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City of Solvang · Statewide General Election

Solvang 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 Solvang's four council districts on the city's five-member City Council -- the citywide budget, land use, and oversight of city staff for this Santa Barbara County city of 6,126 residents (2020 Census), alongside a directly elected Mayor who is not part of this race. Solvang began moving from at-large to district council elections in 2022; this seat serves a four-year term.

Only one candidate, incumbent Elizabeth Orona, qualified for this seat -- so this contest is settled and your vote here does not change the outcome.

Solvang's City Council districts began replacing at-large elections in 2022, with Districts 3 and 4 the first to convert that year. District 4 elects one member to a four-year term on the city's five-member Council -- four district seats plus a directly elected, citywide Mayor who is not part of this race.

With no opponent, the useful question is not who to choose but who the officeholder is and what she has disclosed. Orona is the sitting District 4 councilmember, first elected in the district's 2022 debut, now seeking a full four-year term unopposed.

Elizabeth Orona

Elizabeth Orona is the incumbent District 4 councilmember. Her own biographical filing with the city lists 12 years of Solvang residency, formerly of Palos Verdes; occupation "Sales"; a BS from UCLA; "4 years as Solvang Council Member" under Service Record; and membership on the EMA JPA Groundwater Sustainability Agency board, a regional water-management body.

Strengths

A record as sitting District 4 councilmember since the district's first 2022 election, plus a specific regional appointment -- the EMA JPA Groundwater Sustainability board -- beyond her council seat.

Trade-offs

No independent local-news account of her term or a campaign platform was found. Unlike the other three candidates, no FPPC Form 700 filing was found linked under her name for this candidacy.

Keep in mind

Running unopposed, her main accountability is public scrutiny rather than a contested vote. As a sitting officeholder she remains subject to the state's annual Form 700 requirement regardless of what this city page links.

Source review: Strong (87/100) · 7 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • cityofsolvang.com (opens in a new tab)City of Solvang -- "Elections" page: names the three offices up for the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election (Mayor, at-large, 2-year term; City Council Districts 3 and 4, 4-year terms, one seat each), the nomination period (July 13 -- August 7, 2026), and a "Candidates Listed" module naming and individually hyperlinking all four qualified candidates -- David Brown and Denise El Amin for Mayor, V. Louise Smith for District 3, Elizabeth Orona for District 4 -- to each one's own filed FPPC Form 501, county signature-verification letter, optional Biographical Form, and Code of Fair Campaign Practices
  • cityofsolvang.com (opens in a new tab)City of Solvang -- "City Council" page: names the sitting five-member Council -- David Brown (Mayor), Mark Infanti (District 1), Claudia Orona (District 2), Louise Smith (District 3), Elizabeth Orona (District 4) -- confirming Brown, Smith, and Elizabeth Orona as incumbents in their 2026 races and El Amin as a non-incumbent challenger; states the city "commenced its shift from at-large to district-based elections in 2022," first electing Districts 3 and 4 that year with Districts 1 and 2 following in 2024, and that the Mayor is directly, citywide elected to a 2-year term rather than selected by the Council
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Solvang, California": used narrowly for the city's May 1, 1985 incorporation date and its 2020 Census population (6,126) -- does not cover the 2026 election or council-district structure
  • cityofsolvang.com (opens in a new tab)City of Solvang -- incumbent Council Member Elizabeth Orona's filed FPPC Form 501 Candidate Intention Statement, executed and stamped received by the city July 21, 2026: candidate Orona, Elizabeth P., office Council Member, District 4, City of Solvang, non-partisan, election year 2026
  • cityofsolvang.com (opens in a new tab)City of Solvang -- Elizabeth Orona's optional candidate Biographical Form, stamped received by the city August 5, 2026: 12 years' Solvang residency (formerly of Palos Verdes), born Long Beach, occupation "Sales," a BS from UCLA, "4 years as Solvang Council Member" under Service Record, and membership on the EMA JPA Groundwater Sustainability Agency board
  • cityofsolvang.com (opens in a new tab)No FPPC Form 700 Statement of Economic Interests was found linked from the city's own Elections page for Elizabeth Orona, unlike the other three 2026 Solvang candidates -- a documented absence for this one candidate's 2026 candidate filing specifically, not a claim about her actual economic interests; as a sitting Council Member she is separately subject to the Political Reform Act's annual Form 700 filing requirement, which this pass did not locate on the city's site
  • powersearch.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- direct filer searches for David Brown, Denise El Amin, Louise Smith, and Elizabeth Orona each returned no state-level committee or candidate filer. Cal-Access's own Power Search home page states its data covers only state-level campaign finance and explicitly excludes city and county filings, directing users instead to a separate "City and County Campaign and Lobbying Filings" system -- no such system specific to Solvang or Santa Barbara County cities was found reachable this pass, and no FPPC Form 460/410/497 campaign-committee finance filing (as opposed to the personal Form 700 economic-interest disclosures above) was found posted for any of the four candidates on the city's own site either

Last updated September 1, 2026.