With Soto’s announcement, four candidates now lined up (again) in hopes of landing District 4 City Council seat

The race for one of two seats on the Palm Springs City Council that will be up for grabs in November is getting more crowded, but also shaping up to look similar to a scenario that could have played out in 2022.

Early Friday morning, Naomi Soto, chair of the city’s Measure J Oversight Commission, announced via a news release that she will seek the District 4 seat being vacated by current Councilmember Christy Holstege, who is running again for State Assembly in the 47th District.

“I’m running for City Council because it’s important for Palm Springs to work and be livable for all kinds of households,” Soto wrote. “That means strengthening economic development, promoting housing at all market levels, and improving quality of life issues. I want to see the best practices that revitalized downtown applied to other neighborhoods.”

Soto is also board chair of Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, serves on the board member on the Sunflower HOA, and is a founding member of People for Palm Springs Parks, a community advocacy group for the improvements of parks and recreational activities. She lives in the Sonora Sunrise neighborhood with her husband, Brendan, and their two toddlers, Mercedes and Sebastian.

Soto’s official entry into the District 4 race comes after at least three other candidates confirmed their candidacy in recent weeks. Ernest Cecena, David Rios, and Joe Jackson all said they intend to seek the seat.

Jackson is a former member of the city’s Sustainability Commission; Rios is real estate agent and interior designer; and Cecena is chair of the Tahquitz Creek Golf Neighborhood Organization.

The announcements by all four sets up the exact scenario that could have played out during the fall 2022 General Election. That’s when a replacement for Holstege in District 4 would have been needed were she to have won the AD47 race against Greg Wallis. However, in one of the closest races in state history, Wallis defeated Holstege by 85 votes.

In the race to fill outgoing Councilmember Lisa Middleton’s seat in District 5, although rumors have swirled about who might get into the race, only one candidate has so far announced his intention to vie for the seat. David Ready, who served as Palm Springs city manager for two decades, announced he would be running in December.

Middleton is seeking the District 19 California State Senate seat. That district stretches from the Coachella Valley to the San Bernardino Mountains and from the San Jacinto Valley up through the High Desert.

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