The 2026 Encinitas Action Candidate Questionnaire

Encinitas Action invited all six candidates for Mayor and City Council Districts 3 and 4 to answer the same nine questions about the issues, decisions and responsibilities they would face if elected. Our goal was to give each candidate an opportunity to share their perspectives with you on a variety of local issues.

Our questionnaires have prompted a spirited online discussion. A few posters questioned Encinitas Action’s affiliations and perspective, criticized the questionnaire as partisan or manipulative, and suggested that candidates couldn’t trust us to present their responses fairly.

We think readers should have the information to judge that for themselves. Encinitas Action’s members, mission, funding, and approach to civic engagement are public:

Encinitas Action: Who We Are and What We Do
Our structure, membership, funding, and approach to civic engagement

The Encinitas Mayor questionnaire and candidate responses are below. Judge for yourself the questions, the answers, and each candidate’s decision to participate — or not. When a candidate did not participate, we’ve noted that fact where their responses would have appeared.

All candidates received the same questions, the same 150–200-word response limit, the same deadline, and the same commitment from us that we would publish their responses verbatim. Each candidate received two reminders after the questionnaire was sent to them.

Three candidates submitted responses; three did not.

We believe voters deserve the opportunity to hear directly from every candidate. We are publishing every response we received, without editing the candidates’ answers for content.