Four seats. One ballot.
Four Salinas City Council seats are on the November 2026 ballot — including the mayor’s. Here’s every declared candidate, the race they’re running, and a line straight to their campaign finance.
Data as of 2026-09-19. Each card leads with 2026 monetary contributions, taken from the campaign statements committees filed with the City. Figures labeled 2024–25 come from earlier filings and are a separate dataset. 2026 Money →
Candidate portraits were supplied to the project by the pictured candidates and are documented in the project’s rights ledger; where no photograph is on file, initials are shown.
Salinas City Council Races
Four seats up. Incumbents and declared challengers below.
Mayor
Dennis Donohue
Daniel Muñoz
Also known as: Cal Paradox
Construction worker, musician, community activist
Peter Szalai
Retired educator, citizen-advocate
Hezekiah Gonzalez
Student, civil engineering · first-time candidate
- 2026 monetary contributions
- Unavailable
No committee in the 2026 filings was matched to this candidate, so the 2026 figures are unavailable, not zero.
2026 filings →District 2
Tony Barrera
- 2026 monetary contributions
- Unavailable
No committee in the 2026 filings was matched to this candidate, so the 2026 figures are unavailable, not zero.
2026 filings →
Jose Guerra
- 2026 monetary contributions
- Unavailable
No committee in the 2026 filings was matched to this candidate, so the 2026 figures are unavailable, not zero.
2026 filings →District 3
Margaret D’Arrigo
2024–2025 history $135,190 2024-25 filing total
Cary Swensen
Educator, small business owner
2024–2025 history $22,740 2024 filing total
Brent Bagley
Small-business & housing advocate
- 2026 monetary contributions
- Unavailable
No committee in the 2026 filings was matched to this candidate, so the 2026 figures are unavailable, not zero.
2026 filings →District 5
Andrew Sandoval
Irma C Lopez
U.S. Congressional Race
Salinas Valley sits in California’s 19th Congressional District. The June 2 top-two primary is over — here’s the November matchup.
U.S. House · CA-19
Jimmy Panetta
In office since January 2017 · Ways & Means Committee
Peter Coe Verbica
Republican challenger · advanced from the June 2 primary
CA-19 uses a top-two primary. The California Secretary of State results portal reports Panetta at 58.4% and Verbica at 20.5%, placing them first and second and advancing them to November. California’s published certification deadline was July 10, 2026; when checked on , the portal still labeled its displayed tallies unofficial, so readers should use that official portal for the current certification status.
Also on the 2026 Salinas Ballot
Everything else a Salinas voter sees on Nov 3. We don’t track campaign finance for these — find candidates and details at the California Secretary of State, Monterey County Elections, and the FEC. June 2 primary figures below were checked against the state results portal on . Statewide proposition numbers and final local ballot designations can change as official election materials are completed.
Federal & statewide offices
U.S. House · CA-19
Jimmy Panetta (D) vs. Peter Coe Verbica (R) — full breakdown in the section above.
Governor of California
Open seat — Gavin Newsom is term-limited. The top two finishers from the June primary advance.
Lieutenant Governor
Statewide executive office · on the November ballot.
Secretary of State
California’s chief elections officer · on the November ballot.
Controller
State’s chief fiscal officer · on the November ballot.
Treasurer
Manages state banking and investments · on the November ballot.
Attorney General
State’s top law-enforcement officer · on the November ballot.
Insurance Commissioner
Regulates insurance in California · on the November ballot.
Supt. of Public Instruction
Nonpartisan statewide education office · on the November ballot.
Board of Equalization · District 2
Tax-administration board seat covering Monterey County.
State Assembly · AD-29 / AD-30
Salinas is split — most of the city is in AD-29 (Speaker Robert Rivas); southwestern parts are in AD-30 (Dawn Addis). Check your address.
Statewide propositions
Roughly a dozen ballot propositions
Expected statewide measures span housing bonds, taxes, elections, and CEQA/environmental review. Final proposition numbers are assigned in late summer — see the Secretary of State’s qualified-measures list.
Judicial — retention (yes/no)
California Supreme Court
Retention votes for Justices Kelli Evans and Joshua Groban — a yes/no on keeping each in office.
6th District Court of Appeal
Retention votes for Justices Bromberg, Wilson, Grover, and Danner (this district covers Monterey County).
Monterey County
County offices
Supervisors, Sheriff-Coroner, District Attorney, Assessor, Auditor-Controller and more appeared on the June 2 primary; several were decided then. Any that advanced appear in November — confirm at Monterey County Elections.
Schools & special districts
Salinas Union High School District
Governing board seats up for election.
Salinas City Elementary School District
Governing board seats up for election.
Alisal Union School District
Governing board seats up for election.
Hartnell Community College District
Trustee-area seats up for election.
Salinas Valley Health
Healthcare district board seats up for election.
Not sure what’s in your specific ballot? Look up your address at Monterey County Elections ↗ or the California Secretary of State ↗
Track these campaigns as they raise.
FPPC Form 460 filings follow reporting schedules, but this site is not a live feed. Candidate finance data and profiles change only after the project manually downloads, imports, reviews, and publishes a new snapshot; NetFile may be newer in the meantime.