# Secretary of State

URL: https://www.californiapeople.org/candidates/secretary-of-state

- office: Secretary of State
- what_the_job_is: Chief elections officer (certifies results, sets voting-system rules, publishes the voter guide, oversees but does not run county counts), plus business filings and campaign/lobbying disclosure.
- candidates: [Shirley N. Weber (D, incumbent), Donald P. (Don) Wagner (R)]

## Shirley N. Weber (D) — incumbent

### Key findings
- **More than five years running statewide elections** (appointed 2021), including the 2021 recall. Oversaw making universal vote-by-mail permanent. [^1]
- Counting is slow (counties get 30 days), and **1.73% of mail ballots were rejected** in the June 2026 primary, up from 1.56% in 2024, mostly for arriving late. [^2]
- As a legislator, wrote AB 392 (2019), the stricter police deadly-force standard. [^3]

### Résumé
- San Diego State professor for nearly four decades (founding faculty of Africana Studies); a local school board; State Assembly 2012–2021; appointed Secretary of State 2021 (first Black person in the role), elected 2022. [^3]

### Track record (sourced)
- Assembly: authored AB 392 (2019), tightening when police may legally use deadly force; authored the law creating California's reparations task force. Teacher-tenure and evaluation bills she wrote failed. [^4]
- As SoS: administered the 2021 Newsom recall; oversaw making universal vote-by-mail permanent. [^3][^1]
- Sued local governments for violating election law; defended against a federal DOJ lawsuit seeking California voter-registration data; defeated a 2024 disability-rights suit over electronic ballot return. [^3] Prop 5, the recall reform on this ballot, grew out of a proposal from her office. [^5]

### Concerns (sourced)
- California's counts take weeks (counties have 30 days); critics including Wagner say she hasn't pushed to speed it up. She says "accuracy is far more important." [^3]
- Endorsements: CA Democratic Party, California Federation of Teachers, SEIU California. [^3]

## Don Wagner (R) — "Orange County Supervisor"

### Key findings
- Long local executive record: Orange County supervisor since 2019, Irvine mayor 2016–19, Assembly 2010–16. [^6]
- **No election-administration role** in his résumé. His main goals (voter ID, ending universal mail ballots) **require the Legislature**. [^7]
- Pushed to release sensitive voter data to the Trump Justice Department. [^1]

### Résumé
- Attorney; judge pro tem; president of the South Orange County Community College District board; State Assembly 2010–2016 (vice chair, Judiciary); Mayor of Irvine 2016–2019; Orange County Supervisor (District 3) since 2019, re-elected 2020 and 2024. [^6]
- Advanced from the June 2 primary with ~36.7%. [^6]

### Track record (sourced)
- As supervisor: criticized the state's COVID response, questioned county DEI spending, and pushed to release sensitive voter information to the Trump DOJ over claims of irregularities. [^1]
- Platform: voter ID at the polls, roll back universal mail ballots, shorter certification deadline. All would need the Legislature. [^7]
- Endorsements: CA Republican Party, Reform California, California Republican Assembly. [^1]

### Job-applicant read
Weber has run statewide elections for more than five years, with no major administration failures found, and the main critique is speed. Wagner has a long executive record in local government but none administering elections; his agenda depends mostly on laws the Legislature would have to pass.

## Sources
[^1]: CalMatters SoS guide. https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2026/secretary-of-state/
[^2]: AP via ABC7, rejected mail ballots (July 2026). https://abc7.com/post/150000-mail-ballots-rejected-californias-primary-despite-efforts-count-every-vote/19571066/
[^3]: inewsource/CalMatters (May 1, 2026). https://inewsource.org/2026/05/01/california-secretary-of-state-shirley-weber-counting-ballots/
[^4]: CalMatters 2022 Weber profile. https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2022/secretary-of-state/shirley-weber/
[^5]: CalMatters Prop 5 guide. https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2026/proposition-5-recall-reform/
[^6]: Ballotpedia, Don Wagner. https://ballotpedia.org/Don_Wagner
[^7]: CalMatters (Apr 2026). https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/04/california-secretary-state-race/