2026 Ventura City Council Voter Guide

Ventura voters now know exactly who will appear on their ballots this fall. The candidate field for the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election is final, with 13 contenders across four City Council district races — three featuring incumbents and one wide-open seat that drew the biggest crowd of the cycle.

The Ventura Breeze reported that the City Clerk's Office completed its review of nomination documents (data current as of Aug. 15) and confirmed the candidates who met the requirements to qualify. Districts 1, 4, 5 and 6 are the seats on the ballot this year.

How the ballot took shape

The standard nomination period for City Council Districts 1, 4, 5 and 6 closed at 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 7. But the timeline stretched beyond that in one district: because the incumbent in District 6 did not file for re-election, state law triggered an automatic extension.

Under the California Elections Code, when an incumbent declines to seek re-election, the filing window is extended five additional days to give prospective candidates more time to jump in. District 6's extended period closed at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 12 — and the extra time clearly mattered, as the district ended up with five candidates, the largest field of any race on the ballot.

"Running for public office is a significant commitment, and I want to thank every candidate who stepped forward to participate in our democratic process," City Clerk Michael MacDonald said in a statement. "I also want to thank our City Clerk team for their professionalism and dedication throughout the nomination period."

Who's on the ballot

The confirmed candidate list, per the Ventura Breeze:

District 1 — two candidates:

• Liz Campos (incumbent)
• Crawford Coates

District 4 — four candidates:

• Jeannette Sánchez-Palacios (incumbent)
• Scott Shoemake
• Kyle Clark
• Richard T. Rosin

District 5 — two candidates:

• Bill McReynolds (incumbent)
• Vernon Alstot

District 6 — five candidates (open seat):

• Noe Aguilar Vega
• Kevin Daly
• James Loughrie
• Steven Almcrantz
• Karba Eckley

The District 6 race is the one to watch. With no incumbent in the running, one of five newcomers will claim the seat, guaranteeing a fresh voice on the seven-member council regardless of how the other three races shake out.

One more path: write-in candidacies

The door isn't fully closed on the candidate field. While the deadline to have a name printed on the ballot has passed, eligible individuals can still qualify as write-in candidates by filing the required paperwork with the City Clerk's Office between Sept. 7 and Oct. 20, 2026, in accordance with the California Elections Code.

Write-in campaigns face steep odds — voters must remember and correctly spell a name that isn't printed anywhere on the ballot — but they remain a feature of California municipal elections, and Ventura residents may see at least one more name circulating before the October deadline.

The city has posted election resources, including candidate information and key dates, at cityofventura.ca.gov.

Why district elections matter here

Ventura's district-based system means residents don't vote for the full council — they vote only for the candidate seeking to represent their own district. That makes it essential for voters to know which district they live in and which race actually appears on their ballot.

The structure concentrates power geographically: each council member is accountable to a specific slice of the city rather than the electorate at large. For residents of Districts 1, 4, 5 and 6, this November's outcome will determine who speaks for their neighborhood on issues that touch daily life in Ventura — housing and development decisions, public safety budgeting, road maintenance and the ongoing pressures of coastal management.

Incumbents Campos, Sánchez-Palacios and McReynolds will each be defending their records against challengers making the case for change, while District 6 voters will be weighing five competing visions for the seat's next four years.

What comes next

The pace picks up quickly from here. Write-in filing opens Sept. 7, and the county will begin mailing vote-by-mail ballots to registered voters in the weeks ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3, 2026, consistent with California's universal mail-ballot system. That means many Ventura residents will be marking their choices well before November — a reason to start researching candidates now rather than in the final days.

Local voter education efforts typically follow the close of filing: candidate forums, league-sponsored debates and neighborhood association meet-and-greets tend to fill the September and October calendar. Voters looking for firsthand comparisons should watch for announcements from community groups and local media in the coming weeks.

With 13 candidates, three incumbent-defended seats and an open race drawing the field's largest contingent, the 2026 contest offers Ventura voters a genuine choice in every district on the ballot. The nominees are set; between now and November, the job shifts to the electorate.

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