Who are the candidates for Mayor?
On November 3, 2020, Costa Mesans elected Katrina Foley as Mayor for a two-year term. She later won an election to fill a vacated Orange County Supervisor seat for the Second District. John Stephens was directly appointed to fill her position as Mayor. This year there are two candidates for Mayor. Here are their Candidate Statements:
John Stephens
Mr. Stephens is the current Mayor and a lawyer with a nationwide firm at its Costa Mesa office. He previously served on the City Council, but lost his election for District 1 in 2020. He briefly served on the Planning Commission before being appointed Mayor. He voted to put Measure K on the ballot in 2022. He opposed restrictions on the number of retail cannabis shops in Costa Mesa.
Mr. Stephens has received endorsements from City Council members and other politicians representing Costa Mesa. He has also been endorsed by the Costa Mesa Firefighters Association and the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers. For more information you might go to www.stephensforcostamesa.com but it doesn't appear that website has been updated recently.
See our Election News page for his answers to the Orange County Register's candidate questionnaire.
James Peters
Mr. Peters is tax and wealth management professional with offices in Irvine. He has volunteered with Awana, an international evangelical Christian nonprofit organization in child and youth discipleship.
Mr. Peters's website shows he is endorsed by Attorney Alexander Haberbush (who worked with John Eastman, one of Donald Trump's attorneys), former Mayors Jim Rigehimer and Steve Mensinger, to name a few. His websited can be found at https://petersformayor2024.com/. See our Election News page for his answers to the Orange County Register's candidate questionnaire.