County · Statewide General Election
San Diego County Board of Supervisors, District 5
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
- Kyle Krahel
- Rebecca Jones
This person is one of five supervisors governing San Diego County -- the state's second-most-populous county, home to about 3.3 million residents: the county budget, land use in unincorporated areas, and county health, parks, probation, and social-service departments. A 4-year term.
San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones and Democrat Kyle Krahel advance to a November runoff for the open District 5 seat, after Jones led a five-candidate June primary with 38.3% of the vote. No incumbent is running: Jim Desmond, termed out of the board, switched into the 48th Congressional District race instead.
This person would take one of five seats on the Board of Supervisors representing North County communities including San Marcos and Escondido, deciding the county budget, unincorporated land use, and county health, parks, and social-service departments. A 4-year term.
Jones is campaigning on nearly two decades leading San Marcos -- the city's lowest crime rate on record, a top-rated fire department, and an internal efficiency office she created -- and wants to bring the same approach countywide. Krahel is campaigning on housing production, climate adaptation, and transit, backed by a long list of Democratic elected officials and labor unions; both frame the race as a test of which North County leadership model scales up to county government.
Rebecca Jones
Rebecca Jones has served as San Marcos's mayor for close to two decades, after earlier serving as councilmember and vice mayor. She led June's five-candidate primary field with 38.3% of the vote.
Strengths
Two decades running San Marcos, a city near a supervisorial district in size; it earned a Class 1 fire rating (the highest possible) and a Fortune top-25 family-friendly ranking under her.
Trade-offs
Her own list of accomplishments is framed entirely in San Marcos terms -- how it translates to a larger, more diverse unincorporated-area district isn't addressed in her materials.
Keep in mind
Ballotpedia's endorsement tracker lists one endorser for Jones versus eleven for Krahel (members of Congress, state legislators, labor unions) as of this retrieval -- the tracker isn't comprehensive, but it's the only third-party accounting available for this race.
Kyle Krahel
Kyle Krahel is a Democrat making his first run for county office. He finished second in June's primary with 22.1% and is backed by U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, four San Diego-area members of Congress, three state senators, two state assemblymembers, and several labor unions.
Strengths
The deepest institutional backing in this race -- a U.S. senator, four members of Congress, three state senators, two state assemblymembers, and seven labor unions have all endorsed him.
Trade-offs
No prior elected experience at any level of government; his platform (housing, climate, transit, homelessness) reads as a policy wish list rather than a record of things he's implemented.
Keep in mind
His committee is titled "Krahel for San Diego County Supervisor 2026," but Cal-Access separately shows an active "Krahel-Frolander for Central Committee 2028" committee under a hyphenated surname -- worth knowing if that name appears on a future ballot.
June 2 primary — how they advanced
Source review: Very strong (96/100) · 5 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 Supervisors District 5 (candidate page for Rebecca Jones, with the full certified June 2, 2026 primary field): Jones (San Marcos's mayor) led a five-candidate primary with 38.3% and Kyle Krahel advanced second with 22.1% -- no incumbent, since Jim Desmond did not file for re-election
- voiceofsandiego.org (opens in a new tab)Voice of San Diego -- "Voices of the Voters: National Politics Drives 48th Race" (Tigist Layne, June 2, 2026): identifies Jim Desmond by name as "termed-out County Supervisor Jim Desmond," who Rep. Darrell Issa tapped to run in the 48th Congressional District after Issa's own retirement, confirming Desmond is not on the November District 5 supervisor ballot
- cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- "KRAHEL FOR SAN DIEGO COUNTY SUPERVISOR 2026; KYLE" (Filer #1482450), status ACTIVE; no Form 460/461/450 electronically filed for the 2025-2026 cycle as of this retrieval
- cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- "JONES FOR SUPERVISOR 2026" (Filer #1466228), status ACTIVE; no Form 460/461/450 electronically filed for the 2025-2026 cycle as of this retrieval. The committee name doesn't spell out a first name, but its filer phone number's area code is a San Diego County one, consistent with Rebecca Jones -- flagged here since this identification isn't as airtight as the other candidates'
Last updated August 31, 2026.