# Simi Valley City Council, District 2 Compare records and positions simply between Sam Cohen or Richard Perini for Simi Valley City Council, District 2 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would hold one of Simi Valley's four district seats. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. Simi Valley also has a directly elected Mayor. An appointed City Manager runs daily operations. Simi Valley moved from at-large to district-based elections in 2020. The term is four years. - Jurisdiction: City of Simi Valley - 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/simi-valley-council-2 - 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 1, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 90 out of 100 (Very strong), across 10 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Sam Cohen** — Engineer/Father - **Richard Perini** — Business Owner A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. An open seat: incumbent Mike Judge is running for Mayor instead of re-election, leaving engineer Sam Cohen and business owner Richard Perini to compete for his District 2 seat. This person would hold one of Simi Valley's four district seats on the City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside a directly elected Mayor and an appointed City Manager who runs day-to-day operations. Simi Valley moved from at-large to district-based Council elections in 2020. The term is four years. Mike Judge has held this seat since November 2010, most recently serving as Mayor Pro Tem in 2023. He's a candidate for Mayor this cycle instead of seeking re-election here -- see the Mayor contest for his profile. That leaves District 2 open for the first time in over a decade. ## Sam Cohen An engineer; Cohen's ballot designation reads "Engineer/Father." They were appointed to the city's Community Development Block Grant advisory committee in late 2024, per the Simi Valley Acorn. **Strengths:** A confirmed, sourced civic-engagement role -- appointment to the city's CDBG advisory committee -- beyond just their ballot designation. **Trade-offs:** No stated platform or further biography was found beyond that appointment and their designation. **Keep in mind:** A CDBG advisory-committee appointment is a real but limited role -- it doesn't by itself establish a position on the broader range of issues a Council seat covers. ## Richard Perini Perini's ballot designation reads "Business Owner." No further independent biographical detail was found for them this session. **Strengths:** Unable to assess beyond their stated occupation. **Trade-offs:** No news coverage, campaign site, or other public profile beyond their name and designation on the official candidate list and the Acorn's own election roundup was located this session. **Keep in mind:** An information gap here reflects what this dataset could find, not a claim about the candidate themselves. ## Sources 1. [Ventura County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters -- "Contest/Candidate Proof List" (report CFMR001, dated Aug. 18, 2026, on-ballot contests only): shows exactly four City of Simi Valley contests this cycle -- Mayor (5 qualified candidates), City Council District 1 (Short Term, 4 qualified), District 2 (2 qualified), and District 4 (4 qualified) -- and no District 3 or District 5 contest](https://clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/cfmcfmr001_contcanddataproof_08-18-2026-on-ballot-alpha-order-applied.pdf) 2. [Ventura County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters -- Contest/Candidate Proof List, off-ballot companion document (single-filer and Elections Code Section 10229 contests): carries no City of Simi Valley entry at all -- confirming none of the city's four 2026 contests was cancelled or moved off-ballot](https://clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/cfmcfmr001_contcanddataproof_08-17-2026-off-ballot.pdf) 3. [City of Simi Valley -- "City Council" government page (archived via Wayback Machine, Aug. 13, 2026 snapshot; simivalley.org 403s direct automated fetches): a five-member City Council composed of the Mayor and four City Council Members; the Mayor is elected at large to a two-year term, Council Members are elected by district to staggered four-year terms](https://web.archive.org/web/20260813160134/https://www.simivalley.org/government/city-council) 4. [City of Simi Valley -- "City Council History" page (archived via Wayback Machine, May 16, 2026 snapshot): the city incorporated Oct. 10, 1969; the Mayor rotated among the five elected Council Members from 1969 to 1982 and has been separately elected since; lists Fred D. Thomas's mayoral term as "November 2022 - January 2025" and Dee Dee Cavanaugh's as "January 2025 - Present"](https://web.archive.org/web/20260516152010/https://www.simivalley.org/government/city-council/city-council-history) 5. [City of Simi Valley -- "City Council Campaign Disclosures" page (archived via Wayback Machine, Aug. 13, 2026 snapshot): the City Clerk's index of filed FPPC forms by councilmember. As of this snapshot it carries filings only for Mayor Dee Dee Cavanaugh and Council Members Joseph Ayala and Mike Judge -- none of the twelve 2026 challengers across all four contests has any filing indexed here yet](https://web.archive.org/web/20260813160134/https://www.simivalley.org/government/city-council/city-council-campaign-disclosures) 6. [Wikipedia -- "Simi Valley, California": used in this shard for its 2020 Census population figure (126,356) and its confirmation that the city uses a council-manager form of government](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simi_Valley,_California) 7. [Simi Valley Acorn -- "Simi Valley decides: early returns" (Nov. 8, 2022): in a passing reference to a different race, describes Council Member Mike Judge as "elected at-large in 2010 before districts were formed in 2020" -- the source for Simi Valley's district-election start year](https://www.simivalleyacorn.com/articles/simi-valley-decides-early-returns/) 8. [Simi Valley Acorn -- "Simi Valley election field takes shape" (Michele Willer-Allred, Aug. 22, 2026): confirms the full candidate lineup for Mayor, District 1, District 2, and District 4, and quotes the city's own term-length breakdown -- "The mayor will serve a two-year term. District 2 and 4 council members will serve four-year terms, while the District 1 seat carries a two-year term because of a previous midterm appointment."](https://www.simivalleyacorn.com/articles/simi-valley-election-field-takes-shape/) 9. [City of Simi Valley -- Council Member Mike Judge's official bio page (District 2; archived via Wayback Machine, June 3, 2026 snapshot): elected to the City Council in Nov. 2010; Mayor Pro Tem in 2013, 2017, 2020, 2023, and 2025; retired Los Angeles Police Department officer (31 years, retired Aug. 2021); U.S. Army 1981-85 and California Army National Guard 1985-96](https://web.archive.org/web/20260603053909/https://www.simivalley.org/government/city-council/mayor-pro-tem-mike-judge) 10. [Simi Valley Acorn -- "New beginning, same faces" (Dec. 20, 2024): certified final results of the 2024 mayoral race -- Fred Thomas 41,394, Mike Shaw 11,126, Robert Clarizio 3,098, Wayne Hampton Holland III 3,062 -- and notes Sam Cohen's appointment to the city's Community Development Block Grant advisory committee](https://www.simivalleyacorn.com/articles/new-beginning-same-faces/) ## The rest of the ballot Simi Valley City Council, District 2 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, "Simi Valley City Council, District 2 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/simi-valley-council-2 (sources last retrieved September 1, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.