CaliforniaPeople.org

How this guide was built

Goal: give one voter the context missing from the official voter guide: verifiable track records for candidates and the real-world mechanics, money and beneficiaries behind each proposition.

Source hierarchy

  1. Primary and nonpartisan official sources: Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) ballot analyses; California Secretary of State certified candidate lists and campaign contribution totals; county impartial analyses; court rulings; government press releases (used for what an office did, not for claims of success).
  2. Reputable nonpartisan reporting: CalMatters, KQED, EdSource, AP, local newspapers.
  3. Secondary references: Wikipedia and Ballotpedia, used for résumé dates and pointers, and labeled when used.
  4. Not used as evidence: campaign websites (except to state a candidate's own priorities, labeled as such), AI-generated "fact" sites, partisan opinion outlets (except where labeled).

What each entry covers

  • Candidates: résumé; track record that supports their pitch; track record that cuts against it; positions; endorsements; a short "job-applicant read" that summarizes the evidence.
  • Propositions: what it actually does; nonpartisan fiscal estimate; who sponsored it, who is funding each side, who benefits; whether it addresses a lasting problem; the strongest arguments on each side.
  • If you vote yes: accountability (each prop): which agency spends or enforces it and the officials who answer for it; who receives the money and where those records live; audits, lawsuits and fraud cases already on record; who to press and what to ask for; and ready-to-send California Public Records Act requests. These sections name offices and public officials only.

Limits

  • Money figures are as of Oct 22, 2026, the last statewide filing before the election.
  • Some local races have little independent reporting; those entries say so.
  • Districts were looked up for one address in Rancho Cucamonga using Census and county/city GIS layers. Your official sample ballot is the final word.

Vetting pass (Oct 28, 2026)

A second review checked every page for single-source claims, Wikipedia-only claims, vague wording and missing third-party checks.

Fixed in this pass

  • Prop 4 money: the page said no committees had registered; KQED (citing the Secretary of State) shows $984.6K raised in support and $0 against. Corrected.
  • Fiona Ma: the claim that she "initiated" the Board of Equalization audits came only from Wikipedia. Replaced with what the LA Times and KQED actually report: she requested investigations and welcomed the governor's action after a Finance Department audit. The "improper gifts" line was replaced with the specific Sacramento Bee allegation (a caviar seller on work trips) and a note that no wrongdoing finding was found.
  • Gloria Romero's party switch and Trump vote now cite Spectrum News (Sept 4, 2024) instead of Wikipedia.
  • Prop 40: the 2% compromise offer now cites AP (June 18, 2026), and the claim that "Newsom refused" was softened to what is documented (no deal was made). Added CalMatters' fact check of the opponents' "Trojan horse" ad (rated partially true).
  • Prop 3: noted that Ballotpedia reports $74.8M for Yes while the Secretary of State shows $81.1M, because they count different committees.
  • Local page: replaced the "likely" districts with the districts for your address (Congress District 35, not 33), removed the BOE District 4 race, and added County Board of Education Area B and Council District 2 detail.

Third-party checks used

  • Nonpartisan fiscal analysis: LAO for all 14 props.
  • Money: Secretary of State totals (through Oct 22), cross-checked against Ballotpedia News (Oct 26) and KQED.
  • Fact-checkers: CalMatters fact checks (Prop 40), CapRadio's governor-debate fact check, PolitiFact (governor's race). PolitiFact California had no 2026 checks on these propositions or other statewide candidates as of Oct 28.

Still thin or unverified (read these entries with more caution)

  • Résumé dates for Becerra, Hilton, Ma, Romero, Aguilar and Torres come from Wikipedia. They are low-risk facts but not checked against official bios.
  • Norma Torres's legislative accomplishments come from a friendly source (the CHCI bio, which repeats her office's account) and her own press releases. No independent effectiveness scoring was found.
  • Treasurer and Controller entries rest mostly on CalMatters. No second independent source yet on Kounalakis's or Morgan's business records.
  • Local races: David VanGorden, Connie Velazquez, Marjorie Hamada, Jaskirat Sondh, Michael Perez and Oliver King have almost no independent coverage. Kimberly Watson and Rita Fernandez-Loof (County Board of Education) have none.
  • The Chaffey High School District Area 2 seat appears uncontested based only on a teachers' union endorsement list.
  • Prop 39 money: the Secretary of State figures here ($36.6M Yes / $33.6M No) differ slightly from Ballotpedia's ($39.5M / $33.3M), again because of committee counting.
  • Polls are single snapshots and are labeled with dates.

Research compiled Oct 28, 2026.