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Our verdict

LiberalMind endorses Sam Gallucci — as unproven, and on watch

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026, and California's mail ballots are already in voters' hands. This is the whole race — the records, the claims against each candidate, and what the sources actually show. Read the research, and decide which flaw you can live with.

The setup

California's 26th District, a Ventura County seat extended east into Los Angeles County by Proposition 50, is an open seat: Rep. Julia Brownley (D), first elected in 2012, is retiring. (Secondary sources describe the tenure as six terms and as seven; the 2012 first election is consistent.) Cook's 2026 PVI is D+9 and Cook rates the seat Solid D; district registration is reported at 43% Democratic / 28% Republican. In a nine-candidate primary (five Democrats, four Republicans), Jacqui Irwin (D) finished first with roughly 41% — about double the share of Sam Gallucci (R). Brownley endorsed Irwin.

Jacqui Irwin (Democratic)

The record: Irwin has been a California State Assemblymember since 2014 — twelve years, ending with her term limit in 2026 — after serving on the Thousand Oaks City Council, including two terms as its mayor. Local reporting puts her legislative focus on environmental protection, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and consumer protection/telecommunications. She raised more than $550,000 through the primary, leading the field.

Pros: The deepest local record in the race: mayor, council, twelve years in the Assembly, the outgoing incumbent's endorsement, and the field's best fundraising.

Cons: Her record is her party's California program executed competently for a decade; no documented break with her party toward our values appears in it. Experience inside a program is not an exception to it.

The flaw, plainly: Irwin's flaw is proven-ness in the wrong direction: she is the most credentialed candidate in this race, and every credential certifies service to the party voters are being asked to keep in power.

Sam Gallucci (Republican)

The record: Gallucci is a pastor and former tech executive, described in one compilation as a nonprofit leader. He finished second in the primary with roughly $182,000 raised — second in the field's fundraising as well. (His full name appears as Sam L. Gallucci and Samuel Gallucci in compilations; the certified form is confirmed at the pre-print pull.) No prior elected office was located.

Pros: The conservative direction, a ministry-and-business biography rooted in the county, and a real — if outspent — campaign.

Cons: No governing record: ministry and executive work are character evidence, not legislative evidence.

The flaw, plainly: Gallucci is unproven — a pastor and a former executive asking a D+9 district to hire him on direction and biography.

OUR CALL

LiberalMind endorses Sam Gallucci — as unproven, and on watch.

Irwin is the strongest Democratic nominee in this long-tail set, and it does not change the test: a decade of service inside her party's program, with no documented break toward our values, does not earn the exception — it forecloses it. The aligned challenger takes the call, with his unwritten record stated plainly and the Solid D rating printed as what it is.

This race is one of hundreds in LiberalMind's Election 2026 coverage. For the complete breakdown — every race, claim by claim — go to liberalmindhq.com.

Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Sources

Election result — November 4, 2026

Winner: Jacqui V Irwin (Democratic) — called by the Associated Press. This result was appended on November 4, 2026 (results wave 1); the original article above is unchanged, exactly as published before Election Day.

AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.

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