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City of Woodland · Statewide General Election

Woodland City Council, District 1

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 represent Woodland's Council District 1 for a four-year term. Woodland, the Yolo County seat, is a city of about 61,032 residents (2020 Census) with a five-member, district-based City Council -- voters replaced an at-large system with district elections via Measure U in 2014. There is no separately elected Mayor: the Council chooses one of its own five district members to serve as Mayor each year. The seat is open -- incumbent Rich Lansburgh did not file for re-election.

Woodland City Council District 1 is an open seat: incumbent Rich Lansburgh didn't file for a new term, leaving mental health professional George Washington and former Yolo County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jesse Ortiz to compete for it.

Whoever wins joins a five-member Council that sets the budget, land use, and municipal ordinances for Woodland, the Yolo County seat and a city of about 61,032 residents (2020 Census). Woodland switched from at-large to district elections when voters passed Measure U in 2014, and now elects one councilmember from each of five districts to staggered 4-year terms. The Council doesn't separately elect a Mayor: it chooses one of its own five district members to hold that title each year, currently District 2's Tom Stallard, with District 5's Mayra Vega as Mayor Pro Tem. Neither District 2 nor District 5 is on this November's ballot.

Both candidates' backgrounds here come from the Daily Democrat's own campaign-announcement coverage, built from each campaign's own press release -- the only substantive reporting found for either candidate this cycle.

George Washington

George Washington is a Woodland mental health professional and business owner running on what his campaign calls a "community-first approach" centered on public safety, youth opportunity, behavioral health, and homelessness. He holds a psychology degree and is a certified therapist, Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist, and life coach, and founded two local organizations -- the Myndz Resources Foundation and the Woodland Strong Initiative -- working on behavioral health resources, youth mentorship, and reentry services.

Strengths

A behavioral-health background mapping directly onto homelessness and public-safety work the Council regularly handles, plus two organizations he's already built in Woodland.

Trade-offs

A first-time candidate for office, with no voting or budget record -- what's documented here traces to his own campaign's release, not independent reporting.

Keep in mind

His campaign lists endorsements from local educators, an attorney, and She Ready Foundation founder Tiffany Haddish -- named supporters, not this dataset's own assessment of the race.

Jesse Ortiz

Dr. Jesse Ortiz is a Woodland native and Woodland High School graduate who spent more than 20 years as an academic counselor and professor at Woodland Community College and previously served as Yolo County Superintendent of Schools. He has served on the Woodland School Board, the Parks & Recreation Commission, United Way, and First 5 Yolo, currently represents Woodland and Esparto on the Yuba Community College District Board, and is a Marine Corps Vietnam-era veteran and Sacramento Valley National Cemetery honor guard volunteer.

Strengths

The broadest civic resume here -- decades in Woodland education plus prior board seats -- and the widest backing found: the sitting Mayor, full Council, and five former Mayors.

Trade-offs

Never held Council-level elected office himself -- like Washington, what's documented here traces to his own campaign's release, not independent reporting.

Keep in mind

Backing from the entire sitting Council, including Lansburgh, the incumbent he'd replace, weighs against Washington's outsider, organization-building pitch.

Source review: Strong (89/100) · 8 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

  • cityofwoodland.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Woodland -- official "November 3, 2026" election page: states "City Council Districts 1 and 3 are up for election" and publishes a nomination-status table naming every candidate by district with issue/filed dates -- Rich Lansburgh (District 1, incumbent) has both fields blank, George Washington (District 1, issued 7/13/2026, filed 7/21/2026), Jesse Ortiz (District 1, issued 8/3/2026, filed 8/7/2026), and Tania Garcia-Cadena (District 3, incumbent, issued 7/20/2026, filed 8/5/2026) all have complete dates. Fetched and read directly this session.
  • cityofwoodland.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Woodland -- Resolution No. 8669, "A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Woodland Calling a General Municipal Election for the Election of Two Council Members by District ... on November 3, 2026," adopted 4-0 (Members Lansburgh, Garcia-Cadena, Moreno, and Mayor Stallard; Mayor Pro Tem Vega absent) on June 16, 2026: recites that Measure U (Nov. 4, 2014) converted the Council from at-large to a five-district system, and calls the election unconditionally for two Council seats, Districts 1 and 3, each a 4-year term -- no Section 10229 cancellation language anywhere in it. Fetched and read in full as a PDF.
  • cityofwoodland.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Woodland -- official City Council directory page: lists all five current district councilmembers with term dates -- Rich Lansburgh (District 1), Tom Stallard (District 2, Mayor), Tania Garcia-Cadena (District 3, term Dec. 2022-Nov. 2026), David Moreno (District 4), and Mayra Vega (District 5, Mayor Pro Tem) -- confirming the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem are chosen from among the Council's own district members rather than elected separately.
  • ace.yolocounty.gov (opens in a new tab)Yolo County ACE Department -- official Municipal/City candidate-filings page ("Last Content Update: 2 weeks ago" as fetched this session, i.e. after the Aug. 8-12, 2026 extended filing window for districts where an incumbent didn't file): lists "City of Woodland, Member, City Council, District 1 -- ON THE BALLOT" (Rich Lansburgh (I), Did Not File; George Washington, Peer Support Specialist, filed 7/21/2026, Qualified; Jesse Ortiz, Retired Educator, filed 8/7/2026, Qualified) and "... District 3 -- ON THE BALLOT" (Tania Garcia-Cadena (I), Incumbent, filed 8/5/2026, Qualified) -- an independent, county-run corroboration of the City's own roster, naming ballot designations the City's own page does not.
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California's statewide Cal-Access filer/candidate search -- a documented negative result: the fetch returned no usable content, consistent with the bot-wall documented elsewhere in this dataset.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "Woodland, California": used narrowly for the 2020 Census population (61,032), the city's 1871 incorporation and status as the Yolo County seat since 1862, and its council-manager government structure -- not for any 2026 election content.
  • dailydemocrat.com (opens in a new tab)Daily Democrat -- Carlos Guerrero, "George Washington submits candidacy for Woodland City Council" (Aug. 16, 2026): reports Washington is "a mental health professional, business owner, homeowner, husband, and father," a certified therapist, Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist, and life coach, and founder of the Myndz Resources Foundation and the Woodland Strong Initiative. Quotes him directly and lists named endorsers from his campaign's own release. Fetched and read in full this session.
  • dailydemocrat.com (opens in a new tab)Daily Democrat -- Carlos Guerrero, "Dr. Jesse Ortiz submits candidacy for Woodland City Council" (Aug. 8, 2026): reports Ortiz is a Woodland native and Woodland High School graduate, a former Yolo County Superintendent of Schools, and a former Woodland Community College academic counselor/professor "for over 20 years"; lists his School Board, Parks & Recreation Commission, United Way, and First 5 Yolo service, his current Yuba Community College District Board seat, and his Marine Corps Vietnam-era veteran status. Names, per his campaign's own release, the sitting Mayor, all four other sitting Council members, and five former Mayors as supporters. Fetched and read in full this session.

Last updated September 2, 2026.