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City of Orange · Statewide General Election

Mayor of Orange

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 presides over City Council meetings and represents Orange publicly, but votes as one of seven members (six district councilmembers plus the mayor) on the budget and city ordinances -- day-to-day city government runs through an appointed city manager. Orange's mayor is the only council seat elected citywide rather than by district. A 4-year term.

Mayor Dan Slater is running for a second term against Arianna Barrios, the sitting District 1 councilmember. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright; there's no runoff.

Orange's mayor is the only council seat elected citywide rather than by district. The mayor presides over City Council meetings and represents the city publicly, but votes as one of seven members (six district councilmembers plus the mayor) on the budget and city ordinances, alongside an appointed city manager who runs day-to-day operations. A 4-year term.

The backdrop to this race is a structural budget deficit: the city closed a $4.4 million shortfall in its 2026-27 budget only by cutting $6 million in vacant positions and drawing $15 million from reserves, and officials have warned of possible municipal bankruptcy within two years if a proposed 1% sales-tax increase fails on the November ballot. Slater and Barrios have taken different approaches to the city's finances this year: Slater has backed putting a separate proposal -- a draft charter that would let Orange set its own hotel, utility-franchise, and parking-garage taxes -- to a public vote, while Barrios has pushed for the council to commit to revisiting the budget itself rather than relying on new revenue measures to close the gap.

Dan Slater

The incumbent mayor. His filed ballot designation is "Orange Mayor/Businessman." On the city's draft charter proposal -- which would raise an estimated $10 million a year in new local taxes -- he has said the council should let residents decide directly: "We're going to hold it up to the voters, and it's going to be their decision on whether we want to go in this direction." No further independent biographical detail (education, prior career, or full policy platform) was found for him in this pass beyond his ballot designation and this recorded position -- a documented gap, not a claim that no such material exists.

Strengths

Sitting mayor with a recorded, public position on the city's marquee fiscal question this cycle.

Trade-offs

As the incumbent, he owns the outcome of a budget that required cutting vacant positions and drawing down reserves this year, whichever way voters decide on the tax measures.

Keep in mind

This dataset could not independently verify his campaign-finance filings -- CAL-ACCESS was not checked this pass -- see Financial info.

Arianna Barrios

The sitting District 1 councilmember, running for Mayor rather than re-election to her council seat (her filed ballot designation for this race is "City Councilmember, City of Orange"). She voted to place the city's sales-tax measure on the November ballot, telling colleagues "Hope is not a strategy" and pressing them to commit to revisiting the budget if voters reject it. On the separate charter proposal, she has been more skeptical than Slater, arguing the roughly $10 million a year it would raise isn't enough on its own and that budget priorities should be worked out separately from the charter question. No further independent biographical detail (when she was first elected to the council, her prior career, or a full platform for the mayor's race specifically) was found for her in this pass -- a documented gap, not a claim that no such material exists.

Strengths

Current council experience and a recorded, public position pressing colleagues toward more urgent budget action.

Trade-offs

Running for mayor means giving up her District 1 seat outright rather than keeping both -- if she loses, she leaves the council entirely.

Keep in mind

This dataset could not independently verify her campaign-finance filings -- CAL-ACCESS was not checked this pass -- see Financial info.

Source review: Very strong (91/100) · 4 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

  • ocvote.gov (opens in a new tab)OC Registrar of Voters -- Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election 11/3/2026 -- City of Orange section (pages 138-142 of 188): confirms Mayor (2 qualified candidates), City Council District 1 (4 qualified of 5 filed), District 4 (1), and District 6 (1) as the city's four November 2026 races, each Vote for 1, with incumbent flags and every candidate's filed ballot designation
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- Orange, California: infobox confirms general-law incorporation (April 6, 1888), a council-manager government, a 6-member district city council, and the sitting officeholders by district, cited only for general civic-structure context, never for a candidate-specific claim
  • voiceofoc.org (opens in a new tab)Voice of OC -- "Is Municipal Bankruptcy on the Horizon if Orange's Sales Tax Measure Fails?" (Jun 11, 2026): the city's 2026-27 budget, its structural deficit, the November sales-tax measure, and recorded council positions from Arianna Barrios, John Gyllenhammer, Denis Bilodeau, and Jon Dumitru
  • voiceofoc.org (opens in a new tab)Voice of OC -- "Another Orange County City Eyes a Governing Charter" (Mar 16, 2026): Orange's draft charter proposal and new local taxes it would allow, with positions from Mayor Dan Slater, Councilmember Arianna Barrios, and Councilmember Kathy Tavoularis

Last updated August 31, 2026.