Former City Councilmember Jesús Andrade has officially thrown his hat into the ring for Stockton mayor, bringing the primary candidate list up to five contenders.
Andrade announced his run on social media Tuesday morning in a video shot outside City Hall.
“I just submitted my papers. I’m officially in. I’m running to be the next mayor of Stockton,” Andrade said in the announcement.
He joins City Councilmember Dan Wright, former Vice Mayor Christina Fugazi, San Joaquin County Supervisor Tom Patti and the relatively unknown Ernest Gonzalez, turning the 2024 Stockton mayor’s race into a who’s who of Stockton politics.
The race has been left wide open by Mayor Kevin Lincoln’s decision not to run for a second term. Lincoln, a Republican, announced earlier this month that he would instead be making a bid for Congress, looking to unseat Democrat Josh Harder in the 9th District.
Andrade is a long-time Stocktonian who went to Franklin High School and former CEO of the San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He served one term on the City Council from 2016 to 2020, opting not to run for a second term. In 2020, he ran for the 5th California Assembly District, finishing fourth in the primary with 16%.
“But more importantly, I’m Andrea Andrade’s husband. And I want to make sure I put that plug in there ‘cause she gave me the green light to do what I’m about to do,” Andrade said.
The upcoming election will mark Andrade’s return to the political arena.
He’s running for his children and the young people of Stockton, Andrade says.
“They deserve a great city,” he said. “You know Stockton, with this election, we have the opportunity to create a new narrative and a new story.”
He says his platform will be simple: improving public safety, foremost addressing the “unacceptable” shortage in police officers, implementing good governance and economic models that bring prosperity to Stockton, and more opportunities for the city’s youth.
“As a community, we have missed a lot of opportunities, we have been divided through social. … We need to unite,” Andrade said, adding that Stocktonians only have each other. “We’re familia.”
See Stocktonia’s story about the other candidates in the race below.
