.
cityofwaterford.org (opens in a new tab)A documented site-access gap, not a claim about any candidate's background, the Mayor race's disposition, or fundraising: the live City of Waterford site (cityofwaterford.org) returned a Cloudflare managed challenge (HTTP 403) to every path tried this session -- the root domain, /city-council, and /elections -- under both WebFetch and a direct curl with a realistic browser User-Agent, and no Wayback Machine capture exists from the actual 2026 candidate-nomination window (Jul-Aug 2026) for any Waterford elections-related page.

Last updated September 1, 2026.

City of Waterford

Waterford City Council

This person would hold one of two open at-large seats. The seats are on Waterford's 5-member City Council. They would vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. Waterford is a Stanislaus County city of about 9,120 residents. The Mayor is elected separately and is not on this ballot. Two other Council Members also serve alongside this seat. A professional city manager runs day-to-day operations. The elected council sets policy. Council Members are elected at-large, citywide, with no council districts. The term is four years.

Four candidates are running for two seats on the Waterford City Council. They are incumbent Christine R. Harris, Jeremy T. Hedden, Todd R. Valdez, and Desiree Turnbough. The two highest vote getters win outright on November 3. There is no runoff.

Waterford's City Council sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Stanislaus County city of about 9,120 residents, operating under a council-manager government where a professional city manager runs day-to-day operations while the elected council sets policy. Council Members are elected at-large, citywide -- there are no council districts -- to 4-year terms.

Waterford's Mayor is a separate, directly elected office with a 2-year term, but no Mayor's race appears on this county's candidate list at all this cycle -- unlike other small Stanislaus cities where a single-candidate Mayor's race still gets printed on the ballot. That total absence suggests the seat drew only its sitting incumbent and was filled by City Council appointment under state election law rather than placed on the ballot, though this dataset could not independently confirm that with a city notice: the city's own site was unreachable throughout this pass.

Christine R. Harris

Christine R. Harris is a sitting Council Member. They are running for reelection. Their ballot title is simply "Incumbent." Harris is the only one of the four candidates with a title. No news profile or campaign website was found for them. No civic board record was found either.

Jeremy T. Hedden

Jeremy T. Hedden is challenging incumbent Christine R. Harris. Hedden's ballot title is "Retail Merchandiser." No news profile or campaign website was found for them. No civic board record was found either.

Todd R. Valdez

Todd R. Valdez is challenging incumbent Christine R. Harris. Valdez's ballot title is "Sales Consultant." No news profile or campaign website was found for them. No civic board record was found either.

Desiree Turnbough

Desiree Turnbough is challenging incumbent Christine R. Harris. Turnbough's ballot title is "Accounting Clerk." No news profile or campaign website was found for them. No civic board record was found either.

Your picks · choose up to 2

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

This is one race on your ballot. Vote or Else shows every contest you will vote on — Congress, the Legislature, your county, city, and school board — each broken down the same way. Enter your address to see your full ballot.