Voter Guide · Salinas 2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3
Cheat sheet
Your 2026 election, on one page.
Four City Council seats are on the ballot. Here’s who’s running, how much they’ve raised, who’s writing the biggest checks, and what to remember before you fill out yours.
2026 campaign statements
Data as of 2026-09-19. Monetary contributions as each candidate’s committee reported them. Coverage differs by committee, and every other measure is reported separately.
The 2026 figures come from campaign statements committees filed with the City (data as of 2026-09-19). Figures labeled 2024–25 come from earlier filings and are a separate dataset. 2026 Money →
transparentsalinas.org/cheat-sheet · Source: FPPC Form 460 · City of Salinas NetFile portal · Independent; not affiliated with the City, FPPC, candidates, or committees
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Dates to remember
Mark them now — some of these are sooner than you think.
Voter registration deadlineMon, Oct 19Same-day registration available at the county clerk through Election Day.
Mail ballots sentMon, Oct 5Every active registered voter in Monterey County is mailed a ballot.
Early voting opensSat, Oct 24Vote centers open across the county. Locations on the Monterey County Elections site.
Election DayTue, Nov 3Polls close at 8 p.m. Drop boxes and vote centers stay open until then.
Dates reflect the published 2026 California General Election calendar. Confirm at montereycountyelections.us.
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What’s on your ballot
Four Salinas City Council seats are up, plus the U.S. House seat for CA-19. Three council seats — D1, D4, D6 — are mid-term and not on the 2026 ballot.
Official City of Salinas district map. Tap the map for the City’s searchable version, or look up your address below.
Two local items are expected on the Nov 3, 2026 ballot. Transparent Salinas did not find final ballot language or assigned measure letters on the official Salinas City Clerk or Monterey County Elections pages when checked on ; treat the names below as working titles and verify them against the official voter guide when published.
Local · City of Salinas · Sales tax
Measure G — Sales tax extension
Extends an existing 1¢ tax
A vote on whether to extend the existing 1¢ local sales tax that Salinas voters approved in 2014. The tax is currently set to sunset in 2029. This measure would keep it in place at the same rate — not raise it.
A YES vote
Keeps the 1¢ sales tax going past its 2029 sunset — same rate, not an increase. City services keep roughly $30 million a year.
A NO vote
Lets the tax expire in 2029. The City projects a roughly $47 million shortfall (about 21% of the budget) starting FY 2030–31, with cuts to services and staff.
What we know
The tax brings in roughly $30 million a year ($34.5M in FY 2025–26).
It’s a general-fund tax: police, fire/911, homelessness response, streets and sidewalks, parks, youth and senior programs, affordable-housing support.
Has an independent citizen oversight committee and annual audits.
City Council voted 7–0 on March 24, 2026 to advance it to the November ballot.
It’s an extension, not a new tax — the rate stays the same as today.
Local polling reported by Monterey County NOW (n=400) showed about 58% support; a general tax needs 50%+1 to pass.
What we don’t know yet
The final certified ballot title and 75-word summary.
The official measure letter — “G” is the working label until the City Clerk certifies it.
The full impartial analysis and arguments for / against from the Voter Information Pamphlet.
Whether any organized opposition committee files an FPPC committee.
Local · City of Salinas · Referendum
Rent reform referendum
Referendum on rent stabilization repeal
The City describes this as a vote on Ordinance No. 2687, the council’s June 2025 ordinance repealing four rent-related ordinances. The petition qualified and the council placed the repeal ordinance on the November 2026 ballot. The guide below is provisional until Transparent Salinas verifies the final certified ballot title and official voter materials.
Expected YES effect
Adopt Ordinance No. 2687, the repeal ordinance. On the current official record, that would repeal the four rent-related ordinances. Verify the certified ballot language before voting.
Expected NO effect
Vote against Ordinance No. 2687. On the current official record, the four rent-related ordinances would remain in effect, subject to later lawful changes. Verify the certified ballot language before voting.
What we know
The four ordinances cover rental registration, rent stabilization, just-cause eviction and tenant protection, and tenant anti-harassment. The City says they remain in effect while voters decide on the repeal.
The City Council adopted repeal Ordinance No. 2687 on June 3, 2025.
The City says a referendum petition was submitted July 3, 2025 and the County certified sufficient signatures on August 15, 2025.
The City says the repeal ordinance is scheduled for the Nov. 3, 2026 general-election ballot.
Two committees have contribution records in the City’s NetFile portal; the project labels their positions for comparison and does not endorse either one.
What we don’t know yet
The official measure letter and final certified ballot text, which this project had not verified as of July 12, 2026. One committee’s 2026 filings use the name “Protect Salinas Residents 2026- Yes on Measure H.” Check the official sample ballot for the measure letter.
The final official impartial analysis and arguments that will appear in voter materials.
Any implementation timing or later legal changes beyond the expected effect described above.
The final public positions of organizations and officeholders; committee labels on this page should not be read as a complete endorsement list.
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How to actually vote
Three ways to cast a ballot in Monterey County.
Method 01
Mail your ballot
Your ballot arrives by mail in early October. Fill it out, sign the back of the envelope, and return it — postage is prepaid.
Postmark or drop-box by Nov 3.
Method 02
Use a drop box
Drop boxes around Salinas are listed on the county elections site. No envelope handling, no postage, no line.
Open until 8 p.m. on Nov 3.
Method 03
Vote in person
Some vote centers open Oct 24; all are open on Election Day. Bring your mailed ballot to surrender, or register and vote on the same day.
Public FPPC Form 460 filing records transformed by this project. Readers can verify the included fields and totals against the original NetFile records.
Local candidate-card contribution figures in the campaign-finance sections are derived from the included FPPC Form 460 Schedule A records published through the City’s NetFile portal. Election, budget, and federal-race facts use the separately linked sources. Local filing period shown: calendar years 2024–2025. Data through: .
2026 statements: The 2026 figures on the candidate cards and in the 2026 panel at the start of this page come from the campaign statements committees filed with the City of Salinas, with data as of 2026-09-19. They are a separate dataset from the 2024–2025 figures, and each measure is shown on its own. Sources and method for the 2026 figures →
Committee cards count exact normalized filing names within that committee. The cross-campaign directory uses the stricter combination of normalized filing name, entity type, and city. Neither method verifies a unique person or organization. The per-source, per-election limit for Salinas City Council candidate committees is $5,900 for the 2026 election ($5,500 in 2024); different rules can apply to PACs and ballot-measure committees.
Plain-English glossary
FPPC
California’s Fair Political Practices Commission — the agency that enforces campaign-finance disclosure law.
Form 460
The standard report a campaign committee files. It lists money raised, money spent, and who gave.
Schedule A
The part of Form 460 used to report monetary contributions. Itemized donor details generally appear when contributions reach the applicable cumulative disclosure threshold, but a filing can also contain smaller installments, adjustments, refunds, or additional disclosed entries.
PAC (Political Action Committee)
A committee that raises and spends money to influence elections. It is not a candidate’s own committee.
Independent expenditure
Money spent to support or oppose a candidate without coordinating with that campaign. Contribution limits do not apply.
Contribution limit
The maximum a single source can give one candidate per election. In Salinas City Council races, it is $5,900 for the 2026 election ($5,500 in 2024).
Late contribution (Form 497)
A contribution of $1,000 or more received in the 90 days before an election. Must be disclosed within 24 hours.
