The Abridged version:
- A veteran of Rancho Cordova politics, Vice Mayor Linda Budge, is seeking her seventh term on the City Council.
- Candidates Tegan Mauldin, the chair of the Planning Commission, and Lilia Darbinyan, a local business owner, are running for a new era of leadership.
- Rancho Cordova shifted its election maps to district-wide City Council elections in 2023, making this race the first time candidates will seek election to the council’s District 5 seat.
When the name “Linda Budge” appears on the ballot, Rancho Cordova residents consistently cast the most votes in her favor, keeping the longtime official on the Rancho Cordova City Council since 2006.
Come election day this year, two opponents are looking to change that.
Vice Mayor Budge’s name is synonymous with Rancho Cordova politics. She began representing the area that would become Rancho Cordova on a county advisory council in 1978, and has sat on the City Council since the city was incorporated in 2003.
With the city shifting to district-focused elections, rather than “at large” elections for the whole city, Budge faces the most competitive election of her political career. Three candidates are in the running for the District 5 seat, which includes neighborhoods south of Highway 50 and along Zinfandel Drive and Sunrise Boulevard.
Voters will also see Tegan Mauldin, current chair of the city’s Planning Commission, and Lilia Darbinyan, a local business owner and principal of a small school, on the ballot. Both candidates argue that it’s time for a younger generation to take the reins of Rancho Cordova leadership.
The race is heating up as Rancho Cordova continues to establish its identity in the region. In the backdrop, tech companies are adding more research and development to the city, a $1.2 billion arena and city center project is in the works and hundreds of new housing units are underway. All the while, leaders boast that the city budget has never faced a shortfall.
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‘I want it to be a place that my kids want to stay’
Mauldin has served on the city’s Planning Commission for the last two years, and project after project, she’s noticed that residents come away from those meetings feeling frustrated.
By the time projects make it to the commission for a vote, the plans are already “well baked,” with the commission weighing in on minutia of a project rather than the big picture, she said.
“The community feels like they don’t have a voice, that the decisions are just made behind closed doors,” Mauldin said.
Mauldin decided to run for the District 5 seat hoping to change that. Her campaign centers on calls for increased transparency in local government. As a prospective council member, Mauldin said she would make herself more accessible than current leadership on the council.
Part of that is also challenging the incumbent leadership.
“I have the utmost respect for Linda and what she’s done with the city she has served so well,” Mauldin said. “I just think it’s time for the next generation of folks to be brought up as leaders.”
Mauldin’s priorities also include balancing the city’s swift housing growth with decision-making that prioritizes a “quality of life” to keep people in Rancho Cordova, rather than travelling to other cities for culture and entertainment.
She also points to her background as a 14-year resident of the city with kids who went through the local public school system. During her day job, she leads workforce development efforts at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Mauldin also previously served on the city’s Community Enhancement and Investment Fund board, which oversees where the city’s Measure H/R dollars go.
“I love my city, I want it to be a place that my kids want to stay,” Mauldin said.
‘I want people to want to live in this city.”
Darbinyan describes herself as “born and raised” in Rancho Cordova, literally.
Darbinyan was born in a duplex off of McGregor Drive, as her mother gave birth before her family could make it to a local hospital, she said. After some time living in nearby Antelope, she and her husband and their children returned to Rancho Cordova a year ago.
“What I realized is we still have the same issues,” Darbinyan said.
She recalled being surprised at the city’s lack of entertainment options and difficulties with homelessness on Olson Drive. While the city boasts itself as an economic hub, she found that many people own businesses in Rancho Cordova but don’t live there.
“I want people to want to live in this city,” Darbinyan said.
As a prospective member of the City Council, she wants to center more focus on public safety efforts, improving the quality of local roads and parks and connect the unhoused community with more mental health services.
“We cannot keep living in 2003,” Darbinyan said.
She said that for too long the city has been focused on staying “consistent” rather than meeting the needs of the community.
