Depending on the outcome of November’s election, up to three seats on the Santa Maria City Council could change hands.
Of those three races, the 4th District race is guaranteed to bring new blood to the dais, without an incumbent to consider.
While current 4th District Councilmember Maribel Aguilera vies for retiring Santa Barbara County 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino’s post, one of Lavagnino’s appointees—county Planning Commissioner Vincent Martinez—is campaigning to take Aguilera’s council seat.
“In Orange County, I know a lot of people don’t believe it, but we actually had strawberry fields. We had orange groves. We had horses. We had chicken farms, … and I saw the disappearance of that as I grew up,” Martinez said at the Oct. 1 Northern Santa Barbara County League of Women Voters candidate forum. “I have that fear that that could happen here in Santa Maria.”
Some of Martinez’s largest individual donations are from those with ties to local agricultural, including $5,000 from DL Farm Management Inc., and $2,500 from Twitchell and Rice LLP.
According to filings with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), Martinez’s campaign raised $32,000 in contributions between January and late September.
In comparison, his opponent—U.S. Army veteran Tyler Barksdale—reported anticipating his campaign would raise a total of $2,000 or less.
The race for the 3rd District is similar. While FPPC filings for 3rd District Councilmember Gloria Soto’s reelection campaign show her raising $50,000 as of Oct. 12, her opponent, Corby Poulis Sr., shows $600.
Santa Maria resident Dottie Lyons is his sole contributor.
Multiple labor unions have donated to Soto’s campaign, which received $3,500 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), $5,900 from the Service Employees International Union Local 620, and $10,000 from Santa Maria Firefighters Local 2020.
“On public safety, I’ve supported investments in our firefighters and emergency services,” Soto said at the Oct. 1 forum. “I know what it means to have the opportunities that might not have been possible without the people in the community willing to invest in you.”
Poulis described his top campaign priorities as strengthening public safety, investing in youth, and partnering with small businesses.
“If we do those three things, we can build a Santa Maria that we can be proud to pass on to the next generation,” he said at the forum.
One of the largest individual contributors to Soto’s campaign is Santa Maria resident Cliff Solomon, who donated $6,000.
Known locally as an organizer and representative of Indivisible Santa Maria, Solomon also gave $2,000 to 1st District candidate Celest Mendoza’s campaign. As of Oct. 12, her campaign raised $5,000.
“My pillars are focused on affordability, opportunity, and accountability,” Mendoza said at the forum. “Our city deserves a lot more, and so do our residents.”
She also received $1,000 from Shatter PAC—a political action committee that regularly endorses Democratic women in Central Coast races. It gave $2,000 to Soto’s campaign.
While one of Mendoza’s opponents, incumbent Ricardo Batalla, has raised $10,000 in contributions, filings for the other candidate in the race—former Santa Maria-Bonita School District Citizens’ Oversight Committee member Gary Janek Michaels anticipates raising less than $2,000.
Like Soto, Councilmember Batalla’s run gained support from Santa Maria Firefighters Local 2020, which donated $2,000 to his campaign, IBEW, and the local Plumbers and Steamfitters union.
“We need to make sure we continue providing the proper services for our city to be safe,” Batalla said at the forum. “Currently we have eight [first responder] vacancies in Santa Maria.”
Michaels said he wants to put his “unique background in infrastructure deployment and fiscal management to work” on the dais.
“If you want the status quo, you can vote for my opponent, Richard Batalla, who was appointed by the current administration, heavily backed by the labor unions,” Michaels said at the forum. “You can vote for Miss Mendoza, who answers to her own coalition of special interests. But letting labor unions and special interests dictate our city spending is no way to run a government.
This article appears in October 15, 2026 – October 22, 2026.
