- 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 "Heather Owen": 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 "Rick Diaz": an active recipient committee "DIAZ FOR MCOE TRUSTEE AREA 3 2026" confirms his candidacy for this seat; the same search surfaces a separate active committee, "DIAZ FOR NMCUSD TRUSTEE AREA 4 2026," for his concurrent reelection bid to his sitting North Monterey County Unified School District trustee seat
Last updated August 31, 2026.
School District
Monterey County Board of Education, Trustee Area 3
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.
Monterey County's Board of Education has a Trustee Area 3 race on November 3, 2026. Incumbent Heather Owen faces Rick Diaz Jr., a trustee on a different local school board. Whoever gets the most votes wins, with no primary or runoff.
The winner serves a 4-year term on the county's 7-member Board of Education. 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 weighs Owen's incumbency against a challenger who already holds a different local school-board seat: Diaz is a sitting North Monterey County Unified School District trustee, and Cal-Access shows they have also filed a committee to seek reelection to that seat this same cycle -- running for two school offices at once.
Heather Owen
Heather Owen is the Trustee Area 3 incumbent, representing the North County area. They have 23 years of experience as an education professional. They are seeking a second term.
Rick Diaz Jr.
Rick Diaz Jr. is a sitting North Monterey County Unified School District trustee. They are challenging Owen for the county Board of Education seat. They are also running for reelection to their current district seat at the same time.
Your pick
A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.