Tuesday is the last day for people to cast their votes in the California primary election, which includes state and county races and local measures.
In the primary election, voters choose which candidates will face off for some state and federal races in November’s general election.
For the state offices, such as governor and Assembly member, the top two candidates move on to the general election in November.
Most county offices will be decided in June, and some may go to a November runoff election between the top two candidates. For county offices, candidates have to receive at least 50% plus one vote to be elected.
Check back with Noozhawk on Tuesday night as staff writers will be reporting live election results with frequent updates.
Here’s what voters should know before hitting the polling places on Tuesday.
What’s on the Ballot
Read Noozhawk’s June Voter Guide here.
One of the biggest decisions California voters will have to make on Tuesday is choosing from a pool of 61 gubernatorial candidates for state governor.
Also on the state level is the race for State Assembly District 37 seat, with familiar candidates — incumbent Assemblyman Gregg Hart and Sari Domingues — vying for the seat that covers Santa Barbara County and the southern portion of San Luis Obispo County.
For federal positions, there is a four-way race for the 24th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives between incumbent Salud Carbajal, a Santa Barbara Democrat; Bob Smith, a defense systems engineer in Carpinteria; Sarah Bacon, an elected student officer at UC Santa Barbara; and Helena Pasquarella, an Ojai Valley teacher and caregiver.
All three of those races will have two candidates move forward to the November election.
Local residents will vote on several important Santa Barbara County positions, including two seats on the five-member Board of Supervisors.
Incumbent Laura Capps and challenger Elijah Mack are vying for the Second District seat, which covers the unincorporated area of the county such as the Eastern Goleta Valley, Isla Vista, UC Santa Barbara and portions of Goleta and Santa Barbara.
For the Fifth District seat, Supervisor Steve Lavagnino is not seeking a fifth term. Three candidates are vying for the position.
Running for the Fifth District seat are: Maribel Aguilera-Hernandez, a Santa Maria City Council member and attorney; Ricardo Valencia, a Santa Maria-Bonita School District board member and Santa Maria High School teacher; and Cory Bantilan, Lavagnino’s longtime chief of staff.
The Fifth District covers northern Santa Maria neighborhoods, the city of Guadalupe and the unincorporated community of Tanglewood.
With three candidates on the ballot, there is a strong likelihood that one candidate will not get more than 50% of the votes and have the race decided in June. In that case, the top two vote-getters would head to a November runoff election.
One Superior Court judge seat is also on the ballot with local private attorney Luis Esparza challenging longtime Superior Court Judge Thomas Adams. It is the first contested judicial seat on the local ballot since 2008.
The auditor-controller, clerk-recorder-assessor-registrar of voters and the treasurer-tax collector-public administrator positions are also on the ballot.
For the auditor-controller position, incumbent Betsy Shaffer is being challenged by Kyle Slattery.
The clerk-recorder-assessor-registrar of voters position will see a face-off between incumbent Joe Holland and Deputy Clerk-Recorder-Assessor Melinda Greene.
The race for treasurer-tax collector-public administrator is uncontested as Harry Hagan, who has held the position for a long time, is retiring and Deputy Kim Tesoro is the only one running.
The positions with only two people running will automatically have both candidates move on to the election in November since the top two candidates for each get moved forward.
Also on the ballot are the Lompoc sales tax increase to 9.25% and the Santa Barbara City Charter amendment regarding leases of city property.
Noozhawk has a comprehensive election section that profiles candidates, breaks down ballot measures and has more election information. Find that here.
How to Cast Your Vote on Time
Elections officials and the U.S. Postal Service recommended that voters mail ballots at least five days ahead of the Tuesday election to avoid concerns about them arriving late and, consequently, being rejected.
At this point, officials recommend that people return vote-by-mail ballots in drop boxes, at polling places, at election office locations, or directly to a local post office staffer and asking for a postmark at that time.
In 2025, the County Elections Office received 2,647 late vote-by-mail ballots, which was a 14-fold increase from the year before, when they reported 197 rejected late ballots, Noozhawk Executive Editor Giana Magnoli reported.
USPS changed policies during that time, and mail farther away from large regional processing centers is often collected the next day, not the same day, it is mailed. To be counted, mailed ballots have to be postmarked by Tuesday and arrive to the Elections Office by June 9.
Voters can return vote-by-mail ballots by dropping their ballots off at a polling location, elections office or one of many drop box locations in the county by 8 p.m. Tuesday. The map boxes can be found here.
To vote in person, find your polling place here and visit anytime from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. The list of polling place locations is available in English and en Español.
Ahead of visiting a polling site, read the voter rights here.
If residents missed the voter registration deadline, they can still vote on election day by completing a same-day voter registration at the county elections office, vote center or polling place.
Once a ballot is complete, a voter can track its status here.
The Santa Barbara elections office is at 4440-A Calle Real. The Santa Maria elections office is at 511 Lakeside Pkwy., Suite 134.
Voter Guides
Still unsure who to vote for?
Santa Barbara County sample ballot with candidate statements
Noozhawk Voter Guide for June with candidate Q&As, forum coverage, profile stories and more
