Some Santa Maria candidates raise thousands of dollars in donations

Money is telling its own story in Santa Maria this election season. With up to three seats on the Santa Maria City Council potentially changing hands after November's election, newly filed campaign finance reports show dramatic fundraising gaps between candidates — and reveal who is backing whom as voters prepare to decide the direction of the city.

According to filings with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), the money flowing into this year's council races ranges from a low of $600 to a high of $50,000. On one side are incumbents and well-funded challengers drawing support from labor unions, agricultural interests, and political action committees. On the other are candidates running lean campaigns on shoestring budgets — betting that door-knocking and grassroots enthusiasm can outweigh campaign war chests.

An Open Seat in District 4

The 4th District race is guaranteed to bring a new face to the council dais. Incumbent Councilmember Maribel Aguilera is not seeking reelection to her seat, instead running for the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors post being vacated by retiring 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino.

Vying to replace her is Vincent Martinez, a county Planning Commissioner who was appointed by Lavagnino and who has deep roots in the region's agricultural landscape. Martinez, who grew up in Orange County, said at the Oct. 1 Northern Santa Barbara County League of Women Voters candidate forum that he watched the farmland of his childhood disappear — and fears the same fate for Santa Maria.

"In Orange County, I know a lot of people don't believe it, but we actually had strawberry fields. We had orange groves. We had horses. We had chicken farms … and I saw the disappearance of that as I grew up," Martinez said, according to the Santa Maria Sun. "I have that fear that that could happen here in Santa Maria."

His campaign finance filings reflect that agricultural orientation. Some of Martinez's largest individual donations come from contributors with ties to local agriculture, including $5,000 from DL Farm Management Inc. and $2,500 from Twitchell and Rice LLP, the Sun reported. Between January and late September, Martinez's campaign raised $32,000 in contributions.

His opponent, U.S. Army veteran Tyler Barksdale, reported anticipating his campaign would raise a total of $2,000 or less — a 16-to-1 gap in a race that will determine who represents the city's 4th District.

Incumbent Fundraising Advantage in Districts 3 and 1

The 3rd District race shows a similar pattern. Councilmember Gloria Soto, running for reelection, reported raising $50,000 as of Oct. 12. Her opponent, Corby Poulis Sr., reported $600 — with Santa Maria resident Dottie Lyons as his sole contributor.

Soto's campaign has drawn significant support from labor unions, including $3,500 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), $5,900 from Service Employees International Union Local 620, and $10,000 from Santa Maria Firefighters Local 2020.

"On public safety, I've supported investments in our firefighters and emergency services," Soto said at the Oct. 1 forum. "I know what it means to have the opportunities that might not have been possible without the people in the community willing to invest in you."

Poulis, for his part, has centered his campaign on public safety, youth investment, and partnerships with small businesses. "If we do those three things, we can build a Santa Maria that we can be proud to pass on to the next generation," he said at the forum.

In the 1st District, incumbent Councilmember Ricardo Batalla has raised $10,000, drawing support from Santa Maria Firefighters Local 2020 ($2,000), IBEW, and the local Plumbers and Steamfitters union. Challenger Celest Mendoza has raised $5,000 as of Oct. 12, including $2,000 from local organizer Cliff Solomon — who also gave $6,000 to Soto's campaign — and $1,000 from Shatter PAC, a political action committee that regularly endorses Democratic women in Central Coast races. The PAC also contributed $2,000 to Soto.

"My pillars are focused on affordability, opportunity, and accountability," Mendoza said at the forum. "Our city deserves a lot more, and so do our residents."

The third candidate in the race, former Santa Maria-Bonita School District Citizens' Oversight Committee member Gary Janek Michaels, anticipates raising less than $2,000. Michaels has pitched his "unique background in infrastructure deployment and fiscal management" as an asset and has been blunt about the role of money in the contest.

"If you want the status quo, you can vote for my opponent, Richard Batalla, who was appointed by the current administration, heavily backed by the labor unions," Michaels said at the forum. "You can vote for Miss Mendoza, who answers to her own coalition of special interests. But letting labor unions and special interests dictate our city spending is no way to run a government."

Why Fundraising Matters — and Why It Doesn't

Campaign contributions don't win elections on their own, but they buy mailers, signage, and advertising reach in the final weeks before Election Day — and they offer voters a window into which interests will have a seat at the table after the votes are counted. The heavy union investment in Soto's and Batalla's campaigns signals the importance public-sector labor places on maintaining allies on the council as the city negotiates contracts and weighs staffing decisions. Batalla noted at the forum that Santa Maria currently has eight first-responder vacancies.

Meanwhile, the agricultural backing of Martinez — in a district facing ongoing development pressure as Santa Maria continues to grow — previews likely debates over land use on the city's outskirts, where farmland increasingly meets new housing.

For Santa Maria residents, the stakes are tangible: the three seats up for grabs will shape decisions on public safety staffing, housing development, city spending, and services for a city that has become the most populous on the Santa Barbara County South Coast-north divide. Early returns on who wins may hinge less on dollars than on turnout — but as the filings show, the money race is decidedly lopsided.

Voters can review the full FPPC filings themselves through the state's campaign finance portal, and Election Day is Nov. 4, 2026, though California voters have had mail ballots in hand for weeks.