Election Countdown

With just days to go before the November 2026 election, Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse has done something he says he has almost never done in his public life: endorse candidates for local office.

In a letter published by the Santa Barbara Independent on October 24, Rowse announced he is backing Eric Friedman for mayor, Monte Wilson for 4th District City Council, and Cevin Cathell for 5th District City Council. The endorsements come with a pointed message from the city's top elected official: this year's election has grown too partisan, too ideological, and too noisy — and Santa Barbara voters have a chance to reset course at the ballot box.

"This 2026 election season has been one of the most exhausting ones in my memory, even this time as a noncandidate," Rowse wrote, alluding to his decision not to seek another term after years on the council and in the mayor's office. "There is a lot at stake for the city that we love, and your vote matters as much as ever."

A Break from Personal Policy

Rowse, who has served on the Santa Barbara City Council since 2009 and as mayor since 2021, wrote that he has "very rarely endorsed candidates as a matter of personal policy." His reasoning, he explained, is rooted in how he believes city government should work: councilmembers must function as individuals rather than "mouthpieces for special interests and political parties."

That long-standing reticence is precisely what makes this year's endorsements notable. Rowse said the 2026 campaign has pushed him off the sidelines because party politics and social ideologies have injected themselves into local races "to a greater level than I can remember, with requirements for specific litmus tests and fealty."

His single criterion for endorsement, he wrote, is simple: "service to the entire community above any political designation, ambitions, or ideological beliefs." He emphasized that each councilmember represents every resident of Santa Barbara, regardless of which district they live in — a nod to the city's district-based election system, under which councilmembers are elected by geographic district but must govern the whole city.

A Critique of 'Lock-Step Loyalty'

The mayor's letter didn't shy away from intraparty friction. He pointed to "published criticisms of our own Congressmember for endorsing Eric Friedman" as evidence of the "demand for lock-step loyalty" he sees poisoning the race, calling it "ironically Trumpian."

He also noted the backdrop of "circus-like distractions in Washington," arguing that national political warfare has deflected attention from local issues that directly affect Santa Barbarans — a familiar concern in a city where municipal races for mayor, council, and other local offices are technically nonpartisan, even as party organizations and ideological groups increasingly engage in them.

Rowse wrote that he has spent "many hours and meetings" with the three candidates he endorsed, discussing what he called the essential priorities for the city's future. While acknowledging that the three "have their own political allegiances, ideological beliefs, and backgrounds," he said the common thread is a commitment to putting community first — and that none of them, in his view, is using a council seat as a stepping stone.

"They are here to serve you, not any political group and are not running to launch a political career," Rowse wrote.

What's at Stake for Santa Barbara

The 2026 election will reshape Santa Barbara's city government at a consequential moment. The mayor's office is an open seat with Rowse not seeking reelection, and contested races in the 4th and 5th council districts mean a substantial share of the seven-member City Council could turn over at once.

Rowse framed the election as "a golden opportunity for a community service reset" — a chance to seat a council focused on the city as a whole rather than on factional or national political battles. "We may not agree on every issue, but all are willing to subordinate their own ambitions or desires for the greater common good," he wrote of the three candidates. "That may sound quaint, particularly in this era of challenging established ethics and norms, but we need to rise above the noise of politics and bring the entire community back into focus."

For residents, the stakes are practical: the incoming mayor and council will steer decisions on the issues that define daily life in Santa Barbara — housing, downtown vitality, public safety, infrastructure, and the city's long-term fiscal health. Rowse's warning is that those decisions are best made by officials answerable to neighbors rather than to party structures.

The Clock Is Running

The mayor closed his letter with a direct appeal to voters: "Please exercise that privilege."

With Election Day on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, Santa Barbara residents have only days left to return their ballots. Vote-by-mail ballots have been arriving in mailboxes across the county, and voters can also cast ballots in person at early voting locations and county vote centers through Election Day. Ballots postmarked by Election Day can still be counted if they arrive within the window set by California election law, though election officials routinely urge voters not to wait.

Rowse's intervention in the race's final stretch adds a high-profile voice to what has been, by his own account, an unusually contentious season. Whether his call for a "community first" ethic resonates with voters will be answered within days — at the ballot box, as he put it, where "that opportunity" for a reset now rests.

The original letter, "Election Countdown," was published by the Santa Barbara Independent on October 24, 2026.