Cabaldon was selected mayor of West Sacramento by fellow council members in November 1998, after first being elected to the City Council in 1996. The council chose him for three more one year terms as mayor. In 2004, he won West Sacramento's first direct mayoral election. He was re-elected mayor by the electorate in 2006, 2008, and 2010, was unopposed in the November 2012 general election, reelected with 84.3% of the vote in the 2014 general election, unopposed in the 2016 general election, and re-elected in 2018. In 2020, he was defeated by City Council member Martha Guerrero