# Monterey County Board of Education, Trustee Area 1 Compare records and positions simply between Megan Whilden or Rita Patel for Monterey County Board of Education, Trustee Area 1 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person serves on the Monterey County Board of Education. The board has 7 members. It runs special education and alternative education programs for the county. It also hears school appeals and decides county budget matters. The term is four years. - Jurisdiction: School District - 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/monterey-boe-area-1 - 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: August 31, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 94 out of 100 (Very strong), across 5 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Megan Whilden** - **Rita Patel** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. 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. The county has seven geographic trustee areas. The board sets policy for the County Superintendent of Schools' office. It decides county-level budget and property matters. It hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals from local school districts. The board will also work with the incoming County Superintendent of Schools, Dan Burns. He was elected in June 2026. The two candidates took different routes toward county-level education governance. Patel would carry what she has learned as a sitting CUSD trustee up a level. Whilden brings a background outside elected school politics. They are 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 their 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 their professional background surfaced this pass. **Keep in mind:** No independent news coverage of their candidacy beyond Monterey County Weekly's own reporting was found; they have no campaign committee registered with the state for this race. ## Sources 1. [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)](https://www.countyofmonterey.gov/government/departments-a-h/elections/elections/candidate-list) 2. [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](https://www.countyofmonterey.gov/government/departments-a-h/elections/candidates/elected-officials-schools-superintendents/) 3. [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](https://www.montereycountynow.com/svnow/news/monterey-county-office-of-education-board-may-have-three-new-trustees-next-year/article_f984b249-0090-4200-a4d9-798c37df3c58.html) 4. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Rita Patel": no results; no campaign committee or candidate filer entry registered under her name](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Rita%20Patel) 5. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Megan Whilden": no results; no campaign committee or candidate filer entry registered under her name](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Megan%20Whilden) ## The rest of the ballot Monterey County Board of Education, Trustee Area 1 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, "Monterey County Board of Education, Trustee Area 1 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/monterey-boe-area-1 (sources last retrieved August 31, 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.