Statements and Media Releases

Greetings! I'm Elijah Mack, your average Santa Barbarian neighbor, community volunteer, and enthusiastic localist; not a career politician. I’m running to keep our county government accountable and efficient, and to realign its focus toward what truly matters – the spirit and vitality of our community.

My goals are simple: to empower the individuals, families, workers, and entrepreneurs who make our county unique; to preserve our local traditions and natural scenery; and to fight for a Santa Barbara County where locals can afford to remain, well, locals.

This means, in part, advocating for policies that increase economic freedom and put housing within reach for our neighbors; so families, farmers, and small business owners can thrive here without fear of being priced out of communities they built or put in a bureaucratic chokehold.

My vision for Santa Barbara County is a tight-knit community, with localized economics, civic participation, and community festivities; where the tightening of our budget, shuttering of businesses, and loss of multi-generational locals comes to an end. Everything local, rooted, and real; that’s my commitment, not party lines or private interests.

I can only say so much here, so if you want to read my full platform, visit elijahmack.com

This statement will appear in the Sample Ballot for the June 2nd Primaries, received by all registered voters

1 "What do you think are the three most pressing issues the county faces over the next five years? How would you address these issues?"

I believe our three most immediate issues in Santa Barbara County are: 1. Our county's failure to secure sufficient housing for the working and middle class, 2. Our county's failure to ease the extensive strain it places on local businesses, and 3. The performative, image-focused, and costly policies of local politicians like my opponent. These are all (while indeed, very broad issues) just the tip of the iceberg, though. 

My campaign is about more than speaking to these particular issues. I'm running this campaign on a platform that is neither Left, nor Right, but just local; I believe in encouraging small businesses and the development of a more localized & sustainable economy, preserving our natural heritage and our traditional festivities, minimizing how deeply the county digs into your wallet, maintaining housing that allows locals to afford to remain locals, and striving to focus on local issues for what they are without being distracted by party labels or rigid ideological visions. 

----------

2 "The current board is developing an oil and gas phaseout plan. Do you support this phaseout; why or why not?" 

Even as an enthusiastic environmentalist, I must still stand upon my firm conviction that a phaseout plan is performative and hazardous. 100,000,000+ dollars are in the balance as Capps has walked our county towards taxpayer-funded legal battles with oil companies; legal battles involving, in part, attempts to regulate oil extraction on Federal Waters. These are battles we, in all likelihood, are not going to win, and we must pull out of this situation as soon as possible. Capps is putting taxpayer dollars at risk that could have been invested in real conservation projects, environmental hazard preparedness, etc.

Our county has some of the most highly regulated and secured oil infrastructure in the country, and with demand for oil remaining consistent, a phaseout just means offshoring oil production to other counties, states, or nations with poorer safety, labor, and environmental standards, at the same time also demanding that offshore oil extracted in federal waters is barged out to its final destination, which bears great environmental risk, a loss of State or county Income, and a waste of our existing transport infrastructure. 

----------
3 "What do you think is the county’s role facilitating and building new housing for local residents?"

My opponent positions herself as a champion of affordable housing; but what she talks about producing is almost entirely subsidized low income housing that's unavailable for our working and middle classes. I urge voters to research this matter themselves; real working and middle class housing development is practically stalled in our area. We're simply not constructing or infilling anywhere near enough housing for nurses, doctors, teachers, entrepreneurs or anyone else above the maximum income for Section 8 applicability. The county needs to incentivize sufficient, elegant, demand-based developments for everyday locals. 

Why are we in this situation? Because Capps and figures like her are chasing after flashy "affordable housing" numbers, fail to offer incentives for other forms of housing, and refuse to seriously confront the burdensome regulatory state, fees, and subjective criteria for construction and development that incentivize or indirectly force developers to only consider low income housing or luxury developments. What will South County become in years to come? Imagine the wealth disparity, and lack of upward mobility for our worst-off neighbors, when those "in the middle" (as well as the roles they fill and the jobs they create) are pushed out. I've already witnessed this process beginning; I'm one of maybe two or three people in my friend group growing up that have still been blessed with the ability to remain here in Santa Barbara. 

