by Alyssah Hall
City of Rialto Mayor
After serving three, four-year terms as Rialto’s mayor since 2012, Mayor Deborah Robertson’s incumbency has come to an end. On Nov. 5, voters of Rialto elected City Council Member Joe Baca as their mayor, ending Robertson’s historic 12-year reign.
There were four candidates in total running to become Rialto’s mayor, including Rialto City Council Member, Rafael Trujillo and newcomer, Ché Rose Wright.
Out of 15,273 votes, Joe Baca won with 6,226 votes (40.76%) to secure the position as the city’s new mayor. Runner-up, incumbent Robertson held 4,668 votes (30.56%) and behind her trails Trujillo, with 3,444 votes (22.55%).
Rialto City Council
Rialto voters had seven candidates to choose from to fill two city council seats. The four-year term positions were sought by Lupe Camacho, Andy Carrizales, Vickie Davis, Ana Gonzalez, Kelvin Moore, Karla Perez and Paola Vargas.
Of the 22,121 votes cast, Andy Carrizales took the first city council seat with 4,977 votes (22.50%).
Karla Perez secured the second city council seat with 4,061 votes or 18.36% of the ballots cast.
Moreno Valley City Mayor
Moreno Valley residents reelected mayoral incumbent, Ulises Cabrera for his second, two-year term on Nov. 5. In 2022, Cabrera was first elected as Mayor of Moreno Valley and is the youngest “directly elected” mayor in the history of Moreno Valley, according to the city.
Moreno Valley Mayor Ulises Cabrera is re-elected to serve a second term. Moreno Valley’s mayoral race candidates also included Patsy D. Brown, Hector Diaz, and Daryl Terrell. Cabrera won with 14,754 votes (47.57%). Diaz received 6,935 votes (22.36%), and Terrell followed with 5,846 votes (18.85%).
Moreno Valley City Council, District 1
In a tight race between incumbent Council member Elena Baca-Santa Cruz and newcomer Alisa Lopez, Baca-Santa Cruz secured her seat by just 139 votes
The District 1 council seat was set for a four year term. Council members serve their four-year terms in a staggered manner, according to the City of Moreno Valley.
In 2022, Baca-Santa Cruz was first elected to the Moreno Valley City Council to represent District 1. On Nov. 5, Lopez received 2,271 votes(48.52%) while Baca-Santa Cruz received 2,410 (51.48%).
Moreno Valley City Council Member District 3 Race
On Nov. 5, residents voted among five candidates for the Moreno Valley City Council District 3 seat. The candidate chosen will spend four years serving Moreno Valley residents.
Erlan Gonzalez won with 2,745 votes (34.45%) for the city council seat. Behind him with 1,960 votes (24.60%) was Alvin Dejohnette and Zenda Yvette Lewis with 1,334 votes (16.74%).
City Council District 3 candidates were Erlan Gonzalez, Alvin Dejohnette, Justin Jackson, Anna Lapuos and Zenda Yvette Lewis.
The District 3 seat has been vacant since April 16, when previous council member David Marquez resigned. His resignation came after the City of Moreno Valley reported he was “absent without permission from all regular city council meetings for 70 days consecutively from the last regular meeting.” Marquez was elected to the Moreno Valley City Council in 2016 to represent District 3 and resigned in 2024.
