Know your Vote #Ventura

Election Season: Know Who You’re Voting For Ventura

Election season brings up a lot of words: Who should you vote for? Who is getting the endorsements? Who is Ventura Forward giving promotion to?

These are the types of words and understandings that we need voters in our cities, counties and states across the nation to understand when it comes to local elections.

And that’s what this article is about.

Over the last eight years, Ventura Forward has worked to create a place where people can learn more about what is happening in their community. Over the next four to six weeks, we’re going to do more and more to help everybody in the City of Ventura understand the candidates they’re voting for, so when they cast their vote, they feel knowledgeable.

We are not going to tell you who to vote for.

We are not going to tell you who Ventura Forward is endorsing.

We’re going to give you information.

Endorsements, Promotion and Information

Telling people who to vote for is one thing. Telling people who is endorsing a candidate is another.

An endorsement can come from an individual, organization, association, political group, labor organization, business organization or other group supporting a candidate. Those endorsements can give voters additional information about who supports a candidate and why.

But endorsements can also create confusion when voters don’t understand who the organizations are or what interests they represent.

Politics, at its most basic level, is policymaking by representatives of the people. And a representative of the people is not simply representing everyone who agrees with them.

Communities are never going to agree on one candidate.

The goal should be to understand the candidates as much as possible so voters can make their own decisions about who they believe will best represent them.

That is what Ventura Forward wants to help accomplish.

Understanding Ventura’s District Elections

The first thing to understand about the Ventura City Council election is how the system works.

Ventura previously elected its City Council through an at-large system. In 2018, the City transitioned to seven individual City Council districts. Each district elects one representative. (City of Ventura)

There is a much bigger story about why Ventura made that transition and the circumstances surrounding district-based elections throughout California. We can get into that separately.

For this article, we’re sticking to the basics.

Ventura has seven City Council districts. The district boundaries can also change. Following the 2020 Census, Ventura went through a redistricting process and adopted an updated district map in March 2022. (City of Ventura)

In the November 3, 2026 election, four City Council districts are voting:

District 1, District 4, District 5 and District 6.

Only voters living within those districts vote for the City Council candidate representing that district. The four winning candidates will each serve four-year terms. (City of Ventura)

If you live in District 2, 3 or 7, you will still receive a ballot and may have other races and measures to vote on, but you will not have a Ventura City Council race on your ballot this year.

We will provide the district map with this article so residents can better understand where these boundaries are.

Two Local Elections Ventura Forward Will Focus On

For the next six weeks, Ventura Forward will primarily focus its local election coverage on two areas:

Ventura City Council — four races.

Ventura Unified School District Board of Education — three races.

The three current VUSD trustee seats whose terms run through December 2026 are Trustee Areas 1, 4 and 5. (Ventura Unified School District)

Our purpose isn’t to tell you how to fill out your ballot.

Our purpose is to provide information about the people asking for your vote.

How Ventura Forward Will Cover Candidates

As we continue our election coverage, there are four major areas we’re going to look at.

1. Did they communicate with Ventura Forward from the beginning?

Communication matters. When candidates entered these races, did they communicate with us? Were they willing to answer questions and provide information that could be shared with the community?

2. Did they show up to the public forum?

Ventura Forward created public candidate forums at the Poinsettia Pavilion to put candidates in front of the people and allow questions to be asked publicly.

Did the candidate participate?

For Ventura Forward, showing up and answering questions in front of the public is information voters should know.

3. What are their priorities?

This is probably the biggest and most complicated category.

Ventura Forward is going to look at candidate priorities through three broad areas that we use as an editorial framework:

People. Staff. Special interests.

When we say people, we mean constituents — the individual residents and voters whom an elected official represents.

When we say staff, we mean the relationship candidates have with government employees, administrators and the people responsible for operating government.

When we say special interests, we’re looking at outside organizations and groups involved in the political process, including the endorsements candidates receive.

These categories are not inherently positive or negative. Government needs residents, elected representatives and professional staff, and endorsements can provide voters useful information about a candidate’s support.

What Ventura Forward wants to examine is where candidates themselves place their priorities.

We will show you the information and let you decide what it means.

4. Did they seek promotion or an opportunity to appear on Ventura Forward?

Did candidates ask to come on Ventura Forward?

Did they want to speak directly to our audience?

Did they ask for an interview, conversation or opportunity to explain their positions?

That’s important information too.

Candidates are asking to represent thousands of people. Their willingness — or unwillingness — to communicate through community platforms is something voters can consider alongside all of the other information available to them.

Information, Not Endorsements

Ventura’s City Council has seven members, with each representing one district. Beginning with the 2018 election, those representatives have been elected by voters within their individual districts. (City of Ventura)

Ventura Forward’s job during this election cycle isn’t to pick those representatives for you.

It’s to help you know them.

Who showed up?

Who communicated?

What are their priorities?

Who supports them?

Who sought opportunities to speak directly to the community?

And what have they actually said when given the opportunity to answer questions?

Over the next several weeks, we’re going to dig deeper into every one of those areas.

By Election Day, the goal is simple:

Know who you’re voting for.

Not because Ventura Forward told you who to vote for.

Because you had enough information to make that decision yourself.

Ventura Forward

All for forward, forward for all.