----------
4 "What are the biggest infrastructure spending needs in your district over the next five years?"

I'll tell you one thing; our county can handle any infrastructural expenses that come its way when we stop getting taxpayer dollars tied up in legal battles, stop crushing local enterprise, and encourage economic growth that we can tactfully and respectfully secure income from. 

As for what our current and expected expenses are, we've got to cover everything from bike lanes and coastal infrastructure in Isla Vista, to water and power improvements to support planned developments, to creek and flood control in Montecito, to updates to all manner of roads, bridges, and 101 Freeway connections. For some minor expenses and projects (bike lanes, walking paths, aesthetic updates, etc) the county should be reaching out to local beautification groups, relevant volunteer organizations, etc. to see about them potentially pitching in funds, time, or labor. We should be running down every opportunity for lowering expenses while holding our county infrastructure to high standards.

----------
5 "should the county respond to federal immigration enforcement operations affecting local communities?" 

I'm a Localist; as tacky as this sounds, Santa Barbara is my country, and anyone who lives as a respectful, upright, productive, peaceful neighbor is a citizen of my country as far as I'm aware- regardless of whether or not they have had the opportunity to pursue, or made the unfortunate decision to refuse to pursue, American citizenship. Yet- there are still going to be people, documented or undocumented, who don't fit the description I've made above. I would like to see an opportunity to come to the table here, and negotiate an end to neighborhood ICE raids, while also allowing Federal Authorities to take hold of legitimate violent offenders who are without documentation residing in County facilities. That's more effective than trying to ban ICE from our county when they're a Federal organization. Let's bring peace of mind to our neighbors at risk, but be realistic about the nature of the issue as a whole.

This statement was sent in a response to a questionaire from Noozhawk on May 5th, 2026.

1. I will refuse to accept the $56k pay raise my opponent voted for, and will instead donate the funds to local projects and charities. 

2. I will poll Santa Barbara voters to determine my choice in the most highly contentious board votes.

3. I will keep party lines, D.C. Issues, and political wars out of my politics, focusing only oissues directly affecting SB county, and how the Board of Supervisors can actually respond to them. 

TRULY A SUCCESSFUL DEBATE!

This evening I presented to voters a simple, commonsense, localist message; we need a county govt. that will radically encourage local businesss and a more self-sufficient economy, ensure that organic-feeling, sufficient housing developments are secured to house long term locals across the financial spectrum, preserve our local character, and only fight battles it can win, instead of winding up in impossible and costly battles over offshore oil that’ll waste money that could have been put to real conservation projects.

I believe that county supervisors should do little other than directly represent the voiced, grounded, and everyday needs and concerns of their constituents, intervening in the lives and business of the public as little as necessary.

I voiced my experience with multiple political parties, work with Braver Angels, etc. and made it clear that politics must approach issues for what they are, and not get lost in the weeds of partisan identities and labels.

I also brought up a couple of my (and many of your) concerns about Capps’ performative approach and long-term goals, while explicitly stating that “this is all politics”, and this is all just what politicians do. I try to see the good in, and truly love, everybody, but that doesn’t mean I have to let my opponent hold the reins over our community. What must be said, must be said.

Capps’ responses, from my POV, seemed entirely defensive; just explaining why she feels the county is doing perfectly fine and dandy. I feel like she’s GOT to have SOME sort of full, articulable vision for the county and some kind of independent policy proposal she wants to push out there, but I just didn’t hear it.

Posted by Elijah Mack on Facebook, 5/7/26

Oil and Environmental Policy:

I’ve received 0$ from the oil industry. I’m an environmentalist. John Muir is a hero of mine, the Transcendentalists are my inspiration, and  Agrarian/Distributist thinkers educate my policy views.

Still, our county legally CANNOT be trying to mess around with oil issues on federal waters, and it’s an uphill battle against the will of the Trump administration to try and cease use of our pipeline and infrastructure, and end all oil extraction. Let’s not blow our money on these battles, and invest our time and resources into conservation and ecological hazard response.

