2026 ELECTIONS

Oakland’s McMullen wins Seat 4 Election with 57 percent of the vote

By: Norine Dworkin | Editor in Chief

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March 10, 2026

Updated 11:17 p.m. to reflect Commissioner McMullen's post-election statement.

Incumbent Commissioner Joseph McMullen handily held on to his Oakland Town Commission seat Tuesday, besting challenger Anne Fulton with 57.57 percent of the vote and earning himself a seventh term.

Fulton reached out to McMullen at about 8 p.m. to concede.

“I just called Commissioner McMullen and congratulated him and told him that I look forward to working with him,” Fulton told VoxPopuli by phone. “He said, Thank you so much, and he looks forward to hearing my voice. So that was very nice.”

Fulton said that while she was “disappointed” in the outcome, she was “very proud” of what she’d achieved.

“Getting 42 percent of the votes with $1,000 was a feat that no one saw coming, so, you know, I’m very proud of that,” she said, adding that she was thankful to “all of my quiet supporters.”

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Commissioner Joseph McMullen wins a seventh term in Tuesday's Seat 4 Election with 57 percent of the vote over challenger Anne Fulton.

A pharmacist for Centene Corporation and founder of HAPCO, the nonprofit music foundation for at-risk youth, McMullen told VoxPopuli earlier in the day that the election had been a “blessing” for him. Despite having served on the town commission since 2006, this election was the first time McMullen had faced an opponent, and the situation provided him the opportunity to have conversations with voters about key issues, like housing, traffic, water bills, infrastructure, that he would not have had otherwise.

“If it wasn’t for the election, I wouldn't have had those calls,” he said.

Tuesday night after the results were in, McMullen told VoxPopuli by text, that the "work starts now to ask those that voted for Anne what I can do to understand their why for not supporting me. I need to hear their voices. As I said, this campaign is a blessing. All voices NEED to be heard!"

Of the town’s 3,630 registered voters, 542 ballots were cast. McMullen received 308 votes to Fulton’s 227, with seven undervotes — a nearly 15 percent turnout rate. Most Oakland voters opted to cast their ballots Tuesday. Just 19 voted early and 158 voted by mail, according to the Orange County Supervisor of Elections.

All six charter amendments passed with big majorities.

Amendment 1, which will allow town commission vacancies to be filled within 90 days by a special election — rather than within 30 days or else by governor appointment — was approved by 84 percent.
Amendment 2, which requires that three commissioners approve any measure when two commissioners are either absent or have abstained, passed by 71 percent.
Question 3, which eliminates runoffs and allows the candidate for town commission who receives the most votes to win, passed by 72 percent.
Question 4, which nixes the signature collection option from the qualifying process in favor of paying a qualifying fee, passed by 57 percent.
Question 5, which eliminates conflicting charter amendments, passed by 72 percent.
Question 6, which corrects errors and omissions in the charter, passed by 89 percent.