# United States Representative, District 24 Compare records and positions simply between Salud Carbajal or Bob Smith for United States Representative, District 24 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives (2-year term). - Jurisdiction: Federal - 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/us-rep-24 - 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 24, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 89 out of 100 (Strong), across 10 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Salud Carbajal** — Member of Congress · Democratic - **Bob Smith** — Defense Systems Engineer · Republican Representative Salud Carbajal took 54.4% of the June 2 vote and Republican Bob Smith took 35.9%. The district covers Santa Barbara and part of the Central Coast. The winner holds one of 435 seats in the U.S. House for a two-year term. A member introduces bills, sits on committees that shape federal legislation, votes on the federal budget and on war powers, and handles casework between constituents and federal agencies. Seniority governs committee standing, so a longer-serving member carries influence a newcomer cannot. The incumbent has sponsored 38 bills this Congress with 1 career bill enacted, and cleared a majority by under five points in his own primary. Both facts are worth weighing alongside a challenger running on about an eighth of the money. ## Salud Carbajal Salud Carbajal has represented California’s Central Coast in Congress since 2017. He emigrated from Mexico at age five and, by his office’s account, worked summers as a farmworker alongside his father. He became the first in his family to graduate from a university, earning a degree from UC Santa Barbara and a graduate degree from Fielding University (carbajal.house.gov). Before Congress he served twelve years on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors and eight years in the Marine Corps Reserve, including active duty during the 1992 Gulf War. Carbajal says "the Central Coast is my home and the place that has given my family and me the opportunity to succeed" (campaign site). He describes his approach as "bringing Republicans and Democrats together to solve problems and get results" (campaign site). In July 2026 he voted for a House amendment that would have stripped 3.3 billion dollars in offensive military assistance to Israel, saying "we cannot continue to provide Netanyahu a blank check" (Santa Barbara Independent). The House voted the amendment down 314 to 104, with only one Republican and 103 Democrats voting for it. His campaign lists caring for veterans, creating good-paying jobs, making health care more affordable, preserving the environment, and "pushing for sensible gun laws" among his priorities (campaign site). In the House he has written bills addressing the 2019 Conception boat fire and a "red flag" gun law inspired by the 2016 Isla Vista mass shooting. He has also worked to protect and expand Social Security and Medicare (carbajal.house.gov). **Strengths:** Twelve years of county government and eight years in the Marine Corps Reserve before Congress, plus bills signed into law on public safety and the coast. **Trade-offs:** Nearly a decade in a safe seat means most of his record has to be judged against low-competition primaries, not a real contest. **Keep in mind:** His vote against military aid to Israel drew criticism from some corners; how you weigh that vote is the decision this profile leaves to you. ## Bob Smith Commander Bob Smith is a retired U.S. Navy officer with more than twenty-six years of service, including combat deployments and work on advanced weapons systems and radar development. He was named the U.S. Navy Engineer of the Year in 2023 and holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering technology and a master’s degree in systems engineering (campaign site). He has lived in Carpinteria for more than a decade with his wife, Adriana, and their children. Smith says he is running because "the families on this coast deserve a representative who measures success by problems solved, not by headlines earned" (campaign site). On September 18, 2026, he changed his voter registration from Republican to No Party Preference, saying "I’ve never been focused on the president at all. I’ve been focused on issues here on the Central Coast" (KEYT). He described Carbajal as a "nice guy" but said the incumbent has not solved the district’s core problems. His old Republican registration still appears on the November ballot. Smith’s platform calls for reducing wasteful federal spending and lowering housing, energy, and food costs. On education he wants "vocational pathways and partnerships with UCSB and Cal Poly" (campaign site). On immigration he calls for securing the border while providing "legal clarity for long term residents." He positions himself as "a problem solver, not a politician" (campaign site). **Strengths:** A 26-year Navy career and a named engineering honor, with a registration switch that he says puts the district ahead of party. **Trade-offs:** He has no record in any elected office, so his positions are what voters can judge, not a governing record. **Keep in mind:** He remains on the ballot under his old party label even after switching his registration, which he says he will explain to voters as the race continues. ## Record in office Salud Carbajal (Democratic) has served in the U.S. House since 2017 and has sponsored 38 bills in the 119th Congress; 1 of their career bills have become law. Bob Smith has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices. Per Congress.gov and the public-domain congress-legislators roster, retrieved 2026-09-21. ## Record details Carbajal — Committees: Agriculture; Armed Services; Transportation and Infrastructure Carbajal — HR 7158 (2025): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 201 East Battles Road in Santa Maria, California, as the "Larry Lavagnino Post Office Building". Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record. ## Financial info - **Salud Carbajal** — $1,650,355 raised (Individuals: $1,065,070; PACs & committees: $571,016) - **Bob Smith** — $203,264 raised (Individuals: $169,882; Party: $1,286; Self-funding: $22,492) Total raised is all receipts for the 2026 cycle; the breakdown lists direct contributions, so the pieces can sum below the total. Figures are FEC filings through June 30, 2026, per the FEC bulk campaign-finance summaries, retrieved 2026-09-21. ## Review notes - Salud Carbajal for Congress and Bob Smith for Congress may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)](https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/prior-elections/statewide-election-results/primary-election-june-2-2026/statement-vote) 2. [Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary](https://ballotpedia.org) 3. [Congressman Salud Carbajal — Biography (career history, Marine Corps service, legislative record)](https://carbajal.house.gov/biography) 4. [Salud Carbajal for Congress — campaign site (home, issues)](https://www.saludcarbajal.com/) 5. [Santa Barbara Independent — Santa Barbara Congressmember Salud Carbajal Votes Against Military Aid to Israel](https://www.independent.com/2026/07/17/santa-barbara-congressmember-salud-carbajal-votes-against-military-aid-to-israel/) 6. [Bob Smith for Congress — campaign site (biography, platform)](https://www.bobsmithforcongress.com/) 7. [KEYT — 24th Congressional District Candidate Changes Political Status](https://keyt.com/news/local-politics/2026/09/18/24th-congressional-district-candidate-changes-political-status/) 8. [congress-legislators — current members of Congress (unitedstates project)](https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-current.json) 9. [Congress.gov — member sponsored legislation (Library of Congress)](https://api.congress.gov/) 10. [FEC — 2026 House & Senate current-campaign financial summaries (bulk data)](https://www.fec.gov/files/bulk-downloads/2026/webl26.zip) ## The rest of the ballot United States Representative, District 24 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, "United States Representative, District 24 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/us-rep-24 (sources last retrieved September 24, 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.