# Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, 5th District

Compare records and positions simply between Maribel Aguilera or Ricardo Valencia for Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, 5th District at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person is one of five supervisors governing Santa Barbara County. They vote on the county budget, land use in unincorporated areas, and county health, fire, and social-service departments. The term is four years.

- Jurisdiction: County
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/santa-barbara-supervisor-5
- Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/
- Sources last retrieved: September 7, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 91 out of 100 (Very strong), across 11 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Maribel Aguilera** — Santa Maria City Councilmember
- **Ricardo Valencia** — Educator

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

Santa Barbara County's Board of Supervisors has a runoff for its 5th District seat on November 3, 2026. Ricardo Valencia faces Maribel Aguilera. Neither cleared a majority in a three-way June primary. It is the district's first open race in nearly 16 years. Incumbent Steve Lavagnino chose not to seek a fifth term.

The winner serves a 4-year term as one of five supervisors governing Santa Barbara County. They vote on the county budget, land use in unincorporated areas, and county health, fire, and social-service departments. The 5th District covers the northern Santa Maria area, the city of Guadalupe, and the unincorporated community of Tanglewood.

Neither candidate reached 50% in the June primary -- Valencia led with 41.87% to Aguilera's 31.15%, with a third candidate, Cory Bantilan, eliminated at 26.59%. Both finalists have local elected or school-board experience; the choice is between Valencia's union-backed, affordability-and-immigrant-services platform and Aguilera's council-and-planning-commission record on public safety and housing.

## Ricardo Valencia

Ricardo Valencia is a Santa Maria-Bonita School District board member. He also teaches at Santa Maria High School. He is running for the 5th District Supervisor seat. He is campaigning on affordable and workforce housing. He also runs on protections for immigrant communities. He wants to close the county's income gap. He holds degrees from UC Berkeley and Tufts University. County supervisors Joan Hartmann and Laura Capps endorse him.

**Strengths:** Endorsed by county supervisors Joan Hartmann and Laura Capps. Also by the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party, several labor unions, CAUSE Action Fund, and the Sierra Club.

**Trade-offs:** No supervisorial or countywide executive experience. His active 2026 committee has no itemized 2025-2026 disclosure on file with the state.

**Keep in mind:** The seat is open. Incumbent Steve Lavagnino served 16 years and chose not to seek reelection. So neither candidate is defending a supervisorial record. He also has a prior, still-active Santa Maria-Bonita school-board committee.

## Maribel Aguilera

Maribel Aguilera is a Santa Maria City Councilmember and an attorney. She is running for the 5th District Supervisor seat. She is campaigning on a housing-affordability plan drawn from her Planning Commission background. She also runs on continued fire and sheriff staffing. She backs an after-school program for teens. Her campaign cites eight years on the Santa Maria Planning Commission. It also cites three and a half years on the City Council. She says crime fell 32% and fire service expanded 20% in that time.

**Strengths:** Eight years on the Santa Maria Planning Commission plus three and a half years on the City Council. That is more elected local-government experience than either of her primary opponents.

**Trade-offs:** Her council-tenure crime and fire-service statistics come from her own campaign material. They are not independently verified. No state committee is on file under her name.

**Keep in mind:** The seat is open. Lavagnino chose not to seek reelection. So neither candidate is defending a supervisorial record this cycle. She did not complete Ballotpedia's candidate survey.

