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City of Simi Valley · Statewide General Election

Mayor of Simi Valley

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

Simi Valley's directly elected chief executive: presides over City Council meetings and casts one of five votes on the budget and city ordinances for this Ventura County city of about 126,356 residents (2020 Census), while an appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations under the city's council-manager government. A 2-year term, elected citywide (at-large) rather than by district.

Dee Dee Cavanaugh, appointed Mayor in January 2025 after Fred Thomas's sudden death, seeks a full term against four challengers -- including sitting District 2 Council Member Mike Judge, school-board trustee Kareem Jubran, and two repeat candidates, Robert Clarizio and Wayne Hampton Holland III.

Simi Valley's directly elected chief executive: presides over City Council meetings and casts one of five votes on the budget and city ordinances for this Ventura County city of about 126,356 residents. An appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations under the city's council-manager government. A 2-year term, elected citywide (at-large) rather than by district -- unlike the four district Council seats.

Mayor Fred Thomas died unexpectedly in his sleep on Jan. 21, 2025, at age 67, just months after winning re-election. The City Council appointed Cavanaugh, then the District 1 Council Member, to serve the remainder of his term, effective Jan. 27, 2025. That appointment is why this seat reads as "Appointed Incumbent" rather than simply "Incumbent" on the ballot -- and why District 1, Cavanaugh's former seat, is also on this cycle's ballot as a short-term contest.

Dee Dee Cavanaugh

The appointed incumbent. A Senior Vice President/Regional Administrator at Banc of California, she was first elected to the City Council (District 1) in 2016 and re-elected in 2020 and 2024, serving as Mayor Pro Tem in 2019 and 2021 before her January 2025 appointment as Mayor.

Strengths

Nearly a decade of Council experience before becoming Mayor, plus a long civic resume -- a Rotary Club of Simi Valley member since 1996 and the club's first woman president (2000-01).

Trade-offs

Her mayoralty began by appointment, not election -- this is her first time putting the office before voters, and no independent evaluation of her specific votes was found this session.

Keep in mind

The city's own campaign-disclosure page indexes her filed FPPC forms going back to 2016, but no itemized statement with a dollar total was reviewed this pass -- see the financial note below.

Mike Judge

The sitting District 2 Council Member, on the Council since November 2010 and Mayor Pro Tem five times (2013, 2017, 2020, 2023, 2025). A retired Los Angeles Police Department officer (31 years, retired 2021) and U.S. Army and California Army National Guard veteran (1981-96), he's running for Mayor rather than seeking re-election to District 2, leaving that seat open.

Strengths

The longest continuous Council tenure of any candidate in this race and five terms as Mayor Pro Tem, a formal Council leadership role.

Trade-offs

Running for Mayor means giving up his own district seat rather than defending his record there directly -- voters comparing him to Cavanaugh are comparing two different offices' worth of experience.

Keep in mind

He cast the lone dissenting vote when the Council appointed Joseph Ayala to Cavanaugh's vacated District 1 seat in February 2025 -- a sourced data point on how he voted, though no stated reason for the dissent was found.

Kareem Jubran

A Simi Valley Unified School District trustee since 2018 (currently Clerk of the Board, and Board President in 2021) and an engineer, with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA and an M.S. in Civil Engineering from USC. His ballot designation reads "Engineer/School Trustee."

Strengths

Elected experience on a different local governing body (the school board) and an engineering background relevant to infrastructure and land-use decisions.

Trade-offs

No Council or citywide elected experience; how his school-board record maps onto city government priorities isn't something this dataset can independently assess.

Keep in mind

His school-board seat and this Mayoral race are two different offices -- winning would mean giving up the trustee seat, though no direct statement from Jubran about that was found this session.

Robert Clarizio

A communications technology consultant and Simi Valley native, and a repeat mayoral candidate: he ran in 2022 and again in 2024, when he placed third with 3,098 votes behind Thomas and runner-up Mike Shaw. His ballot designation reads "Communications Consultant."

Strengths

Two prior mayoral campaigns give him more electoral track record than most challengers in this dataset, including a specific, certified 2024 vote count.

