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County · Statewide General Election

Calaveras County Board of Supervisors, District 5

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On the ballot

This person is one of five supervisors governing Calaveras County: the budget, county health and social services, and unincorporated-area land use. A 4-year term.

Calaveras County's District 5 seat on the Board of Supervisors is a runoff continuing from June's primary: Bruce Giudici versus Clyde Clapp. Giudici, who led the primary field, died on September 1, 2026 after a campaign-trail fall -- California law keeps his name on the ballot regardless.

The winner serves a 4-year term as one of five supervisors governing Calaveras County: setting the county budget, overseeing county health and social services, and making land-use decisions for unincorporated parts of the county. Incumbent Benjamin Stopper, currently the Board's Vice Chair, did not advance past the June primary.

No candidate topped 50% in the June 2, 2026 primary -- Giudici took 36.91% (1,062 votes), Clapp 35.56% (1,023), and incumbent Stopper 27.53% (792), per Calaveras County's own count as reported by myMotherLode.com -- sending the top two to a November runoff. Local news characterized this as the county's only contested county-level race this cycle; every other county office scheduled for 2026 was decided outright in June.

Bruce Giudici died September 1, 2026, mid-campaign

Giudici, who led the June primary field, suffered a fatal head injury in a fall while campaigning door-to-door on Sunday, August 31, 2026, and died the next day at San Joaquin General Hospital. He is still an option on this ballot: California only allows a candidate to voluntarily leave a race more than 68 days before the election, a window that had already closed, so his name stays on the printed ballot alongside Clapp's. If Giudici receives the most votes, he does not take office -- California's Governor appoints someone to fill the seat instead. A campaign volunteer told myMotherLode.com the campaign intends to keep seeking his election in November, in part to keep Clapp off the board. Giudici ran under the ballot designation "Non-profit Fiscal Officer": he served as Fiscal Officer for ATCAA, the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency, and was active locally as a musician and nonprofit volunteer, per the same local news coverage. No independent platform statement or campaign website was found this pass; a candidate statement was filed with the county on 3/06/2026, per the county's own qualified-candidate record, but was not found posted online. A vote for Giudici is a vote for a candidate who can no longer serve directly; his name remains on the ballot because of California election-timing law, not because he is still able to take office.

Clyde Clapp

Clyde Clapp ran under the ballot designation "Retired Contractor." No independent biography, platform statement, or news profile beyond that designation was found this pass -- a genuine gap that matches the equally thin record found for Giudici's own occupational designation, not a lopsided one.

Strengths

A "Retired Contractor" ballot designation, suggesting relevant local building or construction background, though specifics were not found this pass.

Trade-offs

No campaign website, public statement, or news coverage was found this pass describing his background or platform beyond that designation.

Keep in mind

Giudici's campaign described preventing "Clapp's return to the Board" as a priority, per myMotherLode's report on Giudici's death -- suggesting Clapp may have served on the Board before -- but this dataset found no independent record confirming that history this pass.

June 2 primary — how they advanced

Bruce Giudici36.91% · 1,062 votes
Clyde Clapp35.56% · 1,023 votes
Benjamin Stopper27.53% · 792 votes
Source review: Strong (82/100) · 5 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

Review note: Bruce Giudici is deceased; re-read this contest's editorial for claims that describe them as still running.

  • elections.calaverasgov.us (opens in a new tab)Calaveras County Elections Department -- "Qualified Candidate List" (report CFMR009, printed 8/12/2026 5:30:34PM; November 3, 2026 General Election): the county's own official, dated roster of every qualified local-office candidate as of that timestamp. Contest 2205, SUPERVISOR DISTRICT 5, lists exactly two qualified candidates -- Clyde Clapp ("Retired Contractor," statement filed 3/04/2026) and Bruce Giudici ("Non-profit Fiscal Officer," statement filed 3/06/2026) -- matching the June primary's top two exactly.
  • mymotherlode.com (opens in a new tab)myMotherLode.com -- "Giudici And Clapp Advance To November Runoff In District 5 Supervisor Race": reports Calaveras County's own June 2, 2026 primary results (Giudici 1,062 votes/36%, Clapp 1,023/35%, incumbent Benjamin Stopper 792/27%) and states the District 5 Supervisor race is "the lone contested county race" this cycle.
  • mymotherlode.com (opens in a new tab)myMotherLode.com (B.J. Hansen) -- "Giudici, Calaveras Supervisor Candidate, Passes Away" (published 2026-09-01): reports Bruce Giudici, the primary's top vote-getter, suffered a fatal head injury in a fall while campaigning door-to-door on Sunday, August 31, 2026, and died the next day at San Joaquin General Hospital. Explains that California's 68-day withdrawal deadline had already passed, so both he and Clyde Clapp remain on the printed November 3 ballot, and that the Governor would appoint a replacement should Giudici receive the most votes. Gives brief biography -- musician, nonprofit volunteer, Fiscal Officer for ATCAA (Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency) -- matching his "Non-profit Fiscal Officer" ballot designation.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Calaveras County, California": independently confirms the Board of Supervisors' 5-member, one-per-district structure and names Benjamin Stopper -- not either 2026 candidate -- as the sitting District 5 supervisor and Vice Chair, corroborating this as a genuine open-seat runoff after an incumbent's primary loss.
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)Calaveras County's own NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal (linked from its Campaign Finance Disclosure/FPPC-Filings page) is a client-rendered single-page app that returned only an empty shell to curl/WebFetch, with no browser automation available this unattended pass. The state's CAL-ACCESS filer search failed outright with the same TLS certificate mismatch documented dataset-wide this batch, and the state's Power Search tool covers state-level filers, not county supervisor races. A documented access failure, not evidence about either candidate's actual campaign finances.

Last updated September 2, 2026.