The new year comes with a batch of new and familiar faces vying for some of Santa Barbara County’s highest offices as candidates prepare for the 2026 elections.
The races will cover a range of offices, including local, state and federal seats. The primary election will be held on June 2, while the general election is set for Nov. 3.
County offices and judicial offices will be on the June ballot, and candidacy filing periods run through early March.
Multiple seats on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors are up for election this year: District 2 (Goleta Valley, Isla Vista, UC Santa Barbara, parts of Goleta and Santa Barbara) and District 5 (Santa Maria, Guadalupe and the Tanglewood community).
Second District Supervisor Laura Capps has announced that she’s running for re-election.
Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino won’t be running again, which means there will be a new face elected to that position.
Three candidates have already filed to run for the seat, including Cory Bantilan, Maribel Aguilera and Ricardo Valencia.
Santa Barbara has some appointed department heads and some elected department heads, and many of the elected offices will be on the June ballot. That includes auditor-controller, clerk-recorder-assessor, superintendent of schools, and treasurer-tax collector-public administrator.
Some of the officeholders have already filed paperwork to run again, including Clerk-Recorder-Assessor Joe Holland, Treasurer-Tax Collector Harry Hagen and Superintendent of Schools Susan Salcido.
The county offices all hold four-year terms.
Five Superior Court judge seats will be on the ballot, with six-year terms.
State and Federal Offices
Also on the June ballot will be the primary races for some state and federal offices that will be decided by voters in November.
One of the main seats up for grabs will be the 24th Congressional District, which is currently Salud Carbajal, a Santa Barbara Democrat. The district spans Ventura County, San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County.
Carbajal was first elected to Congress in 2016 and entered office in 2017. He won re-election in 2024 with 67% of the vote against challenger Thomas Cole.
One of the earliest candidates to throw their name into the ring for the 2026 race is Bob Smith, a retired U.S. Navy commander.
The District 37 State Assembly seat will also be on the ballot this year. The position is held by Gregg Hart, who was first elected to the seat in 2022 and re-elected in 2024.
Sari Domingues, who challenged him last time, has already filed paperwork to run again. Also running for the seat will be Poornima Wagh, according to candidate filing reports.
Both of those offices come with two-year terms.
Looking Ahead to November
The November ballot will include state and federal offices and a long list of local races, including city council, school board and special district seats.
All eight cities in Santa Barbara County will have council seats on the ballot, now that they all have transitioned to even-year elections.
Most cities and school board elections now use district elections, which means each seat is elected by voters in a specific geographic area, not at-large by voters.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story reported that Christy Lozano filed paperwork to run for Superintendent of Schools. Lozano has filed campaign finance documents with the committee name Lozano for SB County Superintendent of Schools 2026, but had not filed to run for office in 2026 as of January.