Sunrise Orange County 2026 Midterms
Progressive Voter Guide

Sunrise Orange County acknowledges that some of the candidates we are casting our ballot for are a mixed bundle of great, okay at best, and controversial. BUT we think some of these candidates will get us a little bit closer to a Green New Deal: good union jobs, clean air and water, affordable living, and racial and economic justice for all while others will prevent the situation from getting worse.
‍
Note: No candidates are endorsed by Sunrise Movement OC unless explicitly stated as an endorsement.
Legend:
- Purple highlight = Endorse: These are candidates that we talked with directly and our Chapter agreed to support them and their campaign. We see their campaign as strongly aligned with our goals.
- Green highlight = Recommend: These are candidates and positions that we support based on our research
- Gray highlight = No Recommendation/indifferent: These are candidates or races that we either do not feel strongly about or cannot come to a firm decision on.
- Red highlight = Lesser of Two Evils/Controversial: These are candidates that we agreed as a Chapter are not great, but better than the alternative who we consider to be risky to allow to accumulate any power or it's a "Vote for Democrat over Republican" scenerio.
- Red-Orange highlight = No Vote: We don't like any candidate options and there is no good alternative. Consider leaving these blank votes.
Important Dates and Information:
- October 29th - Ballots sent by mail must be postmarked on or before election day and must be received no later than7 days after Election day, Nov 3.
- November 3rd, before 8pm - Due date of your mail-in ballot to be deposited/dropped off at a voter location or official dropbox.
- November 3rd, before 8pm - It is also the day you can vote in-person as a polling station.
- Someone else can drop off your ballot for you as long as they are not being paid on a per ballot basis.
‍

California propositions

proposition 1 - bonds for housing affordability:
support

proposition 2 - increase rainy day fund:
support

proposition 3 - high-income tax for schools and healthcare funding:
support

proposition 4 - repeal prohibition against public funding:
support

proposition 5 - recall election process reform:
support

proposition 37 - homebuyers loan for new home buyers:
support

proposition 38 - bonds for immunology medical research:
Oppose

proposition 39 - government voter id:
oppose

proposition 40 - one-time billionaire tax: 
support

proposition 41 - prohibits new state taxes that exclude revenue from spending limit:
oppose

proposition 42 - prohibits new state property and certain retroactive taxes:
oppose

proposition 43 - voter limitation on raising revenues for local government services:
oppose

proposition 44 - community health clinics requiring 90% of revenue on program services:
oppose

proposition 45 - amend c.e.q.a. to expedite unspecified “essential” projects:
oppose

California State Races

governor:
= controversial, Dem vs Rep =

lieutenant Governor:
= controversial, Dem vs Rep =

secretary of state:
= controversial, Dem vs Rep =

Controller:
malia M. cohen - recommend

Insurance Commissioner:
Jane Kim - recommend

treasurer:
Eleni Kounalakis - recommend

Insurance Commissioner:
Jane Kim - recommend

Board of Equalization Member District 4:
= no recommendation =

California State Senate Races

California State Senate District 30:
= No Recommendation =

California State Senate District 32:
= no recommendation =

California State Senate District 33:
= No recommendation =

California State Senate District 34:
= No Recommendation =

California State Senate District 36:
Chris Duncan - Recommended

California State Senate District 38:
= No Recommendation =

California State Assembly

California State Assembly District 59:
Victor Hernandez - recommend

California State Assembly District 64:
= No Recommendation =

California State Assembly District 67:
Mark Pulido - No Recommendation

California State Assembly District 68:
Jessie Lopez - PROUDLY ENDORSED BY sUNRISE OC

California State Assembly District 70:
Paula Swift - Recommend

California State Assembly District 71:
= No Recommendation =

California State Assembly District 72:
Chris Kluwe - PROUDLY ENDORSED BY sUNRISE OC

California State Assembly District 73:
= No recommendation =

California State Assembly District 74:
sergio farias - no Recommendation

Judicial Retention races

All judicial races:
yes on all

U.S. Congressional Representatives (CA)

Representative District 38:
Hilda Solis - Recommend

Representative District 40:
= no vote =

Representative District 41:
linda Sanchez - recommend

Representative District 42:
Robert Garcia - Recommend

Representative District 45:
Derek Tran - lesser of two evils

Representative District 46:
Lou correa - lesser of two evils

Representative District 47:
Dave Min - Recommend

U.S. Representative District 49:
Mike Levin - Recommended

Orange County Board Supervisor

OC Supervisor, 2nd District:
= No vote =

OC Supervisor, 4th District:
Connor Traut - recommend

OC Supervisor, 5th District:
Katrina Foley - recommend

Costa mesa races

mayor:
= no vote =

City council District 3:
cara stewart - recommend

City council District 4:
angely andrade vallarta - PROUDLY ENDORSED BY sUNRISE OC

City council District 5:
Dr. Kelly Brown - PROUDLY ENDORSED BY sUNRISE OC

Garden grove races

garden grove mayor:
thu-ha nguyen - recommend

City council District 3:
amanda nguyen - recommend

City council district 4:
hieu nguyen - PROUDLY ENDORSED BY sUNRISE OC

santa ana races

Mayor:
dan shimell - recommend

Ward 2:
ben vasquez - recommend

Ward 4:
sandra de Anda - recommend

Ward 6:
Isuri S. Ramos - recommend

Board of education:
hector bustos - recommend

Irvine races

Mayor:
= no vote =

City council district 1:
Melinda liu - recommend

City council district 5:
= no vote =

city council district 6:
= no vote =

ballot measure d:
yes - PROUDLY ENDORSED BY sUNRISE OC