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City of Santa Barbara · Statewide General Election

Santa Barbara City Council, District 4

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 would represent one of Santa Barbara's six council districts on the City Council: the budget, land use, and ordinances for this Santa Barbara County city of about 88,700 residents. A 4-year term. The Mayor is elected separately, citywide, rather than chosen by the Council from among its own members.

Four candidates are running for Santa Barbara City Council, District 4 (Upper Eastside, Riviera, and the foothills): Jason Dominguez, Genevieve Taft-Vazquez, Devon Wardlow, and Monte Wilson. Vote for one -- no primary, no runoff.

District 4's seat is one of six district Council seats on Santa Barbara's council-manager government -- the budget, land use, and city ordinances for this Santa Barbara County city of about 88,700 residents -- alongside a separately, citywide-elected Mayor. It's a 4-year term. The seat is open because its sitting Councilmember, Kristen Sneddon, is running for Mayor instead of re-election, on the same ballot as this race.

The field splits on the city's central flashpoints -- rent stabilization and whether State Street reopens to cars. Wardlow, endorsed by the county Democratic Party, supports rent stabilization and keeping State Street car-free; Wilson, running as an independent, calls rent stabilization punitive and favors reopening the street; Dominguez, a self-described centrist and former Councilmember for a different district, is courting independent voters skeptical of both parties; Taft-Vazquez frames her campaign around bringing outside professional experience rather than aligning with either camp.

Devon Wardlow

Devon Wardlow is a City Planning Commissioner and a graduate of Santa Barbara High School and UCSB. He advocates for affordable housing and protections for vulnerable spaces and populations, supports the city's rent-stabilization ordinance, and wants State Street to stay closed to cars. He is endorsed by the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party.

Strengths

Current appointed experience on the Planning Commission -- direct, relevant exposure to the land-use decisions a Councilmember makes -- plus a party endorsement.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office; a Planning Commission seat is appointed, not a record voters have judged directly before.

Keep in mind

His positions on rent stabilization and State Street track closely with outgoing Councilmember Sneddon's -- a vote for him reads, in part, as continuity with her positions on this seat's central issues.

Jason Dominguez

Jason Dominguez is an attorney and a registered Democrat who describes himself as a centrist. He previously served on the City Council representing District 1 from 2015 to 2019, losing his 2019 re-election bid by eight votes. He is now running in District 4 and is targeting independent voters he says are dissatisfied with party politics.

Strengths

The only candidate in this field with prior elected Council experience -- a full term to point to, including how he voted.

Trade-offs

That term ended when voters chose not to re-elect him, by a razor-thin eight votes; he's now running in a different district than the one that decided that.

Keep in mind

His self-described centrism sits between Wardlow's and Wilson's more defined positions on rent stabilization and State Street -- this pass found no independent source pinning down where he lands on either issue specifically.

Monte Wilson

Monte Wilson is a former software executive running as an independent. He calls rent stabilization a punitive policy, favors rapid housing construction, supports reopening State Street to vehicle traffic, and frames his campaign around fiscal responsibility and "common sense" policies.

Strengths

A private-sector executive background distinct from the rest of the field, and clearly stated, specific positions (reopen State Street, oppose rent stabilization) rather than broad themes.

Trade-offs

No prior appointed or elected city role is documented for him; this pass found no independent account of specific civic or community involvement beyond his campaign platform.

Keep in mind

His positions place him furthest from Wardlow's on this seat's two central issues -- District 4 voters focused on rent stabilization or State Street have a clear contrast between these two candidates specifically.

Genevieve Taft-Vazquez

Genevieve Taft-Vazquez is a corporate consultant with degrees from Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins, who returned to Santa Barbara six years ago after living elsewhere. She serves on the city's Neighborhood Advisory Council and frames her candidacy around bringing a new perspective and balance to city leadership.

Strengths

Current appointed service on the Neighborhood Advisory Council and an unusually detailed academic and professional background among this field.

Trade-offs

"New perspective and balance" is a broad framing; this pass found no independent source describing where she specifically lands on rent stabilization or State Street.

Keep in mind

Her return to Santa Barbara six years ago is a shorter recent local tenure than her three opponents -- worth weighing against her stated outside professional experience.

Source review: Mixed (77/100) · 8 cited sources

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

  • santabarbaraca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Santa Barbara City Clerk -- "Final List of Candidates," City of Santa Barbara, November 3, 2026 Election (dated August 17, 2026, the certified post-nomination-period roster): lists Mayoral (Eric Friedman, Matt Kilrain, Wendy Sims-Moten, Kristen Sneddon), District 4 (Jason Dominguez, Genevieve Taft-Vazquez, Devon Wardlow, Monte Wilson), District 5 (Ian J. Baucke, Cevin Cathell, James G. Zurlinden), and District 6 (Jason Carlton, Gabe Escobedo, Anabella Lehne, Alexander Stoeber) -- 4 contests, 15 candidates
  • santabarbaraca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Santa Barbara -- "Elections" (City Clerk's Office): states the Council approved a resolution calling the general municipal election to fill District 4, District 5, District 6, and Mayor; gives the July 13-August 7, 2026 nomination period and links both the Final List of Candidates and the city's NetFile Public Access Portal for campaign-finance disclosure
  • santabarbaraca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Santa Barbara -- "Mayor & City Council": current-roster page naming Randy Rowse as Mayor and Wendy Santamaria (D1), Mike Jordan (D2), Oscar Gutierrez (D3), Kristen Sneddon (D4), Eric Friedman (D5), and Meagan Harmon (D6) as sitting Councilmembers -- confirms Sneddon and Friedman are each their district's incumbent, now running for Mayor instead of re-election, and that Harmon is not on this ballot; also states Councilmembers represent a district while the Mayor represents the entire city
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Santa Barbara, California": used narrowly for the 2020 Census population (88,665) and the council-manager government type; does not cover the 2026 election
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Mayor of Santa Barbara, California": gives a 4-year term and documents an existing four-consecutive-term limit (citing a court ruling that forced former Mayor Hal Conklin to step down mid-term for exceeding it); used narrowly for term length and the existence of a term limit, not for any 2026 candidate
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)City of Santa Barbara's NetFile-hosted Public Access Portal for campaign-finance disclosure (public.netfile.com/pub2/?AID=csb, redirecting to netfile.com/public/csb/campaign): a client-rendered single-page app -- no filer data loaded via WebFetch this session, and no live-browser workaround was available (the shared Chrome extension was disconnected all session) -- a documented access gap, not a finding about any candidate's actual fundraising
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer searches attempted for multiple 2026 Santa Barbara Mayor/Council candidates returned only an empty response each time this session, consistent with the Incapsula bot-blocking this dataset has repeatedly hit on this site -- a documented access gap, not a finding of no filer
  • independent.com (opens in a new tab)Santa Barbara Independent -- "Ready to Race: Who's Running for Santa Barbara City Council and Mayor" (Ryan P. Cruz, Aug. 11, 2026): comprehensive profile roundup of the Mayoral and District 4/5/6 fields, including two mayoral names (Mark Redmond, Michael Stilwell) later absent from the city's Aug. 17 certified Final List and therefore not built as options here

Last updated September 1, 2026.