# Ojai City Council, District 3 Andrew K. Whitman is running uncontested for Ojai City Council, District 3. Full ballot at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person represents one of Ojai's four numbered City Council districts. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land-use decisions. A citywide-elected Mayor also sits on the council. An appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. Ojai moved from at-large to district elections in 2018, under Ordinance 889. This followed the California Voting Rights Act. The term is four years. - Jurisdiction: City of Ojai - 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/ojai-council-3 - 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 1, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 84 out of 100 (Strong), across 6 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Andrew K. Whitman** — Incumbent A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Incumbent Andrew K. Whitman is unopposed for a second term representing District 3 -- the only Ojai City Council seat besides the Mayor's to draw no challenger this cycle. This person represents District 3 on Ojai's five-member City Council -- one of four numbered districts created when the city moved from at-large to district-based Council elections in 2018 (Ordinance 889). The term is four years. The Mayor, City Clerk, and City Treasurer remain elected citywide. Whitman has held the seat since their 2022 election. In 2023, a group calling itself Ojai For All filed a Notice of Intention to recall Whitman; the City Clerk's Office rejected the filing on procedural grounds -- state law requires a recall proponent to be a registered voter within the officeholder's own district, and the group's lead proponent was not a District 1 resident. Organizers said at the time they intended to refile; this dataset found no confirmation the recall was ever refiled or reached a vote. ## Andrew K. Whitman The incumbent, seeking another term; their filed ballot designation is 'Incumbent.' They have held the District 3 seat since their 2022 election and were the target of an unsuccessful 2023 recall effort that the city clerk rejected on procedural grounds. This dataset found no independent 2026 campaign profile, stated platform, or occupation for them beyond their incumbency. **Strengths:** A full term on the Council (since 2022) and no successful recall against Whitman despite one attempt. **Trade-offs:** This dataset found no independent reporting or biography evaluating their record in office for this cycle specifically, and no stated 2026 platform or occupation. **Keep in mind:** The 2023 recall against them was rejected on a procedural technicality (the proponent's residency), not on its merits; this dataset avoided the surrounding opinion pieces as sourcing, since they are advocacy, not reporting. No 2026-specific coverage was found. ## Sources 1. [Ventura County's own certified 'Contest/Candidate Proof List' (report CFMR001), the on-ballot roster dated and printed August 18, 2026, in 'alpha order applied' form -- names all four Ojai City contests (Mayor; Council Districts 1, 2, 3) as ON BALLOT with their exact qualified-candidate rosters, ballot designations, and incumbency flags](https://clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/cfmcfmr001_contcanddataproof_08-18-2026-on-ballot-alpha-order-applied.pdf) 2. [Ventura County's companion 'Contest/Candidate Proof List -- Off Ballot' document, dated August 17, 2026 -- Ojai's City Council contests do not appear anywhere in this document, corroborating by absence that none were cancelled or resolved by appointment under Elections Code Section 10229](https://clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/cfmcfmr001_contcanddataproof_08-17-2026-off-ballot.pdf) 3. [The City of Ojai City Clerk's Office's own 'Election Information' page (updated August 7, 2026, the regular filing deadline): a candidate-by-candidate filing table (papers pulled/filed/qualified) independently confirming the county's certified roster exactly, including Clay Creasey's withdrawn Mayor filing](https://www.ojai.ca.gov/190/Election-Information) 4. [The City of Ojai's own City Council page: names the sitting five-member Council by district and term, and states Ordinance 889 (Dec. 11, 2018) moved Ojai from at-large to district-based Council elections under Elections Code Section 10010 and the California Voting Rights Act, with the Mayor, City Clerk, and City Treasurer remaining elected citywide](https://www.ojai.ca.gov/267/City-Council) 5. [A negative-result campaign-finance source: the City of Ojai's NetFile public campaign-finance portal, the sole channel for 2026-cycle filings per the city's own FPPC Filing Requirements page -- a client-side JavaScript app gated behind a Cloudflare Turnstile challenge, returning no filer or report content to any automated fetch this session](https://netfile.com/public/OJAI/campaign) 6. [Ojai Valley News -- 'City clerk rejects recall of Councilmember Andrew Whitman' (Sept. 21, 2023): reports the City Clerk's rejection of a recall petition against District 3's Andrew Whitman on procedural grounds (the lead proponent's District 3 residency)](https://www.ojaivalleynews.com/news/elections/city-clerk-rejects-recall-of-councilmember-andrew-whitman/article_58dfb588-5909-11ee-97ee-4f3dd97f1c68.html) ## The rest of the ballot Ojai City Council, District 3 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, "Ojai City Council, District 3 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/ojai-council-3 (sources last retrieved September 1, 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.