June 2026 Primary Election Results

Results for National, State, and County Races
and City of S.B.’s Measure A

**By Indy Staff | June 2, 2026**

From left: Kyle Slattery, Laura Capps, and Gregg Hart on election night, Tue., Nov. 2, 2026 | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

It’s the 2026 Primary Election, and in Independent.com tradition, we’ll be using this page to deliver results, reactions, and reports from the various election night parties happening throughout Santa Barbara County.

Reporter Ryan P. Cruz and photographer Ingrid Bostrom were out and about to get the scoop and snapshots while Executive Editor Nick Welsh wrote the updates.

Polls closed at 8 p.m., and initial results were released soon after and updated throughout the night. If you’re wondering who’s winning, who’s losing, and what they said, read on or jump straight to the latest election results by clicking the links below.

Jump to Election Results:

Santa Barbara City + County
Federal + State

Preliminary Results In: Steyer Ahead in Santa Barbara County, Becerra Ahead Statewide

If all of California voted for Democratic candidate Tom Steyer, the climate change crusader and “reformed” billionaire, in the same numbers as Santa Barbara County has thus far — with admittedly only a tiny fraction of the votes counted — he might just become California’s next governor. In Santa Barbara County, Steyer is placing first with 28.4 percent of the vote; followed closely by Republican candidate Steve Hilton, the FOX News commentator endorsed by Donald Trump with 24.87 percent; followed by Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra, a political Swiss Army knife with a 37-year résumé of multiple elected and appointed offices, who pulled in 22.55 percent of the first 59,488 ballots counted countywide. Statewide, Hilton is now coming in first, followed by Becerra with 25.8 percent, and with Steyer trailing in third with 19.7 percent. The night is still young, and anything can theoretically happen. Although there are 61 candidates in the race, these three are the only serious contenders. It’s worth noting that Green Party candidate and UCSB professor Butch Ware, a write-in candidate, has so far picked up 77 votes.

In Santa Barbara County, incumbent Congressmember Salud Carbajal — a Democratic party work horse and increasingly a war horse — has garnered 54.1 percent of the vote in his effort to secure a sixth term. First-time Republican challenger Bob Smith is placing a distant but respectable second with 38.5 percent, while progressive candidates Sarah Bacon and Helen Pasquarella, who’ve taken Carbajal to task for not being more critical of the United States’s support of Israel and its expanding military presence in the region, have received 5.7 percent and 1.7 percent of the vote, respectively. Districtwide, Carbajal is at 53.7 percent and Smith, 38.9 percent.

Democrat Assemblymember Gregg Hart is experiencing no signs of political turbulence in securing a second term as a member of Sacramento’s progressive caucus, picking up 61.61 percent of the county vote and 60.1 percent districtwide. Republican Sari Domingues, making her second bid for the Assembly, picked up 38.27 percent countywide and districtwide. Hart, an experienced and lifelong politician, is expected to win handily. Running for office is one thing; serving is another. In Sacramento, Hart said he feels the reverberations of what’s happening in Washington on a daily basis.

“California is under attack, and I feel that every day,” Hart said. “But we’re united in the legislature, with the governor and trying to protect our state, and we’re doing the best we can. It’s not an easy time to be in government.”

In perhaps the most curious of the local races, Judge Thomas Reagan Adams Jr. is facing the toughest political challenge of his 50-year career as a judge and is ahead of his rival, attorney Luis Esparza, who picked up 48.7 percent of the vote. Esparza is a longtime private attorney who runs a one-man operation out of a small office he says one might expect to encounter in a detective novel. Judges’ races are political rarities in Santa Barbara County, with most judges winning a seat on the bench via appointment rather than contested elections. Esparza says he didn’t expect Adams to run again after reading that he told the state judicial council he expected not to. Esparza, at age 47, has campaigned as being both younger and more representative of the community at large.

Of the two supervisorial districts in play, that of the 5th District — Santa Maria and Guadalupe — is wide open. With 16-year supervisor Steve Lavagnino bowing out, it’s a three-way race with no incumbent in sight. With 13 percent of the votes counted, Ricardo Valencia — a Santa Maria School Board member, a teacher, a Democrat, and the most overtly progressive candidate to run for the seat in eons — has taken the lead with 36.09 percent of the vote. Trailing closely on his heels at 33.83 percent is Maribel Aguilera, a Santa Maria City councilmember who enjoys support from the Republican Party — though she herself claims no party affiliation — and the local business and ag community, alarmed at the prospect of someone as left-leaning as Valencia. Coming in third — at 29.55 percent — is Cory Bantilan, who for the past 15 years has worked as Lavagnino’s right-hand man. Bantilan was a lifelong Republican until the first term of Donald Trump, when they both decided to unregister. Of the three, Bantilan let his feet do the walking and talking, knocking on thousands of doors as he logged so many miles that he lost 27 pounds. Yes, the night is still young, and anything can happen, but the fact that Valencia is ahead from the start suggests that his flotilla of paid walkers — former students — might have paid dividends in a district infamous for its low voter turnout. That said, unless one of the three candidates gets 50 percent of the votes plus one by the time county elections closes shop, there will be a runoff between the two top vote-getters come November 3.