“Like any position in life, if you’re in it for a long period of time — especially a political role — you start to lose sight of what the community actually wants,” she said.
Darbinyan also pointed to her experience as a small business owner and the principal of a private school. She’s started multiple businesses, including an Armenian dance school and an auto salvage yard in the Sacramento region. In 2025, she founded Heritage Private Elementary School in Carmichael, which provides K-5 education focused on the Armenian and Russian communities.
‘For us to continue to be successful … we need a proven leader’
When weighing whether to run for a seventh term on the council earlier this year, Budge took inventory of the long list of new projects on the horizon for Rancho Cordova.
“The more opportunities that came to Rancho Cordova … the more I wanted to stay and help make that a reality,” Budge said.
Admittedly, this election cycle feels like a “different era,” Budge said. Her opponents have more direct attacks and different campaign tactics than Budge, who largely stays away from social media.
Instead, her pitch to voters leans into her decades-long track record shaping Rancho Cordova, and her training as an urban planner. Budge described herself as having the most experience of any elected or appointed official in Rancho Cordova.
She believes that vision can continue to shape Rancho Cordova into not just a place with rows of houses, but a place “with communities.”
“Our Fifth District holds the past and the future of Rancho Cordova,” Budge said.
She added that the same street where the Downtown Dova arena project is planned is also home to the city’s oldest building.
Budge’s own background is rooted in her upbringing growing up in a U.S. Air Force family with a strong sense of service. Memories of her mother leading Girl Scout Troops, PTAs and the Officers’ Wives Club continue to fuel her own call to participate in her community.
“I have years of leadership around here,” Budge said. “For us to continue to be successful and grow to accommodate the needs of today, we need a proven leader.”
Money and endorsements stacking up
Budge leads with the largest amount of campaign funds, with a total of $32,799, as of the most recent reports that were filed Oct. 7. The funds include a $10,000 loan Budge made to herself.
The largest donors to Budge’s campaign include The North State Building Industry Association ($5,500), councilmember David Parsons Sander ($1,250), Margaret Parsons Sander ($1,250), the Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 ($1,000) and the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff’s Association ($1,000).
Budge also received a total of $2,000 from employees associated with D&S Development, which has housing proposed for Rancho Cordova, and $500 from Assemblymember Josh Hoover’s campaign account.
Her key endorsements include Rancho Cordova Mayor Garrett Gatewood, retired Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness, State Senator Roger Niello, Sacramento County supervisors Rich Desmond and Pat Hume. She also received endorsements from two members of the planning commission and three members of the Folsom Cordova Unified School District board
Mauldin has brought in $18,152 in campaign contributions, and has not used any loans in her campaign funds, according to her most recent filings as of Oct. 8.
Mauldin’s top campaign donors are the Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce ($5,000), Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 447 ($2,500), IBEW Local 340 ($2,000), Republic Services ($1,500), councilmember Joe Little ($1,000) and the Sacramento Building Trades Council ($1,000).
Her key endorsements include Sacramento County supervisors Rich Desmond and Patrick Kennedy, Councilmember Joe Little, three members of the SMUD board, two members of the Folsom Cordova Unified school board and a lineup of five different Democratic Clubs in the region.
Darbinyan has raised $13,641 in campaign funds so far. Those funds include a $3,000 loan from All Trucks Recycling, a $400 loan from Heritage Private Elementary School and a $60 loan from herself.
The bulk of Darbinyan’s funds are individual donations. The largest donations were given by Narine Darbinyan ($1,500), Ovanes Gyurjian ($1,500), Josseling Moore ($750), and restaurant owner Volodya Smbatyan ($521).
Darbinyan has received endorsements from the Armenian National Committee of America, State Senator Bob Archeleta, D-Norwalk, and Nick Busse, founder of Veterans of California.
More details on the candidates stances on housing, growth in Rancho Cordova and approach when it comes to homelessness issues are available in the Abridged by PBS KVIE voter guide.
