Voters in Salinas and across Monterey County in California went to the polls on Tuesday 3 November 2026, in a local election whose most closely watched question is Measure H, a referendum on four rental ordinances adopted by the Salinas City Council, alongside races for mayor of Salinas, for seats on the city council, and for school boards and county offices. Polls were open from 7am to 8pm, and the first results were expected after 8:30pm from the Monterey County Registrar of Voters, the office that administers elections in the county. No results are claimed in this article, because the count had not been completed at the time of writing, and the contests described here were still to be decided by voters and by the counting of ballots, including mailed ballots that may arrive and be counted after election night.
Salinas is the largest city in Monterey County and the county seat, a farming and packing city in the Salinas Valley whose economy is built on agriculture, whose population is heavily Latino, and whose housing market reflects the pressures of a region where farmworkers, service workers and families compete for a limited supply of rental homes. Those pressures are the backdrop to Measure H and to much of the local campaign, and they explain why a set of rental rules, which might seem technical in another city, has become the central argument of this election. For many Salinas voters, the question is not abstract: it is about what they pay in rent, how secure they are in their homes, and what rights they have when a landlord wants them to leave.
The mayor’s race is the most visible contest on the ballot. Incumbent mayor Dennis Donohue, who was elected in 2024 and who previously served as mayor from 2006 to 2012, is seeking to continue in office, drawing on a long record in Salinas politics and on his supporters’ argument that his experience is an asset in dealing with the city’s challenges. He faces three challengers: Peter Szalai, a retired educator, who brings a background in schools and in public service to the race; Daniel Muñoz, a former construction worker, whose candidacy speaks to the experience of working people in the city; and Hezekiah Gonzalez, whose campaign adds a further voice to a field that offers voters a genuine choice of backgrounds and approaches. The presence of four candidates means the race is not a simple referendum on the incumbent, but a contest among different visions for the city’s leadership.
Salinas Monterey County election Measure H and the four rental ordinances
Measure H is a referendum, which means voters are being asked to decide whether four ordinances already adopted by the city council should stand or fall. The four measures cover rental registration, rent stabilization, tenant protections including just-cause eviction rules, and tenant anti-harassment protections. Each addresses a different part of the rental relationship, and together they would create a comprehensive framework for renting in Salinas if they survive the vote. If voters reject them, the ordinances would be repealed, and the city would return to the previous state of the law on these questions, unless the council acts again.
Rental registration would require landlords to register rental properties with the city, giving officials a record of the rental stock, of ownership and of rents charged. Supporters argue that registration is a basic tool of good governance: a city cannot enforce housing rules, track conditions or plan for housing needs if it does not know what rental properties exist and who owns them. Opponents argue that registration adds bureaucracy and cost, particularly for small landlords, and that the fees and paperwork involved could discourage people from offering homes for rent at all.
Rent stabilization would limit how much landlords can raise rents, typically by tying annual increases to a formula based on inflation or to a fixed percentage cap. Supporters argue that stabilization protects tenants from sudden, unaffordable increases that can force families out of their homes, disrupt children’s schooling and push workers away from the jobs the valley depends on. They point to cases in which rents have jumped sharply in a single year, leaving tenants with a choice between paying far more, moving at short notice, or facing eviction. Opponents argue that caps discourage investment in rental housing, reduce the incentive to maintain and improve properties, and can, over time, shrink the supply of homes available to rent, making the housing shortage worse rather than better. Economists disagree about the long-term effects of rent stabilization, and the debate in Salinas reflects that wider disagreement, with each side citing different cities and different studies.
Tenant protections, including just-cause eviction rules, would limit the reasons for which a landlord can evict a tenant, requiring a lawful cause such as non-payment of rent, a lease violation, or the owner’s genuine need to use the property, rather than allowing eviction without stated reason at the end of a tenancy. Supporters argue that just-cause rules give tenants security and prevent retaliatory evictions against people who complain about conditions or assert their rights. They argue that without such rules, other tenant protections are hollow, because a landlord who dislikes a complaint can simply decline to renew a tenancy. Opponents argue that just-cause rules make it harder to remove problem tenants, increase the cost and difficulty of managing properties, and interfere with a property owner’s right to decide how their property is used. They argue that existing state law already provides tenants with protections, and that additional local rules add complexity without clear benefit.
