School District · Statewide General Election
San Diego County Board of Education, Trustee Area 3
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
- Cory Brown
- Alicia Muñoz — Incumbent
This person is one of five members on the board overseeing the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE), which supports the county's local school districts with fiscal oversight, alternative-education and juvenile-court schools, teacher credentialing review, and charter-school appeals -- it does not run any individual district's classrooms directly. A 4-year term.
Incumbent Alicia Muñoz, on the County Board of Education since 2015, faces challenger Cory Brown for the Trustee Area 3 seat. Muñoz won a majority of June's three-candidate primary vote, but county Board of Education races send the top two to November regardless, so the seat isn't decided yet.
This person is one of five members overseeing the San Diego County Office of Education, which supports the county's local school districts with fiscal oversight, alternative-education and juvenile-court schools, and charter-school appeals -- it doesn't run any individual district's classrooms directly. A 4-year term.
Muñoz, a retired ESL dean and professor, is campaigning on more than a decade of board experience and institutional knowledge. Brown, endorsed by the county Republican Party, East County Tea Party, and Reform California, is campaigning on academic recovery, student mental health and school safety, and what he calls parental involvement, transparency, and fiscal accountability.
Alicia Muñoz
Alicia Muñoz, 73, is a retired dean and professor of English as a second language at Cuyamaca College and the incumbent Trustee Area 3 board member since 2015, living in San Diego's San Carlos neighborhood.
Strengths
More than a decade on the board plus a career in higher-education ESL instruction give her direct professional expertise in serving English learners, a population county education programs must serve.
Trade-offs
She won a clear primary majority (56.5%) against two challengers, but county rules still send this race to a second round -- her margin isn't guaranteed to hold in a lower-turnout general.
Keep in mind
No campaign committee for Muñoz turned up in a Cal-Access search -- either she's self-funding below the reporting threshold or running without a formal campaign operation, unusual for a multi-term incumbent.
Cory Brown
Cory Brown is a challenger endorsed by the San Diego County Republican Party, the East County Tea Party, and Reform California; his platform centers on academic recovery, student mental health and school safety, and parental involvement, transparency, and fiscal accountability.
Strengths
He finished a clear second in a three-candidate primary (37.9%, more than 30 points ahead of third place), suggesting organized support behind a challenge to an 11-year incumbent.
Trade-offs
His campaign site states three bullet-point priorities with no further detail on pursuing them as one of five board votes; no elected or appointed public service was found in this pass.
Keep in mind
His endorsers -- the county GOP, East County Tea Party, and Reform California -- place him within a wave of conservative school-board challenges seen elsewhere in California this cycle, context worth weighing alongside his stated local priorities.
June 2 primary — how they advanced
Source review: Very strong (95/100) · 4 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.
- sdvote.com (opens in a new tab)San Diego County Registrar of Voters — certified June 2, 2026 results
- ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia -- San Diego County Board of Education District 3 (candidate pages for Alicia Muñoz and Cory Brown, with the full certified June 2, 2026 primary field): incumbent Muñoz drew 56.5%, Brown 37.9%, and eliminated primary candidate Jamal Kanj 5.6% -- both advance to a November general regardless of Muñoz's primary majority
- sandiegouniontribune.com (opens in a new tab)San Diego Union-Tribune -- "Q&A: Meet Alicia Munoz, candidate for San Diego County Board of Education in District 3" (Jemma Stephenson, May 7, 2026): Muñoz, 73, is a retired dean and professor of English as a second language at Cuyamaca College, living in San Diego's San Carlos neighborhood
- cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- "BROWN FOR COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION 2026; CORY" (Filer #1489722), status ACTIVE; no Form 460/461/450 electronically filed for the 2025-2026 cycle as of this retrieval
Last updated August 31, 2026.