Our county has some of the most regulated and overseen oil infrastructure in the U.S., and ceasing all oil activities means offshoring oil matters to counties, states, or other countries with far poorer labor, environmental, and safety regulations.

Isla Vista Incorporation:

A more obscure local issue came up in the debate today; the concept of Isla Vista and Noleta being granted incorporated city status.

Noleta as a formal city makes less sense to me personally; infrastructurally and culturally, it’s less of its own unit and, well, more of a gradual transition between Santa Barbara and Goleta; it makes sense for it to fall under County jurisdiction.

Isla Vista having fuller, greater, direct authority over its own affairs (still likely engaging with the county and receiving some sort of support from it, surely) sounds promising in certain regards, but will such a proposition just create a new layer of Government bureaucracy or shorten the distance between Isla Vista and its political overseers? 

I’m naturally in favor of the concept of decentralizing and localizing political power whenever and wherever viable, giving the people of a community say over their own matters, but that’s just the question- is IV as an incorporated city viable?

The answer to this can only be found out by talking to current IV leaders working under the county, and asking IV residents for their thoughts.

My Opponent's Long-Term Goals:

Let me be clear; when I say that I seriously conclude (like others) that Capps’ main goal is to make a run for Congress when Carbajal retires, I don’t mean to say that she’s *knowingly* neglecting our county, or that she simply wants to chase after fame; she could truly desire to do work she believes is deeply valuable on the D.C. level- but she IS just kicking the metaphorical can down the line when it comes to our county’s issues in the meantime.

It’s only (in and of itself) a matter of poor judgement; going about her pursuits the wrong way. It’s not (inherently) a matter of malice.

I ALWAYS assume the best in people, but address their actions realistically and seriously.

I was going to make this distinction clear, but ran out of time in my stump speech.

Posted by Elijah Mack on Facebook, 5/7/26

-------------

Classical Urbanism/Urban Planning:

I’m not just some guy looking to cut taxes to encourage housing development; I’m a Classical Urbanist.

I’m fine with density and development where genuinely needed, but I’m NOT here to push for endless sprawl, soulless mega-projects, or unending subsidized housing while our community’s working and middle classes are pushed out.

I want to make it as EASY AS POSSIBLE to build:

Traditionally styled housing of any format or price range with genuine demand (from single family homes, to row-homes, to courtyard apartments)

Developments that center on common areas (town squares, markets, etc) and have a real sense of community and place, and

Projects that are mixed-use and incorporate green space and room for local business.

The end goal of this philosophy is to go back to pre-war American Urban Design, where the focus was on helping cities develop based on human needs and taste; not on building structured suburban sprawl OR inorganic 15-minute cities that *shape* us instead.

Neighborhood ICE Raids - negotiating an end rather than pushing vain bans

My opponent and many CA politicians like her are so worried about potential accusations of “cooperating with ICE” that they aren’t trying to seriously or meaningfully work towards ending local neighborhood ICE raids via (at least making an ATTEMPT at) negotiating with the Federal Government.

Instead, CA figures tend to just try and obstruct or otherwise ban or disincentivize federal immigration enforcement activities, *which will continue anyway* because localities simply have no legal power to stop them from doing so.

I’d like to see an opportunity to come to the table (as a county or as a state) and negotiate with federal entities to bring and end to neighborhood raids *in return* for state or county related forces consenting to and aiding in the apprehension of *convicted or suspected* violent felons without documentation *who are already in county facilities*.

That way, our upright and peaceful neighbors who either haven’t had the opportunity to, or for some reason haven’t attempted to, obtain American citizenship, can walk around our communities with peace of mind.

The next step is to secure that peace of mind permanently and encourage them to pursue residency or citizenship through proper channels.

Foreign Policy Questions:

I’ve had a handful of people asking me foreign policy questions lately;

Feel free to DM me about these issues, but I believe our Local and County Govt. officials spend too much time identifying with and talking about DC issues in order to secure their partisan base. I want to set a precedent and avoid that.

