La Quinta Mayor: Linda Evans Leads With 76% in Early Returns; Four Contest Council

LA QUINTA, Riverside County — November 4, 2026. Mayor Linda Evans led a three-candidate contest after the first November 3 returns. The city’s separate council contest also has four named candidates seeking seats, according to the partial Riverside County election-night tally.

New exclusive interview: Read Suzanne Espinoza-Jimenez on her first mayoral campaign and plans to run again, published November 7, with a later dated results check. The election-night figures below remain an earlier snapshot.

Mayor: early numbers

Linda Evans had 5,901 votes (76.34%), Lynne Langdon had 1,138 (14.72%) and Suzanne Espinoza-Jimenez had 691 (8.94%) in the published count. No county certification has taken place.

City Council

John Pena recorded 5,132 votes (40.56%), Deborah McGarrey 4,789 (37.85%), Carene Hensley 1,388 (10.97%) and Julian Herrera 1,344 (10.62%). Since the council contest involves more than one possible vote selection per voter, candidate share is a share of reported selections, not a turnout percentage.

How to interpret the lead

Eligible ballots are still being processed. A large lead in an early snapshot is not the same as a certified victory. City government decisions in La Quinta concern local land use, events, public works and municipal budgets.

Source: NBC Los Angeles, Riverside County November 2026 election-night dashboard. These figures are a partial reporting snapshot, not certified final results. The Riverside County Registrar of Voters continues counting eligible ballots.

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