Trade-offs

Two prior losses, most recently finishing well behind the winner; no independent evaluation of what, if anything, his platform emphasizes was found this session.

Keep in mind

The 2024 result (3,098 votes) is certified and specific; a partial, uncertified 2022 election-night count separately showed him with 936 votes, ahead of Holland's 586 in that same partial count -- treat the 2022 figure as directional only, not final.

Wayne Hampton Holland, III

His ballot designation reads "Broadway Producer/Financier." Also a repeat mayoral candidate: he ran in 2022 and again in 2024, when he placed fourth with 3,062 certified votes.

Strengths

A specific, certified 2024 vote total (3,062) and a consistent, unusual ballot designation across multiple runs.

Trade-offs

No independent biography, campaign website, or stated platform was found this session beyond his ballot designation and electoral history -- a genuine gap, not a claim that none exists.

Keep in mind

Finishing behind Clarizio in both 2022's partial count and 2024's certified result doesn't tell you why voters preferred Clarizio -- no comparative analysis of the two campaigns was found.

Source review: Very strong (90/100) · 17 cited sources

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

  • clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov (opens in a new tab)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
  • clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov (opens in a new tab)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
  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)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
  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)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"
  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)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
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)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
  • simivalleyacorn.com (opens in a new tab)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
  • simivalleyacorn.com (opens in a new tab)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."
  • simivalleyacorn.com (opens in a new tab)Simi Valley Acorn -- "City mourns death of newly re-elected mayor" (Michele Willer-Allred, Jan. 25, 2025): Mayor Fred Thomas died unexpectedly in his sleep Jan. 21, 2025, at age 67, months after winning re-election
  • simivalleyacorn.com (opens in a new tab)Simi Valley Acorn -- "Council appoints one of their own as mayor" (Michele Willer-Allred, Feb. 1, 2025): the City Council appointed then-District 1 Council Member Dee Dee Cavanaugh to serve the remainder of Fred Thomas's mayoral term after his Jan. 21, 2025 death
  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)City of Simi Valley -- Mayor Dee Dee Cavanaugh's official bio page (archived via Wayback Machine, June 3, 2026 snapshot): Senior VP/Regional Administrator at Banc of California; first elected to the City Council (District 1) in 2016 and re-elected in 2020 and 2024; Mayor Pro Tem in 2019 and 2021; appointed Mayor by the City Council Jan. 27, 2025; Rotary Club of Simi Valley member since 1996 (its first woman president, 2000-01); 1977 graduate of Royal High School
  • web.archive.org (opens in a new tab)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
  • simivalleyusd.org (opens in a new tab)Simi Valley Unified School District -- Kareem Jubran's official trustee page: names him Clerk of the Board, states he was elected in 2018 and served as Board President in 2021, and gives his degrees (B.S. Mechanical Engineering, UCLA; M.S. Civil Engineering, USC)
  • simivalleyacorn.com (opens in a new tab)Simi Valley Acorn -- "Thomas expected to take gavel" (Nov. 11, 2022): partial, uncertified 2022 mayoral election-night count (27,565 votes tallied) showing Robert Clarizio with 936 votes and Wayne Hampton Holland III with 586, behind winner Fred Thomas
  • simivalleyacorn.com (opens in a new tab)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
  • simivalleyacorn.com (opens in a new tab)Simi Valley Acorn -- "Contenders vie for top seat at Simi City Hall" (Michele Willer-Allred, Oct. 4, 2024): pre-election candidate profiles for the 2024 mayoral race, describing Robert Clarizio, 57, as a communications technology consultant and Simi Valley native who also ran for mayor in 2022
  • simivalleyacorn.com (opens in a new tab)Simi Valley Acorn -- "Political newcomer appointed to council" (Michele Willer-Allred, March 1, 2025): the City Council appointed Joseph Ayala to the District 1 vacancy Cavanaugh left when she became Mayor, by a 3-1 vote (Council Member Mike Judge dissenting) over eight other applicants, including Jill Abele and Anthony Thompson

Last updated September 1, 2026.