It is time for the 2026 California general elections. The midterm general election day will take place on November 3rd. Mail-in ballots will be given about a month prior, on October 5th. For Californians, the most important races are the election for the new Mayor of Los Angeles, all 52 U.S. House of Representatives seats, and the Governor. This election is also very important because it is being seen as a possible referendum on the Trump administration. Democrats are looking to flip the House of Representatives and Senate. This would make President Trump an outgoing official with two years left in his presidency, with a possible impeachment threat. The Republicans are hoping to maintain control to continue Trump’s policies.
In the California Governor race, Democrat Xavier Becerra is focusing on lowering the cost of housing, homelessness, and wildfire prevention. He served as Secretary of Health and actively opposes the Trump administration. His opponent, Steve Hilton, promises to reduce homelessness, lower gas prices, lower electricity bills, and actively supports the Trump administration; additionally, he was even endorsed by President Trump. This race between these two is significant because California hasn’t had a republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger, who left office in 2011. This vote decides if California will face major executive changes. Now, although it can seem like the governor election is the most important, the congressional election is equally as important. Unlike the Governor, the members of Congress represent the whole state in the federal government. Our votes in this election can decide whether we are for or against certain policies that only Congress is able to pass.
Voting in this election will demonstrate our stance on certain policies that only Congress is able to pass.
For the congressional race, there are two candidates for each district in California, with 3 districts in the San Fernando Valley. The candidates for the central and eastern valley are Luz Maria Rivas (Democrat Incumbent) and Angelica Maria Dueñas (Democrat Challenger); southeastern valley candidates are Laura Friedman (Democrat Incumbent) and Scott Meyers (Republican Challenger); western valley candidates are Brad Sherman (Democrat Incumbent) and Larry Thompson (Republican Challenger). There is also a race for the mayor of Los Angeles. Current Mayor Karen Bass is in first place, with challenger Nithya Raman in second place. Although their plan if they were elected as mayor aren’t that different, like reducing homelessness and housing costs, one key difference is that Nithya Raman doesn’t want to fund LAPD recruitment as much as Karen Bass is and wants to. Currently, Karen Bass is in the lead by about 30,000 votes.
So why should students be informed about this? Many of us will soon be eligible to vote, and having an understanding of the pros and cons of who or what we are voting for will help us know our viewpoint when we can eventually vote. There are some seniors this year who can vote in this election. Santiago Avelar is currently a senior at SOCES who is eligible to vote. When asking him what he knows about the 2026 California elections, he said: “I am not too educated on the California elections so far, but I plan on doing some research.” Upon asking him if he will vote in these elections, he stated: “I will be voting for whichever candidate best matches my values… so yeah I will be voting.” Many of us seniors feel the same way. We don’t really get any information on politics other than TikToks that aren’t that reliable. We should all do enough research before taking a side because if we don’t, we might regret choosing the side that we did.