By Sara Beth Williams–
For the second election in a row, another Citrus Heights City Council member is running unopposed in their district.
Following six new candidates and three current City Council members having pulled papers to run for Citrus Heights City Council between July 13 and Aug. 7, only two new candidates qualified to run for City Council this election season. David Anderson, the only candidate hopeful who pulled papers in hopes of running against current Vice Mayor Porsche Middleton, did not qualify due to not turning in a nomination petition packet.
In 2024, councilmember Tim Schaefer also ran unopposed in his district and was elected unanimously due to being the only candidate.
At the end of business on Aug. 7, the deadline for submitting papers for candidacy, the city posted an official notice, stating that there are not more candidates than offices to be elected for the office of City Council Member, District 5 and the person so nominated is: Porsche Middleton.
Per state election regulations, one of the following courses of action must be taken once an incumbent council member is found to be without a running mate.
The City Council can either, approve the person who is being nominated, appoint to the office an eligible voter if no one has been nominated at all, or hold elections as normal.
The City Council may call a regular or special council meeting to decide after the fifth day following the publication of the notice.
If by the 75th day, Middleton has not been appointed directly by the City Council, the general election will be held business as usual.
Middleton ran for reelection in 2022 against Taste of Tuscany restaurant owner Natalee Price, The 2022 District 5 race was neck and neck with then-mayor Middleton leading Price by a handful of votes since Election Day. At one point the two had tied with the exact same number of votes, but as more votes were counted, Middleton held onto a slight lead to pull off a win with a difference of just 26 votes separating the two, out of 3,982 votes cast in the race.
Middleton previously served on the Citrus Heights Planning Commission in 2017 before being elected to the City Council in 2018.
Currently, District 2, 4 and 5 seats are expiring in 2026, with District 1 and 3 seats expiring in 2028. Each councilmember serves 4-year terms. Mayors and Vice Mayors are chosen annually by majority councilmember votes.
The current candidates who have filed and qualified to run for City Council in the 2026 midterm election cycle are as follows:
- MariJane Lopez-Taff, current Mayor, incumbent, District 2
- Charles Stone, candidate in District 2
- Jayna Karpinski-Costa, incumbent, District 4
- Susan Powers, candidate in District 4
- Porsche Middleton, current vice mayor, incumbent, District 5
In order to qualify for the ballot, each candidate must submit a Nomination Petition signed by at least 20. and no more than 30 registered voters in the district in which the candidate is to be voted on.
“Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections conducts a verification of the Nomination Petition signatures to determine if they reached the requirement of 20 valid signatures,” the city said in a statement.
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