In the 2nd District supervisorial race, incumbent Laura Capps seems to be floating her way to an easy victory with 76.12 percent of the vote against 21-year-old religion teacher and conservative challenger Elijah Mack, who describes himself as a “Localist” rather than a Republican. This marks Mack’s second effort in electoral politics. To be a conservative in Santa Barbara is a tough row to hoe, but Mack’s path was probably not helped by the AI-generated hit piece against Capps — depicting her as an eye-poppingly crazed and entitled a let-them-eat-cake elitist — put out by the Republican Central Committee on his behalf.

Mack, for his part, said he had nothing to do with the video. “I did not support, or have foreknowledge of the Republican Party sending out AI videos against Capps, and I broadly oppose artificial intelligence outside of a somewhat narrow use cases,” he told the Independent. “Such a move would be nowhere in my campaign playbook.”

At an election night party among Democrats at the Public Market, Capps said no one ever brought the AI text message up. Capps expressed pride in the community she works with and how people come together to solve problems.

“I’m super fired up,” she said. “I approach this job with a sense of urgency every day. I know one speed, and it’s fast. It’s just the way I’m wired because I feel we’re on this planet for a short time.”

In what looks to be a major changing of the guards, County Recorder Melinda Greene is on her way to deposing her longtime boss, Joe Holland, who since 2003 has served as the county’s clerk, recorder, and assessor. Greene, endowed with more snap, crackle, and pop than a box of Rice Krispies, had taken in 59.45 percent of the vote against Holland, who took 40.2 percent. Holland, afflicted with a chronic ailment that’s kept him from showing up at work the past two years, has not run any kind of a campaign outside the written ballot statement that his department sends out to voters in the mail. Greene has racked up the most ecumenical collection of endorsements of any candidate who’s run for Santa Barbara office in the past 50 years, winning the endorsement of all five supervisors, the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, the major unions, this newspaper, the Women’s Political Committee, and pretty much anyone who cares to make endorsements.

The fight for auditor controller is less clear-cut, with challenger Kyle Slattery looking like he might pull an upset over his former boss and two term incumbent Betsy Schaffer. At last count, Slattery was ahead with 51.39 percent and Schaffer holding on with 48.29 percent.

Perhaps the most obscure item on the ballot, but yet the meatiest when it comes to potential impact on the supply of affordable housing is the City of Santa Barbara’s Measure A2026, which seems to have landed a solid lead with 67.16 percent of the votes in favor and 32.84 percent — pretty much the precise size of the just-say-no-to-anything demographic — voting no. If it wins, Measure A will amend the city’s charter to allow City Hall to lease out its own land to private developers for as long as 99 years — as opposed to the 50-year limit now imposed by the charter. While hardly riveting, this extension makes partnering with City Hall on its own property for housing developments far more enticing economically, lengthening the maximum pay-back period for loans, thus allowing projects to more readily “pencil out” for the developers with whom City Hall might partner. There was no campaign for Measure A; there was no campaign against it. Aside from two brief mentions in the Independent — an endorsement and a heartfelt plug by the Angry Poodle — there was no written media coverage.

SANTA BARBARA CITY + COUNTY

Reporting Time: Thu., June 4, 2026, 12:46pm

Mail Votes: 69,424
Poll Votes: 7,613
Total Votes Processed: 77,037
Total Estimated Number of Unprocessed Ballots: 34,188
Total Registered Voters: 250,289
Turnout: 30.78%

Measure A2026 – City Of Santa Barbara Charter Amendment

Yes: 11,035 (67.13%)
No: 5,404 (32.87%)

Measure B2026 – Lompoc Street Repair And Maintenance Measure

No: 2,516 (53.68%)
Yes: 2,171 (46.32%)

County Superintendent of Schools

Susan Salcido: 45,992 (95.80%)
Write-In: 2,014 (4.20%)

County Supervisor, 2nd District

Laura Capps: 13,801 (77.23%)
Elijah Mack: 4,014 (22.46%)
Write-In: 55 (0.31%)

County Supervisor, 5th District

Ricardo Valencia: 1,980 (37.86%)
Maribel Aguilera: 1,740 (33.27%)
Cory Bantilan: 1,487 (28.43%)
Write-In: 23 (0.44%)

Auditor-Controller

Kyle Slattery: 33,885 (51.97%)
Betsy Schaffer: 31,094 (47.69%)
Write-In: 219 (0.34%)

Clerk, Recorder, and Assessor

Melinda Greene: 40,354 (60.05%)
Joseph Holland: 26,625 (39.62%)
Write-In: 222 (0.33%)

Treasurer-Tax Collector-Public Administrator

Kimberly A. Tesoro: 52,511 (98.44%)
Write-In: 830 (1.56%)

Judge of the Superior Court, Office 2

Luis Esparza: 32,170 (50.03%)
Thomas Adams, Jr.: 31,940 (49.67%)
Write-In: 190 (0.30%)

FEDERAL + STATE

U.S. House of Representatives District 24 – Santa Barbara County Results

Reporting: 100% (147 of 147) precincts reporting
Reporting Time: June 4, 2026, 3:04 p.m.

