Santa Ana candidate filing period closes ahead of Nov. 3 election

Santa Ana’s regular candidate-nomination period for the city’s Nov. 3, 2026, General Municipal Election ended Aug. 7, completing the next major step before voters see the final ballot.

The City of Santa Ana announced that the filing period opened July 13. The Orange County Registrar of Voters also identified July 13 as the start of the 2026 candidate-filing period and Aug. 7 as the regular deadline.

What the deadline means

The filing deadline determines which candidates can move through the election process for Santa Ana offices. It does not, by itself, establish the final ballot or confirm that a candidate qualified for election. The approved election information does not include a certified list of Santa Ana candidates or a list of offices with contested races.

That distinction matters as the city moves toward the Nov. 3 election. A person submitting an application during the filing period should not automatically be described as qualified or certain to appear on the ballot. The final Santa Ana candidate field will depend on the city’s certified election records.

Where candidates filed

Orange County election officials directed candidates for local offices to file online or at the Registrar of Voters office at 1300-C S. Grand Ave. in Santa Ana. The county filing office is a local point of access for candidates, while the election itself is the city’s General Municipal Election.

The City of Santa Ana and the Orange County Registrar of Voters are the two election authorities identified in the filing announcements. Their notices establish the dates and filing locations but do not provide the final candidate lineup.

Countywide filing context

The Santa Ana municipal filing process took place within a broader Orange County election cycle. The Registrar of Voters said the larger 2026 filing period also involved more than 150 governing-body offices for county school and special districts.

That figure applies to the broader county process, not to the number of Santa Ana city offices or candidates. It should not be used as a count of Santa Ana races, nor does it indicate how many city contests will be competitive.

What comes next

The next key public-information step is the release of the certified Santa Ana candidate list and the identification of the offices and races that will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. The approved city and county announcements do not give a date for that list.

Until those records are available, the confirmed development is narrower: Santa Ana’s regular filing period ran from July 13 through Aug. 7, and the city’s municipal election remains scheduled for Nov. 3, 2026. The completed filing period sets the process in motion, but it does not yet show voters the final choices for City Hall or establish whether every office will have a contested race.