Presented by the Social Action Committee of Sigma Lambda Omega Chapter. Who’s on the ballot, what they actually control, and why it matters for our communities.
California mails you a ballot automatically — but only if you’re registered. Register early to make it easy, but even if you miss the deadline, you can still show up to any vote center and register on the spot.
Think of government like layers of an onion. Each layer controls different things in your life. You vote on all of them — but most people only pay attention to the top layer. That’s a mistake.
Here’s what each office controls — and importantly, what it cannot do, so you know where to direct your pressure.
Think of the Mayor like the principal of a really big school. They set priorities, control the city’s budget, appoint department heads (like LAPD chief, housing director), and propose laws to City Council. They run the day-to-day machine of city government.
The City Council is like 15 mini-mayors, each representing a district. They vote to pass or reject laws, approve zoning changes (who can build what, where), and control the city budget. Your council member is often the most accessible politician you can reach — and they directly control what happens in your neighborhood.
The City Attorney defends the city in lawsuits AND prosecutes misdemeanor crimes (like low-level theft, trespassing). They advise the city on legal questions and decide whether to pursue civil rights cases. This office decides how aggressively LA prosecutes crimes like open-air drug use or street vending — it’s a big deal for how the city treats unhoused people.
The Controller audits how the city spends money. If the city spends $100M on a homelessness program, the Controller investigates whether that money actually helped people or got wasted. They can’t change policy — but they can embarrass officials by exposing waste, which creates political pressure to fix problems.
Each of the 5 Supervisors represents about 2 million people — that’s bigger than many states. The Board runs LA County’s hospitals (like County-USC), the public defender’s office, mental health services, the probation department, and county jails. This is where a LOT of social justice battles happen — and it gets way less attention than the Mayor.
Gavin Newsom is term-limited, so this is a wide-open race. The Governor runs the largest state government in the country, signs or vetoes all state laws, controls the National Guard, and appoints judges. If you care about housing, climate, workers’ rights, or healthcare at a scale that affects all of California — this is your race.
The CA AG can sue corporations, landlords, and even local police departments. They investigate civil rights violations, enforce environmental laws, and act as a check on federal overreach. During the Trump era, the AG’s office became a major defender of California policy — this matters a lot in 2026.
State legislators write the laws that affect every city in California. Statewide rent control, tenant protections, criminal sentencing, climate mandates, worker protections, and school funding all start here. Your State Assembly member and State Senator are often underestimated — but they often matter more than the Governor for specific policy.
LAUSD serves about 400,000 students. The Board hires and fires the superintendent, sets curriculum, decides how budget is spent, and makes policy on school safety, mental health, and special education. 3 of 7 seats are up in 2026. This is massively important for families with kids in LA public schools.
Most people think they’re the same thing. They’re not — and confusing them means pushing for change in the wrong place. Here’s the breakdown:
These are the biggest challenges facing LA/CA communities right now — and which offices have real power to address them.
LA is in a full housing crisis. Rents are sky-high, evictions are rising, and new upzoning laws are reshaping neighborhoods. A post-wildfire surge made an already brutal rental market even worse. Who protects tenants? Who builds affordable housing? This is the central justice issue of 2026.
Over 75,000 people are unhoused in LA County on any given night. The city and county have spent billions — but the crisis persists. Who should lead? What approaches actually work? This issue touches mental health, addiction, housing supply, and policing all at once.
The January 2025 Palisades & Eaton fires destroyed thousands of homes, displaced tens of thousands, and exposed deep failures in city/state emergency planning. Who pays for rebuilding? How do we prevent price gouging? How do we make the city climate-resilient for future disasters?
LAPD’s budget is one of the largest in the country. Questions about accountability, use of force, police-free mental health responses, and over-policing of Black and Brown communities are on every ballot. The City Controller and City Attorney also shape how accountability works.
Renewed ICE activity in LA has created fear in immigrant communities. While the city can limit how LAPD cooperates with ICE, real protections require state action. The CA Attorney General has actively sued the federal government over immigration enforcement — this office matters enormously for sanctuary policies.