Sarah Bacon: 4,851 ( 6.6%)
Salud Carbajal: 40,362 ( 54.8%)
Bob Smith: 27,202 ( 36.9%)
Helena Pasquarella: 1,298 ( 1.8%)

U.S. House of Representatives District 24 – Districtwide Results

Reporting: 100% (510 of 510) precincts reporting
Reporting Time: June 8, 2026, 11:37 a.m.

Sarah Bacon: 8,104 ( 6.3%)
Salud Carbajal: 69,645 ( 54.0%)
Bob Smith: 48,788 ( 37.8%)
Helena Pasquarella: 2,458 ( 1.9%)

State Assembly District 37 – Santa Barbara County Results

Reporting: 100% (147 of 147) precincts reporting
Reporting Time: June 4, 2026, 3:04 p.m.

Gregg Hart: 45,344 ( 62.4%)
Sari Domingues: 27,354 ( 37.6%)

State Assembly District 37 – Districtwide Results

Reporting: 100% (155 of 155) precincts reporting
Reporting Time: June 8, 2026, 11:37 a.m.

Gregg Hart: 47,668 ( 61.5%)
Sari Domingues: 29,852 ( 38.5%)

Governor – Santa Barbara County Results

Reporting: 100% (147 of 147) precincts reporting
Reporting Time: June 4, 2026, 3:04 p.m.

Akinyemi Agbede: 21 ( 0.0%)
Mohammad Arif: 37 ( 0.0%)
Larry Azevedo: 51 ( 0.1%)
Xavier Becerra: 17,693 ( 23.4%)
Carolina Buhler: 64 ( 0.1%)
Louis A. De Barraicua: 34 ( 0.0%)
Sophia Edum-a-Sam: 23 ( 0.0%)
Derek Grasty: 25 ( 0.0%)
Joel E. Jacob: 8 ( 0.0%)
Gary Howard Kidgell: 6 ( 0.0%)
Matthew Chase Levy: 71 ( 0.1%)
Matt Mahan: 2,214 ( 2.9%)
Barack D. Obama Shaw: 89 ( 0.1%)
Thunder Parley: 15 ( 0.0%)
Katie Porter: 2,541 ( 3.4%)
Raji Rab: 11 ( 0.0%)
Satish Rao: 26 ( 0.0%)
Scott P Shields: 41 ( 0.1%)
Tom Steyer: 22,082 ( 29.2%)
Eric Swalwell: 430 ( 0.6%)
Tony K. Thurmond: 382 ( 0.5%)
Antonio Villaraigosa: 613 ( 0.8%)
Betty T. Yee: 191 ( 0.3%)
Erin "Zez" Zezulak: 89 ( 0.1%)
James Athans Jr.: 26 ( 0.0%)
Chad Bianco: 8,354 ( 11.0%)
Patricia De Luca Basualdo: 13 ( 0.0%)
Randeep S. Dhillon: 133 ( 0.2%)
Rafael M. Hernandez: 23 ( 0.0%)
Steve Hilton: 18,620 ( 24.6%)
Alicia Olivia Lapp: 21 ( 0.0%)
Leo Naranjo IV: 223 ( 0.3%)
Tim Nelson: 384 ( 0.5%)
Gretha Solórzano: 117 ( 0.2%)
Leo Samuel Zacky: 57 ( 0.1%)
David Zickefoose: 7 ( 0.0%)
Tom Woodard: 82 ( 0.1%)
Ramsey Robinson: 243 ( 0.3%)
Naomi Bar-Lev: 13 ( 0.0%)
Joseph Cabrera: 66 ( 0.1%)
Elaine Culotti: 39 ( 0.1%)
LivingForGod AndCountry DeMott: 7 ( 0.0%)
Serge Fiankan: 7 ( 0.0%)
Lukasz Adam Filinski: 19 ( 0.0%)
Max Fomin: 7 ( 0.0%)
Don J. Grundmann: 11 ( 0.0%)
Jon Henderson: 41 ( 0.1%)
Lewis Herms: 28 ( 0.0%)
Dawit Kellel: 2 ( 0.0%)
Anne Komarovsk: 8 ( 0.0%)
Duane Terrence Loynes Jr.: 9 ( 0.0%)
Amanda Martin: 105 ( 0.1%)
Brent Maupin: 41 ( 0.1%)
Daniel Mercuri: 18 ( 0.0%)
Mauro Alberto Orozco: 11 ( 0.0%)
Reza Safarnejad: 9 ( 0.0%)
Sam Sandak: 10 ( 0.0%)
Christine R. Sarmiento: 37 ( 0.0%)
Frederic C. Schultz: 39 ( 0.1%)
Margaret Trowe: 12 ( 0.0%)
Nancy D. Young: 22 ( 0.0%)