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City of Ojai · Statewide General Election

Mayor of Ojai

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

The Mayor presides over Ojai City Council meetings and represents the city publicly, but votes as one of five members (the Mayor plus four district councilmembers) on the budget and city ordinances -- day-to-day city government runs through an appointed City Manager. Unlike the four district council seats, the Mayor is elected citywide (at-large), the same as the City Clerk and City Treasurer. A 2-year term.

Mayor Andy Gilman is unopposed for a second term. A second entrant, Clay Creasey, pulled nomination papers and briefly announced a campaign in mid-July before withdrawing the very next day, per Ojai Valley News -- leaving Gilman the only qualified candidate for Ojai's one citywide elected executive office.

Ojai's Mayor is elected at-large (citywide) rather than by district, unlike the four numbered City Council seats, and serves a 2-year term rather than the Council's 4-year term. The Mayor chairs Council meetings and represents the city publicly but is one vote of five; day-to-day administration runs through an appointed City Manager.

Creasey, a member of the city's Finance and Budget Committee, cited his 50 years of management and financial experience when announcing on July 14; he told the paper the following day he had decided not to run, without giving a public reason. Both the county's own certified candidate document and the city's own Election Information page independently record his filing as withdrawn.

Andy Gilman

Elected Mayor in 2024 to a 2-year term, seeking his second term. At his July 13 campaign-launch event, he pointed to a revived Budget and Finance Committee, a newly created Public Safety Commission, and increased council-meeting decorum and attendance as first-term accomplishments, alongside roughly $100,000 in restored Arts Commission funding and a new, roughly $100,000 rent-stabilization commitment to HELP of Ojai. His stated second-term priorities: affordable housing, wildfire safety, arts/culture/recreation, infrastructure, public safety, economic diversification, climate resiliency, financial stability, and communication.

Strengths

A first term with specific, cited outcomes -- restored committees, a new Public Safety Commission, and more Arts Commission and HELP of Ojai funding -- and no opponent this cycle.

Trade-offs

A June 2026 grand jury report criticized the city's sole-source, non-competitive DignityMoves selection for its Cabin Village housing project; Gilman says the council won't repeat that process.

Keep in mind

Gilman has been linked to favoring at-large (not district) Council elections -- a live debate this cycle, since District 1's Rule backs an initiative letting voters decide. He and a local Democratic club dispute whether the club had previously endorsed at-large elections.

Source review: Strong (86/100) · 8 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov (opens in a new tab)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
  • clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov (opens in a new tab)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
  • ojai.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)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
  • ojai.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)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
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)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
  • ojaivalleynews.com (opens in a new tab)Ojai Valley News -- 'Who's running and what seats are open in November election' (Robert Shepyer, July 16, 2026, updated July 20): the nomination-period timeline and every candidate who had pulled papers, including Mayor candidate Clay Creasey's withdrawal a day after announcing
  • ojaivalleynews.com (opens in a new tab)Ojai Valley News -- 'Four seats open for Ojai City council in November' (June 4, 2026): names the four seats up this cycle and their incumbents, and confirms the Mayor's 2-year at-large term
  • ojaivalleynews.com (opens in a new tab)Ojai Valley News -- 'Mayor Andy Gilman holds reelection campaign event at Ojai Valley Brewery' (Robert Shepyer, July 16, 2026): Gilman's July 13 campaign-launch event, his first-term record and second-term priorities in his own words, and his on-record responses to the at-large-elections and DignityMoves controversies

Last updated September 1, 2026.