June 2, 2026 Election
-
Deliver your ballot at a drop box or polling station by Tuesday, 8 PM on June 2! For drop off locations and other voting information in Santa Cruz County, visit www.votescount.santacruzcountyca.gov
-
Bring a friend! Help get out the blue vote!
-
Do not mail your ballot on June 2 – it will not count unless you walk it in and have it hand post marked.
-
The deadline to register to receive your ballot by mail has passed, but you can register and vote same day if you need to. But plan ahead by visiting the Elections Department above to make sure you bring everything you need.
Endorsements
As the Santa Cruz County Democratic Party we endorse and support local candidates and campaigns that are in alignment with our values. Our members hold endorsements forums to discuss the campaigns and vote. While only members can vote on these endorsements, members of the public are welcome to attend. Join our mailing list to find out when the next endorsement forum will take place.
Please note, the Santa Cruz County Democratic Party cannot take a position contrary to the California Democratic Party. However, endorsements of the Santa Cruz County Democratic Party at the local level are adopted as the endorsements of the California Democratic Party.
2026 Endorsed Candidates
In order for candidates to be endorsed by the SCDCC a threshold of 60% must be reached. Only DCC members are able to vote in the endorsement process. If the threshold is not reached no endorsement is given.
Santa Cruz City Council
The Santa Cruz Democratic Party did not reach a consensus on the positions of Santa Cruz City Mayor, or Santa Cruz City Council districts 4 or 6, so no endorsements were made.
What About the Governor's Race?
Because of California's jungle primary (2011 Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act - which applies to all statewide races) and the very divided field of Democratic candidates running for governor, it is possible for the top two candidates to be Republicans - even if many more Californian's cast their votes for Democrats. That would mean no Democrats on the ballot for governor in November, and no write in option!
Because the California Democratic Party did not reach a consensus and endorse a candidate, the Santa Cruz Democratic Party can't either. But we must not divide the vote.
To ensure that we don't divide the vote, the Santa Cruz Democratic Party encourages you to only vote for one of the top two polling democrats in the governor's race. (If you want to play it really safe, you could vote for only the top polling Democrat, but if we get out the vote, top 2 should be fine).
But which poll is right?
Why choose just one? Consider this aggregate of ~50 recent different poll results.
As of May 25, 2026, Becerra and Steyer to have significant leads over other candidates running for Governor:
We realize that voting for one of the top two polling Democrats might mean abandoning your favorite candidate. We know it's hard. We wish that less viable candidates would have heeded the calls of the California Democratic Party to suspend their campaigns - but since they did not, we hope voters will see the bigger picture, be team players, and unify around candidates that data shows have a solid chance of winning so we don't lose the governor seat to a Republican.
Ways to Get Involved
With the fast approaching election there is still time to get involved. Check out the resources below to learn how to get involved.
Phonebank or find other ways of volunteering to help get out the vote throughout the state.
