District Elections

Election Schedule

  • Voters in Districts 1, 3 and 5 will elect Council members in November 2022
  • Voters in Districts 2 and 4 will elect Council members in November 2024

Note: Council members who were elected prior to the transition to district elections will retain their seats as at-large Council members until their term expires.

The filing period to run for City Council is July 18 through Aug. 12, 2022. Visit our Elections web page for information about how to run for office. 

District Elections Map 

After a robust community outreach campaign, a map was adopted to create five City Council districts. View a PDF of the final map or explore the new districts in an interactive map below. 

Background

The San Mateo City Council went through a robust community-engagement process in 2021 to transition to district elections. Residents will continue to be represented by the entire Council, however there are two primary changes in Council elections by district:

  1. Voters will only vote for 1 Council member, instead of all 5
  2. Future Council members must live in the district they represent

For historical information about the transition process, visit the Background on Transition to District Elections web page.

What Prompted the Change To District Elections?

In May 2021, the City received a certified letter from attorney Scott J. Rafferty asserting that the City’s current at-large council member electoral system may violate the California Voting Rights Act (the “CVRA”) (Elections Code §§ 14025-14032) and stating that the City should voluntarily change to a district-based election system for electing City Council Members. The City underwent a months-long community engagement initiative to create the new District Elections Map, which was officially adopted in November 2021. 

Current Council Members

Current Council Members live in the following districts:

  • District 1: Rick Bonilla, Diane Papan and Eric Rodriguez
  • District 2: Amourence Lee
  • District 3: Joe Goethals
  • District 4: No sitting Council Member since transition to district elections
  • District 5: No sitting Council Member since transition to district elections