cityofbuellton.com (opens in a new tab)City of Buellton -- "2026 General Election" page: names the three offices up (Mayor -- full two-year term, one seat; City Council District 1 and District 4 -- four-year terms, one seat each), the nomination filing period, and links the Notice of Nominees, Candidate Contact Data sheet, and each qualifying candidate's own filed campaign statements. States plainly that only three of the five candidates (Mead, Silva, Silvola) submitted a campaign statement to the city
cityofbuellton.com (opens in a new tab)City of Buellton -- "Notice of Nominees for Public Office," the city clerk's own ballot-instruction document for the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election: Mayor (vote for no more than one) -- Dave King, David Silva; Council Member District 1 (vote for no more than one) -- Mark Williams, Billy Silvola; Council Member District 4 (vote for no more than one) -- Carla Mead alone. A name appearing on this document confirms placement before voters on the ballot, not a Section 10229 appointment
cityofbuellton.com (opens in a new tab)City of Buellton -- "Buellton Candidate Contact Data," November 3, 2026 General Election: independently lists the identical five names under the identical three offices as the Notice of Nominees, with each candidate's mailing address, phone, and email -- no ballot designations are printed on this document
cityofbuellton.com (opens in a new tab)City of Buellton -- "City Council" page: names the sitting five-member Council -- David Silva (Mayor, "Elected: November 5, 2024"), Carla Mead (Vice Mayor, District 4), Hudson Hornick (District 1), Elysia Lewis (District 2), John Sanchez (District 3) -- confirming Silva and Mead as the incumbents in their 2026 races and that District 1 incumbent Hornick is not among the two 2026 District 1 candidates (an open seat)
en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Buellton, California": used narrowly for the 2020 Census population (5,161), confirmation that the City Council moved from at-large to four single-member districts in 2022 (roughly 1,290 residents each), and that the Mayor is directly elected citywide to a two-year term rather than chosen by the Council -- does not cover the 2026 election
independent.com (opens in a new tab)Santa Barbara Independent -- "Purple Reign: Buellton Mayor Pushes Past Partisanship to Make City 'Simply Fabulous'" (June 25, 2026): profiles incumbent Mayor David Silva -- his day job in UC Santa Barbara's Office of Development, a rejected 2021 Planning Commission application that led him to run for Council in 2022, his defeat of then-Mayor David King in November 2024, and first-term initiatives including Pride/heritage flags on Avenue of Flags, Meals on Wheels and benefits-fair funding, and rotating district town halls
independent.com (opens in a new tab)Santa Barbara Independent -- "Santa Barbara Votes: 2024 General Election Results" (Nov. 5, 2024): certified Buellton Mayor result -- David Silva 1,042 votes (53.38%) to David King 900 votes (46.11%) -- the same two candidates rematched in 2026. No independent profile of King specific to the 2026 race was found via this outlet's own site search this pass
cityofbuellton.com (opens in a new tab)City of Buellton City Clerk -- David Silva's "David Silva for Mayor 2026" committee, semi-annual FPPC Form 460 covering January 1 - June 30, 2026 (filed with the city clerk, hosted on the city's own site): reports $21,725 in contributions received for the cycle to date and a $19,909.35 cash balance at close of period; itemized contributors include Santa Barbara-area residents, an out-of-state accountant, and small ActBlue-routed individual donors
cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- direct filer searches for "Dave King" and "Mark Williams" each returned a blank result page, no committee or candidate filer registered under either name. Cal-Access's own Power Search home page states its data covers state-level campaign finance and excludes local government filings in any case, so Buellton's own City Clerk filings (see buellton-silva460-2026, buellton-silvola410-2026, buellton-mead497-2026) are the only possible source for a local candidate's disclosure

Last updated September 1, 2026.

City of Buellton

Mayor of Buellton

Buellton's Mayor is directly elected, citywide. The Mayor is one of five members on the City Council. Council members set the budget, land use, and city ordinances. A professional city manager runs day-to-day operations. The Mayor's term is two years.

Two candidates are running for Mayor of Buellton. David Silva holds the office now. He faces Dave King. Silva beat King for the job in 2024. You vote for one. There is no primary.

Buellton's Mayor is directly elected citywide to a two-year term, separate from the city's four district council seats and not chosen by the Council itself. The winner sits on a five-member City Council -- the Mayor plus four district councilmembers -- that sets the budget, land use, and city ordinances for this Santa Barbara County city of 5,161 residents (2020 Census), while a professional city manager runs day-to-day operations.

This is a rematch. Silva, then a first-term Councilmember, unseated sitting Mayor King in November 2024, 53.38% to 46.11%. A vote for Silva is largely a referendum on his first term as Mayor; a vote for King is a vote to return the office to the person who held it immediately before Silva.

David Silva

Silva is the sitting Mayor. Voters first elected him in November 2024. He works full time in UC Santa Barbara's Office of Development. A June 2026 profile called him the county's youngest mayor. It also called him Buellton's first openly queer mayor.

Dave King

King is a former Mayor of Buellton. They are seeking to win the office back. Silva beat them in the November 2024 election, 53.38% to 46.11%. No campaign website was found for them. No news coverage of their 2026 platform was found either.

Your pick

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

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