Four seats. One ballot.
Four Salinas City Council seats are on the November 2026 ballot — including the mayor’s. Here’s every declared candidate, the race they’re running, and a line straight to their campaign finance.
Data as of 2026-10-17Each card leads with 2026 monetary contributions, taken from the campaign statements committees filed with the City. Figures labeled 2024–25 come from earlier filings and are a separate dataset. 2026 Money →
Candidate portraits were supplied to the project by the pictured candidates and are documented in the project’s rights ledger; where no photograph is on file, initials are shown.
Salinas City Council Races
Four seats up. Incumbents and declared challengers below.
My council district
Three council seats — D1, D4, D6 — are mid-term and not on the 2026 ballot.
Not sure which district you’re in? Look up by address →
Mayor
Dennis Donohue
- 2026 monetary contributions
- $141,197
- Statement coverage: 2026-01-01 to 2026-10-17
Daniel Muñoz
Also known as: Cal Paradox
Construction worker, musician, community activist
- 2026 monetary contributions
- $22,719
- Statement coverage: 2026-01-01 to 2026-10-17
Peter Szalai
Retired educator, citizen-advocate
- 2026 monetary contributions
- $5,646
- Statement coverage: 2026-01-01 to 2026-10-17
Hezekiah Gonzalez
Student, civil engineering · first-time candidate
- 2026 monetary contributions
- Unavailable not zero
No committee in the City’s e-filed exports used here was matched to this candidate; the City’s portal may list filings that are not in those exports. The 2026 figures are unavailable, not zero.
District 2
Tony Barrera
- 2026 monetary contributions
- Paper-filed $8,488
- Statement coverage: 2026-01-01 to 2026-09-19
Read from the committee's paper-filed Form 460 statements (filing 217038488, received 2026-07-08; filing 217534118, received 2026-09-28), not from the City's e-filed data.
Jose Guerra
- 2026 monetary contributions
- Unavailable not zero
No committee in the City’s e-filed exports used here was matched to this candidate; the City’s portal may list filings that are not in those exports. The 2026 figures are unavailable, not zero.
District 3
Margaret D’Arrigo
- 2026 monetary contributions
- $96,199
- Statement coverage: 2026-01-01 to 2026-10-17
2024–2025 history $135,190 2024-25 filing total
Cary Swensen
Educator, small business owner
- 2026 monetary contributions
- $16,647
- Statement coverage: 2026-01-01 to 2026-10-17
2024–2025 history $22,740 2024 filing total
Brent Bagley
Small-business & housing advocate
- 2026 monetary contributions
- Paper-filed $225
- Statement coverage: 2026-07-01 to 2026-09-19
Read from the committee's paper-filed Form 460 statement (filing 217503619, received 2026-09-23), not from the City's e-filed data.
District 5
Andrew Sandoval
- 2026 monetary contributions
- $22,933
- Statement coverage: 2026-01-01 to 2026-10-17
Irma C Lopez
- 2026 monetary contributions
- $102,146
- Statement coverage: 2026-01-01 to 2026-10-17
U.S. Congressional Race
Salinas is in California’s 18th Congressional District, where Zoe Lofgren (D) and Shane Lewis (R) advanced from the June 2 primary. CA-19, shown here, covers the Monterey Peninsula and coastal Monterey County, not Salinas. Check your sample ballot for your district.
U.S. House · CA-19
Jimmy Panetta
In office since January 2017 · Ways & Means Committee
Peter Coe Verbica
Republican challenger · advanced from the June 2 primary
CA-19 uses a top-two primary. The Secretary of State’s certified Statement of Vote for the June 2 primary reports Panetta at 58.4% and Verbica at 20.5%, placing them first and second and advancing them to November.
Also on the 2026 Salinas Ballot
Everything else a Salinas voter sees on Nov 3. We don’t track campaign finance for these — find candidates and details at the California Secretary of State, Monterey County Elections, and the FEC. June 2 primary figures on this page match the Secretary of State’s certified Statement of Vote, checked . Confirm proposition numbers and local measure letters on your official sample ballot.
Federal & statewide offices
U.S. House · CA-18
Zoe Lofgren (D) vs. Shane Lewis (R). All of the City of Salinas is in CA-18; the CA-19 race above covers the Monterey Peninsula and coastal Monterey County. Check your sample ballot for your district.
Governor of California
Open seat — Gavin Newsom is term-limited. The top two finishers from the June 2 primary advanced to November; see the Secretary of State for the certified results.
Lieutenant Governor
Statewide executive office · on the November ballot.
Secretary of State
California’s chief elections officer · on the November ballot.
Controller
State’s chief fiscal officer · on the November ballot.
Treasurer
Manages state banking and investments · on the November ballot.
Attorney General
State’s top law-enforcement officer · on the November ballot.
Insurance Commissioner
Regulates insurance in California · on the November ballot.
Supt. of Public Instruction
Nonpartisan statewide education office · on the November ballot.
Board of Equalization · District 2
Tax-administration board seat covering Monterey County.
State Assembly · AD-29
All of Salinas is in Assembly District 29: Speaker Robert Rivas (D) vs. Dennis P. Sanchez (R) on Nov. 3. Neighboring AD-30 (Dawn Addis) covers the Monterey Peninsula coast. Check your sample ballot for your district.
Statewide propositions
14 statewide propositions (Props 1–5 and 37–45)
Topics include housing and medical-research bonds, taxes and the state rainy-day fund, voter ID, recall elections, public campaign financing, community health clinics, and environmental review — see the Secretary of State’s qualified-measures list and the Official Voter Information Guide.
Judicial — retention (yes/no)
California Supreme Court
Retention votes for Justices Kelli Evans and Joshua Groban — a yes/no on keeping each in office.
6th District Court of Appeal
Retention votes for Justices Bromberg, Wilson, Grover, and Danner (this district covers Monterey County).
Monterey County
County offices
County offices (supervisors, sheriff, district attorney and others) were on the June 2 primary ballot. Monterey County Elections’ candidate list for Nov. 3 shows no county offices on the November ballot.
Schools & special districts
Salinas Union High School District
Governing board seats up for election.
Salinas City Elementary School District
Governing board seats up for election.
Alisal Union School District
Governing board seats up for election.
Hartnell Community College District
Trustee-area seats up for election.
Salinas Valley Health
Healthcare district board seats up for election.
Not sure what’s in your specific ballot? Look up your address at Monterey County Elections ↗ or the California Secretary of State ↗
Track these campaigns as they raise.
FPPC Form 460 filings follow reporting schedules, but this site is not a live feed. The 2026 figures on this page come from campaign statements. Data as of 2026-10-17. The 2024–25 figures come from an earlier snapshot. Each set changes only after the project manually downloads, imports, reviews, and publishes new data; NetFile may be newer in the meantime.