California City Council and Treasurer: Ferguson Leads by 78, Middleton by 51 Votes

CALIFORNIA CITY, Kern County — November 5, 2026. Beyond the city’s high-profile mayor race, California City voters faced a close short-term council election and a separate city treasurer ballot. Dawn Ferguson has 888 votes versus John Fischer’s 810 in the short-term council seat, a 78-vote lead. For city treasurer, Keith Middleton has 865 and Inishia White 814 — a 51-vote lead.

The shorter-term council contest

The county shows Ferguson at 52.30% and Fischer at 47.70%. These figures apply specifically to the short-term council office, not all council districts or the mayor. Twelve of twelve precincts initially reported, but the source is labeled an unofficial election-night return rather than certified results.

Other council districts

In Council District 1, Jeanie O’Loughlin has 227 votes (46.90%) ahead of Karina Perez with 146 and Ron Smith with 111. For District 3, James Creighton is the only ballot-listed candidate with 314 votes in one of one precincts. These are different electorates and different seats.

Why treasurer is not a council vote

The treasurer race is a separate one-seat office and has 1,679 valid votes in the listed count, compared with 1,698 in the short-term council contest. The totals are not supposed to match exactly; some voters may skip a particular office. The candidate leading the treasurer contest cannot be inferred from a council or mayoral tally.

Linked tax and mayoral coverage

Measure J shows an early No majority in California58’s local tax story. Our mayoral report has been updated to Kern’s official November 4 numbers. No office is described as legally certified.

Primary source: Kern County Elections Division, November 3, 2026 general-election unofficial election-night report, issued November 4 at 2:55:39 a.m. Pacific, checked November 5. Reported leads are not certified outcomes.

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