California passed Prop 1 in 2024, unlocking $6.4B for mental health housing and treatment. But how those dollars get spent — and whether the most vulnerable get real care vs. criminalization — depends heavily on county leadership and the Governor’s implementation priorities.
The Mayor gets the most press. But your City Council member votes on the zoning in your block, your State Assembly member votes on statewide rent control, and your Board of Supervisors rep controls the county hospital that might save your life. Every race matters.
Local rent control rules and statewide tenant protections come from these bodies. The Governor can sign or veto; State Assembly writes it. City Council controls local eviction policies.
The Mayor appoints LAPD’s chief. City Council approves the police budget. The CA Attorney General can investigate LAPD and mandate reforms. None of them do so unless pushed.
The Insurance Commissioner regulates whether your insurer can drop you or hike rates after a fire. The Governor controls disaster recovery spending and rebuilding policy.
City programs like Inside Safe are mayoral. County services — hospitals, mental health, shelter funding — are Supervisor territory. Both are needed. Neither alone is enough.
LAUSD Board controls the biggest urban school district in the West. The State Superintendent sets curriculum and accountability standards for all California public schools.
CA Governor and AG can resist federal enforcement. Real legislative protection requires Congress. City can limit LAPD-ICE cooperation but can’t grant legal status — that’s federal.
California makes voting easy — if you’re registered. And even if you’re not, you can register and vote at the same time at any vote center. Here’s what to do.
Go to registertovote.ca.gov. Takes 5 minutes. Deadline: May 18, 2026. But even if you miss it — you can still show up to any vote center, register on the spot, and vote that same day through California’s Conditional Voter Registration. No excuses. Your vote counts.
It comes in the mail automatically (around May 4). All active CA voters get one. Can’t find it? Go to lavote.gov to request a replacement.
Use ballot.fyi, Ballotpedia.org, or your county’s voter guide. Focus on city council and school board — those races matter most locally.
Drop at any official drop box (open May 5), mail it, or vote in person at a vote center (open May 23 for early voting, June 2 on Election Day).
If no one gets 50%+ in June, the top two go to November 3. That’s the real election for Mayor, Governor, and most big races. Don’t check out after June!
Propositions let you vote directly on policy — taxes, healthcare, housing, elections, and more. These measures can reshape California law regardless of who wins office. Here’s what’s on or likely headed to your 2026 ballot, and what each means for social justice.
This measure would raise the LA County sales tax from 9.75% to 10.25% for five years (through October 2031), generating an estimated $1 billion annually. The revenue would fund county hospitals, clinics, public health programs, and provide coverage for residents losing Medi-Cal benefits due to federal cuts under H.R. 1 (the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”). A nine-member citizens’ oversight committee would review spending.
Federal Medicaid cuts disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color. LA County has already announced clinic closures and potential layoffs of 5,000 staff. This measure directly determines whether hundreds of thousands of residents — many of them uninsured or newly uninsured — will have access to healthcare. Sales taxes are regressive, but the services funded are lifelines for the most vulnerable.
This legislatively referred statute (SB 42) would repeal the 1988 prohibition on public financing of political campaigns, allowing state and local governments to create programs that provide candidates with public funds in exchange for spending limits and eligibility rules.
Public financing can level the playing field for candidates who don’t have access to wealthy donor networks — potentially opening doors for more diverse candidates from underrepresented communities. It could reduce the outsized influence of large donors on elections and policy priorities that affect everyday people.
This constitutional amendment (SCA 1) would change how recalls work. Currently, if a Governor is recalled, voters simultaneously choose a replacement. This measure would eliminate that successor election — if the Governor is recalled, the Lieutenant Governor takes over, as happens with any other vacancy. For other state officers, the office stays vacant until filled per existing law.
The 2021 Newsom recall showed how the current system can allow a replacement candidate to potentially win office with far fewer votes than the official they’re replacing. This measure would prevent that dynamic, though critics argue it reduces direct voter choice.
This constitutional amendment (ACA 13, originally slated for 2024) targets a tactic where initiatives propose high vote thresholds — like requiring two-thirds approval for future tax measures — but only need a simple majority to pass. Under this measure, an initiative proposing a two-thirds requirement would itself need two-thirds to pass.
