SANTA BARBARA, Santa Barbara County — November 4, 2026. Valerie Amparan leads the three-candidate Santa Barbara Unified School District Trustee Area 4 election.

Preliminary candidate totals

The official overnight report lists Amparan 1,548 votes (43.58%), Rose Muñoz 1,289 (36.29%) and Kevin Thomas Guay 694 (19.54%), plus 21 write-ins.

How to interpret the contest

The first mail-only tally had Amparan and Muñoz tied at 809 votes apiece, but the addition of in-person votes changed the totals. This article uses the county’s later final unofficial election-night report. The race is not certified.

Not yet certified

The reporting cutoff is the Santa Barbara County Elections “Election Night — Final Update Unofficial Results” for November 3, 2026. That designation means the final election-night bulletin, not the certified vote. Even though the report lists all assigned precincts, eligible ballots can remain to be counted during the official canvass. County certification, not an interim article, confirms the winners.

Source: Santa Barbara County Elections official unofficial election-night results. California58 statewide coverage.

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