Tenant anti-harassment protections would prohibit landlords from harassing tenants, for example by cutting off services, by threatening eviction, or by other conduct intended to pressure a tenant to leave. Supporters argue that harassment is a real problem for vulnerable tenants, particularly those who may not know their rights or who fear retaliation if they complain, and that a clear local prohibition, with enforcement behind it, gives those tenants a remedy they would not otherwise have. Opponents argue that harassment is already unlawful under state law, that a new local rule duplicates existing protections, and that broad definitions of harassment could expose landlords to complaints for ordinary management actions. As with the other measures, the debate turns on a combination of principle, about the balance between owners’ rights and tenants’ security, and of practicality, about how the rules would be enforced and what they would cost.
Salinas council races, school boards and county contests
Beyond the mayor’s race and Measure H, Salinas voters are choosing members of the city council in three districts. In District 2, incumbent Tony Barrera faces Jose Guerra, a candidate from the Monte Bella area, in a race that will help decide the council’s direction on housing, public safety and development. In District 3, Margaret D’Arrigo faces two challengers, Cary Swensen, a business owner, and Brent Bagley, in a three-way contest that offers voters a choice between experience and new perspectives on the council. In District 5, Andrew Sandoval faces Irma C. Lopez, a school family resource centre manager, whose background in working with families and schools brings a community-services perspective to the race. Council races in Salinas matter because the council decides the city’s budget, its housing policies, its policing and its planning decisions, and because the council’s composition will determine whether Measure H, if it survives, is implemented enthusiastically, cautiously or with amendments.
School board contests are also on the ballot, and they deserve attention even though they attract less publicity than the mayor’s race. School boards decide policies on curriculum, on school safety, on budgets and on the hiring of superintendents, and in a city where many families have children in public schools, those decisions affect daily life directly. Voters in Salinas and in the surrounding districts are choosing board members for local school districts, and the outcomes will shape how schools respond to issues ranging from class sizes to support for English learners to the condition of school buildings. County contests, including races for county offices, are also being decided, and they affect services that cross city boundaries, such as the sheriff’s department, public health, roads and social services.
The administration of the election itself is a story worth noting. The Monterey County Registrar of Voters is responsible for mailing ballots, operating polling places, counting votes and reporting results, and the office’s timetable, with first results after 8:30pm, reflects the work of processing ballots that arrive by mail and in person. California’s election system allows voters to cast ballots by mail, to drop them off, or to vote in person, and the counting of mailed ballots can continue after election night as ballots postmarked by election day arrive and are verified. That means the first results reported on election night are partial, and that close races may not be called until later counts are complete. Voters and commentators should therefore treat election-night figures as early returns, not as final results, and should wait for the registrar’s certified count before drawing conclusions about any contest, including Measure H.
Turnout and participation are also part of the story. Local elections in odd-numbered years, and in midterm years when no presidential race is on the ballot, often draw lower turnout than presidential elections, and the voters who do turn out tend to be older, more settled and more engaged with local issues than the electorate as a whole. That pattern, if it holds in Salinas, could affect the outcome of Measure H, because renters, who are directly affected by the ordinances, have historically voted at lower rates than homeowners, while landlords and property owners have strong incentives to vote. Campaigns on both sides of Measure H have therefore invested in turning out their supporters, and the result may depend as much on who votes as on what the broader public thinks about rent rules in the abstract.
For Salinas, the election is a moment of decision about the kind of city it wants to be. A vote to uphold the rental ordinances would signal that a majority of participating voters believe the city should intervene more actively in the rental market to protect tenants and to stabilise rents, even at the cost of new rules for landlords. A vote to repeal them would signal that a majority believes the ordinances go too far, or that housing problems should be addressed by building more homes rather than by regulating rents, or that the council overstepped in adopting them. Either outcome will shape housing policy in Salinas for years, and either outcome will be watched by other California cities facing similar pressures, as an example of what voters will accept when asked directly about rent regulation. The mayor’s race and the council races will, in turn, determine who implements that decision and how. Until the registrar’s count is complete, however, all of that remains to be decided, and this article claims no result for any contest on the Salinas and Monterey County ballot.
Sources
USN reviewed reporting from multiple outlets for this story. Read more from The Californian, Oakland North and NorthJersey.