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School District · Statewide General Election

Santa Barbara County Board of Education, Trustee Area 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

This person is one of seven members on the Santa Barbara County Board of Education, which sets policy for the County Education Office -- the office that runs the county's special-education and alternative-education programs, supports local school districts, and hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals. A 4-year term.

Santa Barbara County's Board of Education has a contested race for its Trustee Area 5 seat on November 3, 2026: incumbent Judy Frost faces first-time challenger Griselda M. Ruiz. It's one of only two contested county Board of Education seats this cycle -- Area 1's incumbent drew no opponent and won't even appear on the ballot.

The winner serves a 4-year term on the county's 7-member Board of Education, one of seven trustee areas. The board sets policy for the County Education Office, which runs the county's special-education and alternative-education programs, supports local school districts, and hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals. Area 5 covers Orcutt and the Santa Maria Valley.

The choice is between an eight-year incumbent's finance-and-nonprofit-leadership background and a first-time challenger about whom little beyond her ballot designation, "Business Owner/Mom," could be independently confirmed in this pass.

Judy Frost

Judy Frost is the incumbent Area 5 trustee, first elected in 2018 and covering Orcutt and the Santa Maria Valley. She previously worked as a controller for Orange County technology companies, then as managing director of the Pacific Conservatory Theater at Allan Hancock College. She holds a B.S. in Accounting from CSU Long Beach and serves in board leadership roles across several Santa Maria-area arts and education nonprofits.

Strengths

Eight years on the board since 2018, a finance background as a former corporate controller, and board leadership roles across several Santa Maria-area arts and education nonprofits.

Trade-offs

Her active 2026 campaign committee carries no itemized 2025-2026 disclosure on file with the state as of this retrieval.

Keep in mind

She also filed a committee for this same seat in 2022, since terminated; no independent news coverage of her specific board votes surfaced in this pass.

Griselda M. Ruiz

Griselda M. Ruiz is a first-time candidate challenging incumbent Judy Frost for the Area 5 seat, filed under the ballot designation "Business Owner/Mom." No campaign website, public platform statement, or news coverage of her candidacy was found in this pass. No campaign-finance committee is registered under her name with the state.

Strengths

A "Business Owner/Mom" ballot designation, distinct from the incumbent's institutional and nonprofit-board background -- the only differentiation available from the public record.

Trade-offs

No campaign website, public statement, prior public role, or news coverage was found in this pass; no state campaign-finance committee is on file under her name.

Keep in mind

Beyond her name, city, and ballot designation from the county's own filing record, this dataset found no independent information about her background or priorities -- an absence, not a judgment.

Source review: Very strong (93/100) · 7 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • content.civicplus.com (opens in a new tab)Santa Barbara County Elections Division -- "Qualified Off Ballot Contest/Candidate List for Schools and Special Districts, November 3, 2026 General Election" (CFMR001, printed 8/17/26): County Board of Education Trustee Area 1 shows exactly one qualified candidate, incumbent Marybeth Carty, and is marked NOT ON BALLOT -- filled by acclamation, not decided by voters this cycle. Trustee Areas 5 and 7 do not appear anywhere in this off-ballot document
  • content.civicplus.com (opens in a new tab)Santa Barbara County Elections Division -- "Qualified On Ballot Contest/Candidate List for Schools and Special Districts, November 3, 2026 General Election" (CFMR001): County Board of Education Trustee Area 5 shows two qualified candidates -- incumbent Judith Ann Frost (Judy Frost) and Griselda M. Ruiz ("Business Owner/Mom") -- and Trustee Area 7 shows two -- incumbent Vedamarie (AIL) Alvarez-Flores and Sally E. Lopez ("Business Development Manager") -- both ON BALLOT
  • sbceo.org (opens in a new tab)Santa Barbara County Education Office -- "Board Members & Area Maps": the county Board of Education's own page, naming each of the seven trustee-area members and their year elected/appointed and term-expiration year -- Marybeth Carty (Area 1, elected 2013, term expires 2026), Judy Frost (Area 5, elected 2018, term expires 2026), and Vedamarie Alvarez Flores (Area 7, Board Vice President, appointed 2024, term expires 2026) among them
  • sbceo.org (opens in a new tab)Santa Barbara County Education Office -- Judy Frost board-member bio: began serving May 2018, represents Trustee Area 5 (Orcutt and the Santa Maria Valley); two decades as a controller for Orange County technology companies, then managing director of the Pacific Conservatory Theater at Allan Hancock College (retired 2007); B.S. in Accounting, CSU Long Beach; active volunteer leadership across several local arts and education nonprofits
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Frost": "FROST FOR BOARD OF EDUCATION 2026" (Filer #1493686), status ACTIVE, distinct from a prior, TERMINATED "FROST FOR SBC BOARD OF EDUCATION AREA 5 2022" committee -- confirming she also sought this same seat in 2022
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Griselda Ruiz": no results -- no campaign committee registered with the state under her name
  • countyofsb.org (opens in a new tab)Santa Barbara County -- "Candidate Filing Information for November 3, 2026 General Election": the county's own 'Offices to be Filled' table lists Board of Supervisors, 5th District and County Board of Education Trustee Areas 1, 5, and 7 as the four county-section seats with terms expiring this cycle -- confirming which seats are up, not who filed or whether each reaches the ballot

Last updated August 31, 2026.