## Sources

1. [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](https://www.countyofsb.org/acr-elections-candidate-filing-information-for-november-3-2026-general-election)
2. [Santa Barbara News-Press -- "It's official: Primary election results certified, runoffs set for November" (June 30, 2026): certified June 2, 2026 primary results for the 5th District Supervisor race -- Ricardo Valencia 41.87%, Maribel Aguilera 31.15%, Cory Bantilan 26.59% (eliminated) -- no candidate reached a majority, sending Valencia and Aguilera to a November runoff](https://www.newspress.com/2026/06/30/its-official-primary-election-results-certified-runoffs-set-for-november/)
3. [Noozhawk -- "Trio Vying for Fifth District Supervisor Seat Face Off at Forum in Santa Maria" (Janene Scully, May 19, 2026): staffed coverage of a League of Women Voters candidate forum -- names Maribel Aguilera-Hernandez as a Santa Maria City Council member and attorney, Ricardo Valencia as a Santa Maria-Bonita School District board member and Santa Maria High School teacher endorsed by county supervisors Joan Hartmann and Laura Capps, and Cory Bantilan as outgoing Supervisor Steve Lavagnino's chief of staff -- and reports the seat is open for the first time in nearly 16 years](https://www.noozhawk.com/trio-vying-for-fifth-district-supervisor-seat-face-off-at-forum-in-santa-maria/)
4. [Noozhawk -- "Ricardo Valencia, Maribel Aguilera-Hernandez Leading in 5th District County Supervisor Race" (June 2-3, 2026): staffed election-night coverage of the close three-way 5th District Supervisor primary, naming Valencia and Aguilera-Hernandez as the leaders headed to a November runoff -- read via a search-engine result after the article's own slug could not be independently resolved in this pass](https://www.google.com/search?q=site:noozhawk.com+%22Ricardo+Valencia%2C+Maribel+Aguilera-Hernandez%22)
5. [The Santa Barbara Independent -- "June Primary Results Update: 50-Year Judge Unseated, Runoff Race Set for North \[County Supervisorial Seat\]" (Nick Welsh, June 13, 2026, 11:18am): confirms a runoff race for 5th District Supervisor between Ricardo Valencia and Maribel Aguilera, with candidate photos credited to each campaign -- read via a search-engine result after the article's own slug could not be independently resolved in this pass](https://www.google.com/search?q=site:independent.com+%22June+Primary+Results+Update%22+2026)
6. [Santa Maria Times -- "Valencia holds slight lead in Santa Barbara County 5th District supervisor race" (April Chavez, June 3, 2026): staffed reporting on Ricardo Valencia's narrow lead over Maribel Aguilera in the certified count for the 5th District Supervisor seat -- read via a search-engine result after the article's own slug could not be independently resolved in this pass](https://www.google.com/search?q=site:santamariatimes.com+%22Valencia+holds+slight+lead%22)
7. [KCLU -- "Trio seeks Santa Barbara County Supervisorial seat open for the first time in 16 years" (Lance Orozco, June 1, 2026): public-radio coverage naming Maribel Aguilera, Cory Bantilan, and Ricardo Valencia as the three candidates for the 5th District Supervisor seat -- read via a search-engine result after the article's own slug could not be independently resolved in this pass](https://www.google.com/search?q=site:kclu.org+%22Trio+seeks+Santa+Barbara+County+Supervisorial%22)
8. [Ballotpedia -- Ricardo Valencia (Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors District 5, California, candidate 2026): his own Candidate Connection survey -- Santa Maria High School; B.A., UC Berkeley, 2006; graduate degree, Tufts University, 2008; profession Educator -- plus his campaign's platform text and a named endorsement roster (Santa Barbara County Democratic Party, several labor unions, CAUSE Action Fund, Dolores Huerta Action Fund, Sierra Club)](https://ballotpedia.org/Ricardo_Valencia_(Santa_Barbara_County_Board_of_Supervisors_District_5,_California,_candidate_2026))
9. [Ballotpedia -- Maribel Aguilera (Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors District 5, California, candidate 2026): did not complete Ballotpedia's survey, but the page carries her campaign platform text (eight years on the Santa Maria Planning Commission; three and a half years on the Santa Maria City Council with a claimed 32% crime reduction and 20% fire-service expansion) and two named endorsements (California Federation of Labor Unions AFL-CIO; Northern Santa Barbara County Women Lawyers Association)](https://ballotpedia.org/Maribel_Aguilera_(Santa_Barbara_County_Board_of_Supervisors_District_5,_California,_candidate_2026))
10. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Ricardo Valencia": "VALENCIA FOR SUPERVISOR 2026" (Filer #1483207), status ACTIVE; also shows a prior Santa Maria-Bonita School District Trustee Area 4 committee (elected 2020, active through 2028) -- confirming his prior local-school-board service independent of his own campaign materials](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Ricardo%20Valencia)
11. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Maribel Aguilera": no results -- no campaign committee registered with the state under her name for this race](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Maribel%20Aguilera)

## The rest of the ballot

Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, 5th District is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/

## How to cite this page

Vote or Else, "Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, 5th District — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/santa-barbara-supervisor-5 (sources last retrieved September 7, 2026).

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