# Carlsbad City Treasurer Compare records and positions simply between Thomas E. Krouse or Christian Peacox for Carlsbad City Treasurer at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person manages the city's cash and investments. They report on Carlsbad's finances. The job is technical, not a policy role. The term is four years. - Jurisdiction: City of Carlsbad - 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/carlsbad-treasurer - 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 7, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 86 out of 100 (Strong), across 11 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Thomas E. Krouse** - **Christian Peacox** — Incumbent A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Incumbent Christian Peacox faces challenger Thomas E. Krouse for Carlsbad City Treasurer -- a rematch of the Nov. 5, 2024 special election Peacox won. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff. The City Treasurer oversees Carlsbad's cash and investments and reports on the city's financial position -- a technical, non-policymaking role separately elected from the mayor and council. The term is four years. This race has real history behind it. Craig Lindholm, an 11-year elected treasurer, retired effective June 14, 2024; Carlsbad's municipal code requires a special election when an elected official resigns with more than 25 months left in the term, which is what put the office on the Nov. 5, 2024 ballot for its unexpired two years. Peacox won that four-candidate special election and has served since December 2024; Krouse was one of the three candidates he beat. Now they're running again, head to head, for a full four-year term. ## Christian Peacox The incumbent, elected in the Nov. 5, 2024 special election to fill Craig Lindholm's unexpired term and sworn in that December. He brings decades of corporate-finance and entrepreneurship experience and says that in office he updated the city's investment policy and established Carlsbad's first Investment Review Board. "I base every decision on the core principles of public funds management: safety of principal, sufficient liquidity, and responsible yield," he said of his approach, seeking what would be his first full term. **Strengths:** Roughly two years of hands-on experience already in this specific office, including two concrete, checkable actions (a revised investment policy, a new Investment Review Board). **Trade-offs:** His tenure so far has been the two-year remainder of someone else's term, not a full term of his own -- this election is the first test of that record over a complete cycle. **Keep in mind:** He has ACTIVE Cal-Access committees for both his 2024 and 2026 campaigns -- see Financial info. ## Thomas E. Krouse An investment-company CEO making his second run at this office after finishing behind Peacox in the four-candidate 2024 special election (Ballotpedia's certified results). Before that, Cal-Access records show he ran unsuccessfully for the California State Assembly three times, in 2014, 2016, and 2018. **Strengths:** A professional investment-management career and prior campaign experience at both the state and local level. **Trade-offs:** Four prior runs for elected office (three Assembly races and the 2024 treasurer special election) without a win is a track record voters can weigh directly. **Keep in mind:** Cal-Access shows ACTIVE committees tied to those four prior runs but no distinct 2026-specific filing found under his name as of this retrieval -- see Financial info. ## Review notes - Christian Peacox's own campaign site ("Meet Christian"): elected City Treasurer in November 2024, serving since December 2024; his own framing of his record and priorities may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [San Diego County Registrar of Voters -- Candidate List, November 3, 2026 General Election (current through the 8/24/2026 2:44pm snapshot): confirms Mayor, City Council Districts 1 and 3, City Clerk, and City Treasurer as Carlsbad's five November 2026 races, and Mayor plus City Council Districts 1 and 3 as Poway's three November 2026 races, each Vote for 1](https://www.sdvote.com/content/dam/rov/en/election/nov-3-2026-gubernatorial-general-election/candidate-list.pdf) 2. [City of Carlsbad -- City Council page: an elected mayorplus four district-elected council members, each a 4-year term; names Mayor Keith Blackburn, Mayor Pro Tem Priya Bhat-Patel (District 3), and Council Member Melanie Burkholder (District 1); confirms the Mayor is elected citywide and Council members by district, and that the City Clerk and City Treasurer are also separately elected](https://www.carlsbadca.gov/city-hall/city-council) 3. [City of Carlsbad -- Clerk Services / Election Information page: names City Clerk Sherry Freisinger and states the City Clerk serves an elected 4-year term](https://www.carlsbadca.gov/city-hall/clerk-services) 4. [The Coast News Group -- "Election 2026: A guide to North County races" (Carlsbad City Council section): names all nine qualified candidates across Mayor, Districts 1 and 3, Treasurer, and confirms City Clerk Sherry Freisinger is running unopposed, current as of the Aug. 7, 2026 filing deadline](https://thecoastnews.com/election-2026-a-guide-to-north-county-races/) 5. [San Diego Union-Tribune (Phil Diehl) -- "Carlsbad's mayor, 2 council seats, treasurer and clerk on the ballot in November": independently confirms five incumbents on the ballot against a small field of challengers and reports Blackburn's re-election campaign raised $42,673; the full article is paywalled beyond its opening paragraphs as retrieved](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/08/17/carlsbads-mayor-2-council-seats-treasurer-and-clerk-on-the-ballot-in-november/) 6. [Christian Peacox's own campaign site ("Meet Christian"): elected City Treasurer in November 2024, serving since December 2024; decades of corporate-finance and entrepreneurship experience; his own framing of his record and priorities](https://www.christianpeacox.com/meet_christian) 7. [San Diego Union-Tribune -- "Carlsbad's elected city treasurer announces he will retire": Craig Lindholm's retirement effective mid-June 2024; Carlsbad's municipal code requires a special election if an elected official resigns with more than 25 months left in the term](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/06/07/carlsbads-elected-city-treasurer-announces-he-will-retire/) 8. [The Coast News Group -- "Carlsbad city treasurer announces retirement": Craig Lindholm's June 6, 2024 retirement announcement after 11 years as an elected official, effective June 14, 2024](https://thecoastnews.com/carlsbad-elected-city-treasurer-announces-retirement/) 9. [Ballotpedia -- Christian Peacox (Carlsbad City Treasurer, California): certified results of the Nov. 5, 2024 special general election for the unexpired treasurer term, a four-candidate field (Kahn, Krouse Jr., Peacox, Williams) won by Peacox](https://ballotpedia.org/Christian_Peacox_(Carlsbad_City_Treasurer,_California)) 10. [Ballotpedia -- Thomas Krouse Jr. (Carlsbad City Treasurer, California): certified results confirming Krouse ran and lost the same Nov. 5, 2024 special election Peacox won](https://ballotpedia.org/Thomas_Krouse_Jr._(Carlsbad_City_Treasurer,_California)) 11. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search: Christian Peacox carries ACTIVE "Peacox for Treasurer" committees for both 2024 and 2026; Thomas Krouse carries ACTIVE committees from three prior Assembly runs (2014, 2016, 2018) and his 2024 Carlsbad Treasurer run, with no separate 2026-specific filing found under his name as of this retrieval](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Thomas%20Krouse) ## The rest of the ballot Carlsbad City Treasurer 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, "Carlsbad City Treasurer — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/carlsbad-treasurer (sources last retrieved September 7, 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.