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School District · Statewide General Election

Monterey County Board of Education, Trustee Area 1

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person sits on the 7-member Monterey County Board of Education: it sets policy for the County Superintendent of Schools' office, which runs the county's own special-education and alternative-education programs, hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals from local school districts, and decides county-level budget and property matters. A 4-year term.

Monterey County's Board of Education has an open-seat race for its Trustee Area 1 seat on November 3, 2026: Carmel Unified School District trustee Rita Patel faces retired nonprofit director Megan Whilden after three-term incumbent Annette Yee Steck decided not to seek reelection. It's a direct November election with no June primary for this office -- whoever gets the most votes wins outright.

The winner serves a 4-year term on the county's 7-member Board of Education, one of seven geographic trustee areas. The board sets policy for the County Superintendent of Schools' office, decides county-level budget and property matters, and hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals from local school districts. The board will also work with incoming County Superintendent of Schools Dan Burns, who was elected in June 2026.

The choice is between two different routes into county-level education governance: Patel would carry what she's learned as a sitting CUSD trustee up a level, while Whilden brings a background outside elected school politics, as a retired nonprofit director and volunteer organizer.

Rita Patel

Rita Patel is a Carmel Unified School District trustee now halfway through her third term. She calls the county race a next step in her career and says she would bring what she has learned at CUSD to the county level, arguing MCOE should be a stronger convener and partner for local school districts.

Strengths

Two-plus terms of hands-on school-board experience at Carmel Unified, the kind of local-district perspective the county board is meant to convene and support.

Trade-offs

Her experience is entirely at one, comparatively small district; whether it translates to representing Trustee Area 1's full geographic mix is untested.

Keep in mind

No independent news coverage of her specific CUSD record beyond her own quoted comments to Monterey County Weekly surfaced this pass; she has no campaign committee registered with the state for this race.

Megan Whilden

Megan Whilden is a retired nonprofit director and volunteer organizer making her first run for elected office at the county level.

Strengths

A career in nonprofit leadership brings organizational and community-outreach experience distinct from Patel's sitting-school-board background.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office and no specific policy platform beyond her professional background surfaced this pass.

Keep in mind

No independent news coverage of her candidacy beyond Monterey County Weekly's own reporting was found; she has no campaign committee registered with the state for this race.

Source review: Very strong (94/100) · 5 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • countyofmonterey.gov (opens in a new tab)Monterey County Elections -- official "Candidate List" page for the November 3, 2026 General Election: within the School section, County Board of Education Governing Board Member contests are listed for Trustee Areas 1, 3, 6, and 7 only -- the same four seats as the county's own Elected Officials roster, confirming these are the only county-section contests this cycle (Areas 2, 4, and 5 are not up until 2028)
  • countyofmonterey.gov (opens in a new tab)Monterey County Elections -- official "Elected Officials: Schools Superintendents" roster: names each sitting Monterey County Board of Education trustee by area and next-election date -- Annette Yee Steck (Area 1), Heather Owen (Area 3), Mary Claypool (Area 6), and Sandra Ocampo (Area 7) all show "Next Election: 11/03/2026," while Areas 2, 4, and 5 show 2028, confirming which four seats are up this cycle and who currently holds each
  • montereycountynow.com (opens in a new tab)Monterey County Weekly (montereycountynow.com) -- "Monterey County Office of Education board may have three new trustees next year" (Celia Jimenez, Aug. 25, 2026): reports all four county-section races on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot -- Trustee Areas 1, 3, 6, and 7 -- naming every candidate, which incumbents are and are not seeking reelection, and background on each contender, including that outgoing Area 7 incumbent Sandra Ocampo is running instead for Alisal Union School District Area 2, the seat her husband Robert Ocampo currently holds, while he runs for her open MCOE seat
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Rita Patel": no results; no campaign committee or candidate filer entry registered under her name
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Megan Whilden": no results; no campaign committee or candidate filer entry registered under her name

Last updated August 31, 2026.