Districts 2, 3 and 4 each draw three-way races
Hesperia, Calif. (Our Hesperia) — Voters in Districts 2, 3, and 4 of Hesperia, CA, will face contested elections in the upcoming November 3, 2026 General Election as nine certified candidates compete for four-year terms.
Each of the three districts has three candidates: two incumbent council members, who seek re-election and an open seat created because Mayor Brigit Bennington decided not to run again.
The 2026 election represents a major departure from the situation in 2022. That year, the city skipped an election for the three seats because of a lack of qualified candidates, with the city council appointing a new member and two incumbents on August 24, 2022. In 2026, all three districts run races, with the voters getting an opportunity to vote for candidates directly.
District 2: Three candidates for the seat
In District 2, the voters will pick one of the three candidates for the City Council of Hesperia.
Allison Lee is the current member of the City Council of Hesperia from District 2. On the city’s certified candidate list, Lee’s ballot designation is “Appointed Council Member.” She sits on the council along with Chris Ochoa, Cameron Gregg, Brigit Bennington, and Josh Pullen.
Jessica Navarro is listed as “Production Executive/Businesswoman” while David Bashar Ellis is described as a “Small Business Owner.”
Hence, the District 2 voters will choose between one appointed incumbent and two candidates from the private sector.
District 3: Gregg faces two challenges
District 3 is also running a race for three candidates.
Incumbent Council Member Cameron Gregg, who currently represents District 3, will run for the council seat against two candidates: Nando Monarrez and Jacqueline Maheata “Chaplian” Tahauri.
Gregg’s ballot designation is “CEO/Business Owner.” Monarrez is listed as a “Rancher,” and the designation of Tahauri is “Traffic Control Officer.”
The sitting Gregg represents District 3 on the five-member council. Similarly to Lee, he was one of the incumbents in the irregular 2022 cycle when the city appointed candidates to the seats without contested elections.
In 2026, the District 3 voters will pick one of the three candidates for the four-year term.
District 4: An open contest
District 4 is going to experience the biggest changes because there is no incumbent candidate who is running for re-election.
Brigit Bennington, the sitting mayor of Hesperia and the District 4 representative of the city council, is not running and, therefore, is not on the certified candidate list. Since there is no incumbent, the filing deadline for the District 4 seat is extended to August 12 instead of August 7 for regular candidates.
Leticia “Letty” Cisneros, Darrel A. Sauceda Jr., and Erin Baum qualified for the open seat.
Cisneros is listed as a “Real Estate Agent.” Sauceda is a “Small Business Owner,” while Baum is a “Retired City Administrator.”
Since there is no incumbent in District 4, the winner of the race will join the City Council of Hesperia as a new member.
2026 Hesperia City Council candidates
According to the certified candidate list of Hesperia,
District 2
Allison Lee — Appointed Council Member – incumbent
Jessica Navarro — Production Executive /Businesswoman
David Bashar Ellis — Small Business Owner
District 3
Cameron Gregg — CEO/Business Owner / incumbent
Nando Monarrez — Rancher
Jacqueline Maheata “Chaplian” Tahauri — Traffic Control Officer
District 4
Leticia “Letty” Cisneros — Real Estate Agent
Darrel A. Sauceda Jr. — Small Business Owner
Erin Baum — Retired City Administrator
The city published this list as its certified slate of candidates for the November 3 election.
Hesperia’s mayor is not elected citywide
Despite being the mayor of Hesperia, Brigit Bennington will not appear on the ballot in November.
Hesperia elects its City Council according to the districts. At the first council meeting in December, the five council members select mayor and mayor pro tem for the year-long term. The council members serve four-year terms, with no term limits.
Therefore, the results of the three council races could affect the composition of the City Council and thus who becomes the mayor next year.
Three out of the five seats are up in November, so the council will have its majority next year. In 2028, the seats of Districts 1 and 5, which are now held by Chris Ochoa and Josh Pullen, respectively, will come up.
How Hesperia switched to district elections
Hesperia has not always elected its council members according to the districts.
Previously, council members of Hesperia were elected at-large. It means that voters from any point of California could vote for council members of the city. The city started to switch to the district system in 2015 and 2016 due to concerns raised under the California Voting Rights Act and threatened litigation. In May 2016, Hesperia hired National Demographics Corporation to help to complete the switch and organized several public hearings on the district boundaries.
On June 6, 2017, Hesperia City Council passed Ordinance No. 2017-09, establishing the new system, where the city elects its council by the districts. This ordinance was set in place to start district elections from 2018. According to this system, residents vote for council members only of their districts.
The boundaries of the districts were redrawn after the 2020 U.S. Census. After several public hearings, Hesperia adopted the current boundaries of its districts on April 5, 2022.
Thus, the staggered system put Districts 2, 3, and 4 on the ballot in November 2026, while Districts 1 and 5 will run in 2028.
A different election compared to 2022
The number of candidates in 2026 differs from what happened in 2022, which was the last election cycle for these seats.
Records of the city show that 2022 General Election process ended without an election for the three seats of the council because there were no qualified candidates. Instead, the council appointed one new member and two incumbents on August 24, 2022.
Four years later, voters will find three candidates competing in every district on the ballot.
The vacancy of District 4 guarantees at least one change in the council membership, while in Districts 2 and 3, voters will decide if the sitting members will retain their seats or not.
What the City Council controls
While being nonpartisan, the council offices carry a significant influence over local government. As the members of the city council, the candidates control the city budget, land-use, development and public works projects, as well as other issues.
Council members serve on the governing boards of the Hesperia Water District, Hesperia Housing Authority, Hesperia Community Development Commission, Public Financing Authority and other city entities.
This gives voters the ability to impact issues of road construction and maintenance, public safety funding, residential and commercial developments, water infrastructure, economic development, and long-term city finances.
Hesperia enforces the local limits on campaign contributions. An ordinance adopted in 2020 caps individual contributions to candidates seeking elected city office at $500 with an exception that allows candidates to contribute their own money.
What voters should know
Election Day is November 3, 2026.
San Bernardino County election officials plan to mail ballots to active registered voters by October 5. The voter registration deadline is October 19. However, even if an eligible resident misses the deadline, he or she can use the conditional voter registration and cast a ballot in person.
The polls will be open on November 3, 2026, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Vote-by-mail ballots have to be postmarked by the Election Day and received according to the rules of the state.
The residents of Districts 2, 3, and 4 will vote in the Hesperia City Council elections in 2026. Voters can check their voting districts using the Hesperia voting district map.
After votes will be counted, Hesperia will get three new council members, and for the first time since these seats were up in 2022, the voters will face contested races in all three.
