City of Westminster · Statewide General Election
Mayor of Westminster
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
- Kimberly Ho — Entrepreneur
- Nguyen Phuong Hung — Retired
- Chi Charlie Nguyen — Mayor/Business Owner · Incumbent
- Charles S. Shipp — Account Executive
- Carlos Manzo — Westminster City Councilmember
This person is Westminster's directly-elected, citywide Mayor -- the only council seat elected at large rather than by district. Westminster is a general-law, council-manager city; the Mayor presides over City Council meetings and represents the city publicly, but votes as one of five members (the Mayor plus four district councilmembers) on the budget and city ordinances, alongside an appointed city manager who runs day-to-day operations. A 4-year term.
Incumbent Chi Charlie Nguyen is running for re-election against four challengers, including a sitting councilmember, Carlos Manzo, who filed for Mayor rather than for re-election to his own council seat. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff.
This person is Westminster's directly-elected, citywide Mayor -- the only council seat elected at large rather than by district. Westminster is a general-law, council-manager city; the Mayor presides over City Council meetings and represents the city publicly, but votes as one of five members (the Mayor plus four district councilmembers) on the budget and city ordinances, alongside an appointed city manager who runs day-to-day operations. A 4-year term.
Nguyen is the incumbent, confirmed both by the county's own Proof List and independently by Wikipedia's current Westminster council roster. Carlos Manzo's filed designation, "Westminster City Councilmember," matches Wikipedia's listing of him as the sitting District 2 Vice Mayor -- his own council seat isn't on this ballot regardless, since District 2 isn't up this cycle. Beyond those confirmed officeholdings, no independent biography, news coverage, or campaign platform was confirmed for any of the five candidates in this pass despite a real search effort, including a specific check for Vietnamese-language or community-outlet coverage given Westminster's significant Vietnamese-American community -- a documented gap, not a claim that no such material exists.
Kimberly Ho
Filed her candidacy under the ballot designation "Entrepreneur." No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source describing her background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort, including a direct guess at a campaign-site domain (votekimberlyho.com), which did not resolve.
Strengths
An entrepreneurial background suggests some experience running a business, budgeting, or navigating local regulation.
Trade-offs
No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of her priorities beyond her listed occupation, and no prior elected office was found either.
Keep in mind
No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for her campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.
Carlos Manzo
Filed his candidacy under the ballot designation "Westminster City Councilmember" -- Wikipedia's current council roster independently confirms he is the sitting District 2 Vice Mayor, elected in 2020. He is running for Mayor rather than for re-election to his own seat; District 2 is not on this year's ballot either way. No campaign site, official city biography (westminster-ca.gov returned an access error on direct fetch), or news coverage describing his council record or platform was found in this pass.
Strengths
A sitting councilmember and Vice Mayor, so voters have a known quantity with current council experience, even without a detailed record on hand here.
Trade-offs
No independently confirmed platform, voting record, or reason for seeking the Mayor's seat rather than re-election to District 2 was found in this pass.
Keep in mind
No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for his 2026 campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.
Nguyen Phuong Hung
Filed his candidacy under the ballot designation "Retired." No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source describing his background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort.
Strengths
None independently confirmed in this pass beyond his filed designation.
Trade-offs
No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of his priorities, prior career, or any prior elected office.
Keep in mind
No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for his campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.
Chi Charlie Nguyen
Filed his candidacy under the ballot designation "Mayor/Business Owner" -- independently confirmed as accurate by Wikipedia's current Westminster government page, which names him the sitting Mayor since his 2022 election. No independently confirmed campaign site, official city biography (westminster-ca.gov returned an access error on direct fetch), or news coverage describing his record or platform was found in this pass.
Strengths
The sitting Mayor seeking a second term, so voters have a known incumbent with a completed term in the office itself, even without a detailed record on hand here.
Trade-offs
No independently confirmed platform, accomplishments, or voting record from his current term was found in this pass, so this dataset cannot describe what he has actually done in office.
Keep in mind
No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for his 2026 campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.
Charles S. Shipp
Filed his candidacy under the ballot designation "Account Executive." No campaign site, news coverage, or other independent source describing his background or platform could be found in this pass despite a real search effort.
Strengths
An account-executive background suggests some sales, client-management, or business experience.
Trade-offs
No campaign statement or platform was found in this pass, so voters have no confirmed sense of his priorities beyond his listed occupation, and no prior elected office was found either.
Keep in mind
No CAL-ACCESS record was checked for his campaign in this pass -- see Financial info.
Source review: Strong (84/100) · 2 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with a narrow source base.
- ocvote.gov (opens in a new tab)OC Registrar of Voters -- Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election 11/3/2026 -- City of Westminster section (pages 161-166 of 188): confirms Mayor (5 qualified candidates), City Council District 1 (3), and District 4 (4) as the city's three November 2026 races, each Vote for 1, with incumbent flags and every candidate's filed ballot designation -- and that the queue's flagged "5 candidates" belongs to the Mayor's race specifically
- en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia's Westminster, California article, government section: confirms Westminster is a general-law, council-manager city with a directly-elected, at-large Mayor and a 4-member, district-elected City Council (4-year terms), and names the current officeholders -- Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen (elected 2022); District 1, Amy Phan West (elected 2022); District 2, Carlos Manzo, Vice Mayor (elected 2020); District 3, Mark Nguyen (elected 2024); District 4, NamQuan Nguyen (elected 2022) -- independently cross-checking all three of this cycle's incumbents against the county's Proof List and explaining why Districts 2 and 3 aren't on this ballot
Last updated August 31, 2026.