Voters in San Benito County Supervisorial District 5 will have a chance to vote whether to recall their incumbent in the June 2 election.
The local registrar of voters’ office has consolidated the recall election of Supervisor Ignacio Velazquez onto the statewide 2026 gubernatorial primary election ballot, which includes a number of other local races, said Michael Parsons, Staff Analyst at the San Benito County Elections Office. The recall item will be a “yes” or “no” ballot, with a simple majority determining whether Velazquez will remain in office to complete his four-year term.
If a majority of voters vote “yes” to recall Velazquez from office, the governor has 60 days to appoint a replacement who would serve until the next election in November 2026, Parsons explained. In that case, another election for a District 5 supervisor to serve the remainder of Velazquez’s term would be scheduled for the November ballot.
The recall election made it to the ballot through a citizen-driven referendum petition organized by a group of local residents who call themselves the Public Safety First committee. Recall proponents said they wanted to remove Velazquez from office due to his approach to negotiations for a new fire contract with the City of Hollister—a contract that was approved by the board of supervisors in a 4-1 vote in September.
Velazquez began his term on the board in January, and has thus not yet served one year.
The recall proponents had to gather at least 25%, or 1,833 registered voters’ signatures from District 5. They submitted a petition this fall that included 2,256 signatures, of which 1,842 were confirmed by elections officials.
The recall proponents began collecting signatures in the early summer.
A number of voters have said that paid signature gatherers—hired by the local recall proponents—misstated the purpose of the petition when they were asked to sign. It is a violation of state election law to “misrepresent the nature of a petition,” according to legal experts.
San Benito County District Attorney Joel Buckingham’s office has received reports of such misrepresentation by the proponents’ contractor and began an investigation.
The supervisors voted 3-2 at a November meeting to reject a formal certification of the petition, due to claims that signature gatherers had possibly broken the law.
Still, state law allowed the local registrar’s office to schedule a recall election because the petition obtained the required number of valid signatures.
Proponents listed on the recall petition are Rick Perez, Carol Lenoir, Brian Lenoir, Richard Lenoir, Joe Medina, Kelly Dominguez, Hani Mayzouni, Nedda Mayzouni, Jose Fernandez and Irene Mata.
The June 2 ballot will also include primary elections for District 3 and District 4 supervisors; county superintendent of schools; assessor; auditor-controller; county clerk-recorder; and county treasurer.
