# State Board of Equalization, District 4 Compare records and positions simply between Denis Bilodeau or Tom Umberg for State Board of Equalization, District 4 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person is one of four elected members on the board. It works to keep property tax assessments fair and equal. - Jurisdiction: State of California - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/boe-4 - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: September 24, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 89 out of 100 (Strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Denis Bilodeau** — Councilmember/Civil Engineer · Republican - **Tom Umberg** — Small Businessman/Senator · Democratic Republican Denis Bilodeau led the June 2 primary with 45.1% and Democrat Tom Umberg took 20.7%. The district covers Orange County and part of southern California. The Board of Equalization is much smaller than it used to be. Until 2017 it administered most of California's sales and excise taxes; the Legislature stripped those duties after audits found serious mismanagement, and moved them to two new departments. What remains is oversight of how counties assess property for tax purposes, plus assessment of certain utility and railroad property. It is a four-year term on a five-member board. Both campaigns here are small — under $180,000 between them, among the least-funded contests on this ballot for an office with statewide reach. That is itself informative about how much attention this board receives. Weigh who you want reviewing county property assessment, and note that the June margin was more than 24 points. ## Denis Bilodeau Denis Bilodeau, a licensed civil engineer trained at UC Irvine, has spent more than 25 years in Orange County local government (campaign site). He currently serves as president of the Orange County Water District board, representing Division 2, and previously served as mayor pro tem of the City of Orange (OCWD; campaign site). He says he "led the expansion of" the district's Groundwater Replenishment System "on time and within budget," a facility that now "produces 130 million gallons a day" of purified water (campaign site). Bilodeau says "government exists to serve the people" and that the Board needs "skilled, dedicated leaders who stand up for taxpayers—not special interests" (campaign site). On the water board, he says he initiated a groundwater cleanup project in north Orange County and recovered money from the polluters responsible for the contamination (campaign site). He promises to defend Proposition 13, having signed the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association's pledge, and says "California families and businesses are taxed enough already" (campaign site). He also promises to "ensure transparency and expose wasteful spending" and argues his engineering background equips him to oversee California's property assessments (campaign site). **Strengths:** More than two decades in Orange County water and city government, including leading an expansion of the county's water purification system. **Trade-offs:** No record in the state Legislature or Congress. What voters can judge is his record on a water board and city council. **Keep in mind:** His resume is entirely local and regional government, not detailed public accounts of specific tax rulings. His expertise is technical, and the Board's work is narrow and largely out of public view. ## Tom Umberg Tom Umberg, a retired U.S. Army colonel, served three overseas tours and, by his account, "led anti-corruption operations in Afghanistan," earning a Bronze Star (campaign site). Before that he was a federal prosecutor with what his campaign calls a "100% conviction rate," having "tried over 100 cases including white-collar crime, government fraud, and corporate misconduct" (campaign site). Elected to the State Senate in 2018, he chairs the Judiciary Committee (Senate biography), and his campaign says he "authored campaign finance reform, consumer protections, and taxpayer fairness laws" (campaign site). He says his career has been about "holding powerful institutions accountable, protecting public funds from fraud and abuse"—exactly what he argues the BOE demands (campaign site). In the Legislature, he authored SB 44 and later SB 21, known as "Alexandra's Law" after a young woman who died from fentanyl-laced drugs; the bills would have required courts to warn people convicted of dealing fentanyl that a resulting death could bring homicide charges (official legislative record). Both versions failed in committee, but the same requirement became law when California voters passed Proposition 36 in November 2024 (official legislative record). He promises a Board of Equalization that "works for working people, not special interests" (campaign site), pledging to ensure property tax assessments are fair to homeowners and that "utilities and major corporations are assessed accurately, so local communities get every dollar they're owed" (campaign site). **Strengths:** Decades as a federal prosecutor and state legislator, and currently chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the most senior post either candidate holds. **Trade-offs:** His fentanyl-warning bill, Alexandra's Law, failed in committee twice before its substance became law through a ballot measure instead. **Keep in mind:** He is a termed-out state senator seeking a technical, low-profile board seat. Weigh his legislative record against how different that job is from this one. ## Financial info - **Denis Bilodeau** - Primary: $128,648 raised (Small donors: $248; Individuals: $6,000; PACs & committees: $21,600; Self-funding: $100,000) - November: No itemized funding reported yet. - **Tom Umberg** - Primary: $48,489 raised (PACs & committees: $12,900; Businesses & other orgs: $35,300) - November: No itemized funding reported yet. Figures are CA Form 460 filings through June 30, 2026 by committees controlled by each candidate, and can include transfers from a candidate's earlier committees. Semi-annual reports covering January–June 2026 were due July 31, 2026, so some totals lag a period behind. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-09-21. Denis Bilodeau has no itemized contributions dated after the June 2, 2026 primary reported to Cal-Access yet. Tom Umberg has no itemized contributions dated after the June 2, 2026 primary reported to Cal-Access yet. Total is itemized (Schedule A) contributions and self-funding loans dated after the June 2, 2026 primary, through the latest itemized filing — small-dollar unitemized (under $100) contributions aren't independently dated in Cal-Access's raw export, so they aren't reflected here and this may undercount true small-donor activity since the primary. This also doesn't include money reported only on 24-hour late-contribution reports (Form 497) that haven't yet appeared in a periodic Form 460 filing. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-08-30. ## Review notes - Denis Bilodeau for Board of Equalization and Tom Umberg for Board of Equalization may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)](https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/prior-elections/statewide-election-results/primary-election-june-2-2026/statement-vote) 2. [Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary](https://ballotpedia.org) 3. [Denis Bilodeau for Board of Equalization — campaign site (biography, record, priorities)](https://www.bilodeauforboe.com/) 4. [Tom Umberg for Board of Equalization — campaign site (biography, record, priorities)](https://www.tomumberg.com/) 5. [Orange County Water District — Board of Directors (Denis Bilodeau, Division 2, board president)](https://www.ocwd.com/about/service-area-board-of-directors/) 6. [California State Senate, District 34 — Senator Tom Umberg official biography](https://sd34.senate.ca.gov/biography) 7. [California Legislature — SB 44 (2023-2024), 'Alexandra's Law,' official bill status and history](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB44) 8. [Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State](https://www.sos.ca.gov/campaign-lobbying/helpful-resources/raw-data-campaign-finance-and-lobbying-activity) ## The rest of the ballot State Board of Equalization, District 4 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "State Board of Equalization, District 4 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/boe-4 (sources last retrieved September 24, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.