The secretary of state oversees statewide elections, posts campaign and lobbying finance information, handles certain business filings, regulates notaries and runs the State Archives, according to the official voter guide. On Nov. 3 the job is on the ballot, and the two candidates disagree about nearly everything in it.

The incumbent

Weber was appointed in 2021 as California's first Black secretary of state and won a full term in 2022 after eight years in the Assembly, CalMatters reports. In her ballot statement she writes that she was born in the Jim Crow South to sharecroppers who couldn't vote, and that her parents cast their first votes in California. She says some people want shorter polling hours, fewer days to vote and an end to vote-by-mail, and that she has fought in court for voting rights and "stood up to Donald Trump."

The challenger

Wagner is an Orange County supervisor, a former Irvine mayor and a former Assembly member, according to CalMatters, which reports that he supports voter ID and pushed for the release of voter information to the U.S. Department of Justice. His ballot statement calls the state's election system "mismanaged and broken," faults California for taking more than a month to finish counting while other large states report on election night, and says 36 states require photo ID at the polls. He pledges to speed up the count and says the office should be nonpartisan, "an umpire for fair elections."

Why it matters this year

The race comes as the Justice Department has pressed California counties over voter eligibility; see our coverage of the federal ruling on 20,000 flagged ballots. Statements in the official guide are written by the candidates and are not fact-checked by the state.

How to vote

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls and vote centers close at 8 p.m., and mailed ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and arrive within seven days. You can check your registration and ballot status at sos.ca.gov/elections. California lets you register and vote the same day at a vote center.

More races and measures: our 2026 election hub.