City of San Diego · Statewide General Election
San Diego City Council, District 6
Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.
On the ballot
- Mark Powell — Business Owner/Educator
- Kent Lee — City Councilmember · Incumbent
This person holds your district's seat on San Diego's 9-member City Council: city laws, the budget, and land use.
Incumbent Kent Lee faces Mark Powell in a two-candidate race covering University City, Kearny Mesa, Sorrento Valley and Mira Mesa. With only two candidates, both were guaranteed to advance from June (per KPBS); San Diego's charter stages the decisive vote in November either way.
The winner holds one of nine seats on the San Diego City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and the land-use decisions behind the district's biggest fights. A four-year term.
This is the cycle's cleanest ideological contrast in San Diego: an incumbent Democrat running on housing attainability and fiscal accountability against a Republican challenger who opposes new parking fees and density and supports removing bike lanes (per KPBS). The district's street-redesign fights make those abstractions concrete.
Kent Lee
The sitting councilmember, a Democrat and former arts-nonprofit director. His stated priorities are housing attainability and fiscal accountability; he raised about $37,500 in the primary (per KPBS).
Strengths
A first-term record to point to and the incumbent's command of the district's active files — street redesigns, growth planning.
Trade-offs
The district's development and street-redesign tensions cut across his own coalition; his votes are the record his opponent runs against.
Keep in mind
Nonprofit-sector experience shapes his governing style more than legal or business backgrounds do elsewhere on this ballot — judge whether that fits the district's disputes.
Mark Powell
A Republican real-estate broker and former school-board member. He opposes parking fees and added density, supports removing bike lanes, and raised over $50,000 in the primary (per KPBS).
Strengths
Prior elected service on a school board and primary fundraising ahead of the incumbent's (per KPBS).
Trade-offs
His platform runs against the council's prevailing direction on housing and streets — effectiveness would depend on colleagues who mostly disagree.
Keep in mind
A two-candidate race is a clean referendum: his positions on parking, density and bike lanes are specific enough to vote on directly.
Source review: Very strong (95/100) · 2 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with a narrow source base.
- sandiego.gov (opens in a new tab)San Diego City Clerk — 2026 election information (November runoff rosters)
- kpbs.org (opens in a new tab)KPBS — San Diego City Council races explainer, Districts 2, 4, 6, 8 (Apr 30, 2026)
Last updated August 22, 2026.