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City of Wheatland · Statewide General Election

Wheatland City Council

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 Wheatland's five City Council seats for a 4-year term (expiring 2030): city ordinances, the budget, and land use, under a council-manager government where an appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. Wheatland (incorporated 1874, population about 3,900) is a general-law city whose Council elects its own Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its five members each year -- there's no separate 'Mayor of Wheatland' contest on this ballot.

Two of Wheatland's five City Council seats are up this cycle, and three candidates filed for them: incumbent David Pesenti, plus Tony Lopez and Shaun Clearwater. With three candidates for two seats, this is a genuinely contested race that goes to the ballot -- not a case where the city could appoint winners and skip the election.

This person would hold one of Wheatland's five City Council seats for a 4-year term (expiring 2030): city ordinances, the budget, and land use, under a council-manager government where an appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. Wheatland (incorporated 1874, population about 3,900) is a general-law city whose Council elects its own Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its five members each year, rather than voters directly electing a Mayor -- so there's no separate 'Mayor of Wheatland' contest on this ballot. Lisa McIntosh currently holds the Mayor title and John Abe is Vice Mayor; neither of their seats is up this cycle.

The certified candidate list names Pesenti's seat as one of the two up this cycle but doesn't identify which other Council seat is open, and no source found in this pass breaks down individual members' term-end years the way some other cities' council pages do. What is confirmed: neither Tony Lopez nor Shaun Clearwater is a current sitting Councilmember, so both are running as non-incumbents for whichever seat that is.

Wheatland runs its own municipal election through its City Clerk rather than through Yuba County's Registrar of Voters -- which is why the county's own election documents don't list this race at all. The county's own Notice of Election covers only School District and Special District offices and states plainly, "Nomination papers for City offices can be obtained from the appropriate City Clerk."

David Pesenti

David Pesenti is the incumbent Wheatland City Councilmember seeking reelection to a new 4-year term. He is confirmed as a sitting Councilmember by two of the City's own official documents -- its Council roster page and its FY 2026-27 adopted budget, both of which list him among the five current members. No further independent record of his occupation, background, or platform was found in this pass: Wheatland's Council page lists members by name and title only, with no linked biography, and no news coverage of his 2026 candidacy or Council record turned up in a genuine search of local outlets or the open web.

Strengths

Sitting incumbent with current Council experience, confirmed by two of the City's own official documents.

Trade-offs

No independent record of his occupation, platform, or voting record was found in this pass -- his incumbency is confirmed, but nothing else about him is.

Keep in mind

The absence of coverage reflects a small town's thin local-news environment, not anything unusual about this candidate -- his two opponents have an equally bare public record.

Tony Lopez

Tony Lopez is a non-incumbent candidate for Wheatland City Council; his nomination papers were verified sufficient Aug. 6, 2026. No occupation, platform, or civic background for him was found on the City's own website, in local news, or in a general web search this pass. Yuba County's NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance system shows one filing under this name: a 2022 Statement of Economic Interests (FPPC Form 700), filed by a Tony Lopez of Wheatland as a candidate for the Wheatland Union High School District Board that November, reporting no reportable investments, income, or gifts. The mailing city and ZIP code on that filing match Wheatland's, but this dataset could not independently confirm it's the same person as the 2026 City Council candidate.

Strengths

None independently confirmed for this 2026 candidacy.

Trade-offs

No occupation, platform, or news coverage was found for his 2026 run, and no campaign committee is on file with the county for this race.

Keep in mind

A same-named, same-city Tony Lopez has one prior local-filing record -- a 2022 school-board candidacy -- but this dataset could not confirm it's the same person; treat it as a lead, not a fact about this candidate.

Shaun Clearwater

Shaun Clearwater is a non-incumbent candidate for Wheatland City Council, the last of the three to qualify (Aug. 7, 2026). No occupation, platform, civic background, or campaign-finance record of any kind was found for him in this pass -- Yuba County's NetFile system shows no filing under this name, and no coverage of his candidacy turned up in local news or a general web search.

Strengths

None independently confirmed.

Trade-offs

No occupation, platform, news coverage, or campaign-finance record was found for him in this pass -- the thinnest public record of the three candidates in this race.

Keep in mind

A late qualification date and no campaign-finance filing are both legal, low-key ways to run for a small-town council seat -- not themselves a red flag, just a gap in what's currently verifiable.

Candidate background for this contest is genuinely thin across all three names, not lopsided: beyond Pesenti's confirmed incumbency, none of the three has an independently verifiable occupation, platform, or civic record in this pass. Wheatland is a town of about 3,900 people with no dedicated local newspaper of its own; the region's paper of record, the Appeal-Democrat, and the nonprofit outlet YubaNet were both checked directly and returned no 2026 Wheatland City Council coverage. This reflects the genuinely small scale of local press attention this race draws, not anything being withheld.

Source review: Strong (81/100) · 7 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • wheatland.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Wheatland -- "Who is running for Wheatland City Council?" (certified candidate list, posted Aug. 10, 2026 by City Clerk Josie Camacho): names David Pesenti, Tony Lopez, and Shaun Clearwater as the three qualified candidates for "Two, 4 year terms, expiring 2030" and lists Pesenti as the sole incumbent officeholder under Elections Code Section 10224.5.
  • wheatland.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Wheatland -- "2026 General Elections List of Candidates" (CivicAlert newsflash, posted Aug. 12, 2026): independently restates the certified notice in plain language, "There are two seats open and three candidates running for office."
  • wheatland.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Wheatland -- City Council (current membership roster): names the sitting five-member Council -- Lisa McIntosh, Mayor; John Abe, Vice Mayor; Brian Abe, David Pesenti, and Angela Teter, Councilmembers -- confirming Pesenti's incumbency.
  • wheatland.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Wheatland -- Fiscal Year 2026-27 Adopted Annual Budget (Community Profile and City Council department sections): states in its own words that "The City Council consists of five members, elected at-large to four-year overlapping terms... The position of Mayor and Vice Mayor are chosen by the City Council" -- confirming no separately elected Mayor exists -- and independently lists David Pesenti among the five sitting Councilmembers.
  • yuba.gov (opens in a new tab)Yuba County Elections -- Notice of Election, Nov. 3, 2026 General Election (Donna Hillegass, County Clerk-Registrar of Voters): lists only School District and Special District offices and states "Nomination papers for City offices can be obtained from the appropriate City Clerk" -- confirming Wheatland runs its own municipal election rather than through the County.
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)Yuba County's NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal, queried directly via its own QuickNameSearch/filings JSON API: a same-named, same-city "Tony Lopez" (mailing city/ZIP Wheatland, CA 95692) filed one FPPC Form 700 (Statement of Economic Interests), dated Aug. 10, 2022, as a candidate for the Wheatland Union High School District Board in that November's election, reporting no reportable investments, income, or gifts. This dataset could not independently confirm this is the same person as the 2026 City Council candidate.
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)A negative-result local campaign-finance check: Yuba County's own NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal (aid=YUBA), queried directly by name via its own QuickNameSearch API for all three 2026 candidates -- no committee or filing of any kind is on record for David Pesenti or Shaun Clearwater under any name searched, and none is on record for Tony Lopez's 2026 candidacy specifically. Documents the absence of a 2026 financial-disclosure record, not any candidate's actual finances.

Last updated September 2, 2026.