In this campaign, I’m solely taking hard stances on Santa Barbara County issues. I’m also a Localist; Santa Barbara is my “country”, and I’m only concerned with national and state issues when, where, and insofar as they tangibly and directly affect our county.

How can we create more working and middle class housing in Santa Barbara County?

"Everyone wants to live in Santa Barbara, we'll never see affordable housing apart from subsidized low-income housing demanded from the top down"

While surely, there are many areas of our county where it just wouldn't make sense to simply inject a million housing units into the area in an effort to bring down prices (partly due to infrastructural & environmental concerns or whathaveyou, but also because demand would swiftly fill the space), there's still a lot that can be done.

The county can offer all number of incentives (expedited planning processes, lower fees, more regulatory flexibility) conditionally to developers producing units giving priority to long-term local residents. Priority Demands can be put on the table if need be, as well.

You can absolutely substantially lower the costs of housing for locals by combining these with simply making it easier to build/increase supply across the board as well; cutting needless regulations, fees, and subjective criteria for plan acceptance. These choke out the development of housing units that aren't either Subsidized-Low-Income or luxury developments (both of which do nothing to help out our working and middle class) by making them less secure investments for developers or property owners.

Such reforms extended to all forms of development would also make constructing, expanding, and modifying business spaces cheaper and easier.

Posted by Elijah Mack on Facebook, 5/8/26

Greetings! My name is Elijah Mack, a Santa Barbara resident, community volunteer, and enthusiastic localist, and I’m proud to announce my candidacy for Santa Barbara County Supervisor in District 2.

I’m running to help keep our County Government accountable, efficient, and re-focused on what truly matters: the spirit and vitality of our communities. My goals are simple: to empower the individuals, families, workers, and entrepreneurs who make our county unique; to preserve our local traditions and natural scenery; and to fight for a Santa Barbara County where locals can afford to remain, well, locals.

Too many long‑time residents are feeling the pressure of rising costs, housing limitations, and bureaucratic barriers and expenses that make it harder to build a life or sustain a business locally. Our County Government should be working aggressively to reduce those obstacles and expand economic opportunity so that our neighbors can thrive. Yet- a great many of us everyday citizens have felt for so long that our attempts to communicate our needs to the County have been like talking to a brick wall.

Ultimately, my vision for Santa Barbara County is a tight‑knit community built around localized economics, active civic participation, and the kinds of community traditions and festivities that bring neighbors together and draw visitors from afar. I want to see a future where the tightening of our budgets, the shuttering of local businesses, and the loss of multi‑generational residents comes to an end. A love for everything local, rooted, and real— that’s the driving force behind my campaign, not party lines or private interests.

In this officially nonpartisan race, my campaign is not one of a Republican or a Democrat, but one of a Localist. My focus is on developing practical and pragmatic means of encouraging local business, building more tight-knit communities, preserving our environmental and cultural heritage, bringing political decisionmaking closer to individual localities, and minimizing how deeply the County Government must dig into the wallets of its citizens.

Some residents may remember my grassroots campaign in 2024 for California State Senate in District 21. I initially launched that campaign as an Independent before being approached by members of the Republican Party who encouraged me to run under their banner, so that the race would not become a three‑way contest featuring an ardent Republican who would certainly knock me out of the primaries but perhaps underperform in the General Election. Although I knew the odds of my opponent’s re-election were astronomically high, as a young first‑time candidate running with only a few thousand dollars in donations, I used the campaign as an opportunity to promote a positive and unifying message and to encourage voters to vote based on policy rather than party, giving everyone on their ballot a fair shake.

My campaign ultimately outperformed the previous challenger to the incumbent State Senator, and generated a strong response from voters across the district. After the election, many community members encouraged me to run for a smaller local office, believing that I stood a solid chance of victory. After careful consideration, I decided to step forward and run for Santa Barbara County Supervisor in District 2.

More information about my campaign and platform can be found at:

https://www.elijahmack.com

This message was sent out to all major Santa Barbara County news outlets in mid-March, 2026.