This is a direct counter to efforts like the tax measure below (Prop 3) that would make it harder for communities to fund local services. By raising the bar for anti-tax initiatives, it could protect local governments’ ability to fund schools, healthcare, transit, and affordable housing through voter-approved taxes.
This citizen-initiated constitutional amendment would raise the vote threshold for local special taxes from a simple majority to two-thirds, and would overturn property taxes that don’t comply. It could retroactively invalidate recently passed local tax measures.
Local special taxes fund schools, transit, affordable housing, and homelessness services. Raising the threshold to two-thirds makes it significantly harder to pass funding for these programs. Measures like LA County’s Measure A (homelessness services) passed with just over 50% — they would have failed under this rule. This directly threatens funding for social services in communities that need them most.
This initiative would impose a one-time 5% tax on personal assets exceeding $1 billion. Revenue would be directed primarily to healthcare services (90%), with the remaining 10% going to food assistance and education programs.
This is one of the most significant wealth-redistribution measures California has seen. With Medi-Cal cuts threatening millions, supporters see it as a way to fund healthcare without burdening working families. Opponents argue it could push wealthy residents and businesses out of state. The debate is fundamentally about who should pay for the social safety net.
This measure would cap annual compensation for executives at hospitals and medical groups at $450,000, with penalties for violations. It targets the growing gap between healthcare executive pay and the wages of healthcare workers and the affordability of care.
While communities struggle to access affordable healthcare, some hospital executives earn millions. This measure asks whether healthcare institutions should redirect executive compensation toward patient care and frontline worker wages — a core equity question as hospitals in underserved areas face closure.
This initiative would establish faster timelines for environmental review (CEQA) of “essential projects” including housing, transportation, water infrastructure, and clean energy. It also limits lawsuits that delay these projects.
CEQA reform is a double-edged sword for justice communities. Faster permitting could mean more affordable housing gets built sooner — a critical need. But weakened environmental review can also mean less protection for communities already bearing a disproportionate pollution burden. Who benefits from the “streamlining” depends entirely on which projects get built and where.
This citizen-initiated constitutional amendment would require voters to present government-issued photo identification at polling places, provide an ID number when voting by mail, and mandate annual reporting on citizenship verification by election officials.
Voter ID laws have historically been shown to disproportionately suppress turnout among Black, Latino, elderly, low-income, and young voters — groups that are less likely to possess qualifying ID. California currently has robust voter verification procedures without photo ID. Supporters say it protects election integrity; civil rights organizations widely oppose such measures as barriers to ballot access.
This measure would authorize $25 billion in state bonds to create a loan program offering fixed-rate mortgages to households earning up to 200% of area median income. The program would cover up to 17% of the purchase price to help with down payments on single-family homes.
Homeownership is the primary wealth-building tool in America, and the racial homeownership gap remains one of the starkest measures of economic inequality. A program like this could help families of color access homeownership who have been historically locked out by discriminatory lending, redlining, and wealth gaps. The question is whether the income thresholds and program design actually reach the communities that need it most.
Candidates get the spotlight, but propositions write the rules. A single ballot measure can reshape healthcare access, housing policy, or voting rights for millions of Californians. Read your full ballot before you vote.
California makes voting easy — if you’re registered. And even if you’re not, you can register and vote at the same time at any vote center. Here’s what to do.
Go to registertovote.ca.gov. Takes 5 minutes. Deadline: May 18, 2026. But even if you miss it — you can still show up to any vote center, register on the spot, and vote that same day through California’s Conditional Voter Registration. No excuses. Your vote counts.
It comes in the mail automatically (around May 4). All active CA voters get one. Can’t find it? Go to lavote.gov to request a replacement.
Use ballot.fyi, Ballotpedia.org, or your county’s voter guide. Don’t skip the propositions — they’re just as important as candidates.
Drop at any official drop box (open May 5), mail it, or vote in person at a vote center (open May 23 for early voting, June 2 on Election Day).
If no one gets 50%+ in June, the top two go to November 3. That’s the real election for Mayor, Governor, and most big races. Don’t check out after June!