About Jason Dominguez

I've spent my entire career in service — not because it was the easy path, but because it's the right one.

I grew up understanding what it means to need someone who will fight for you. That's what drove me to become a legal aid attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance and the Legal Aid Foundation and a legal officer for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal, where I prosecuted genocide and crimes against humanity. I've taught law at Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law because I believe the next generation of advocates deserves mentors who've been in the trenches.

When I ran for Santa Barbara City Council in 2015, I won by showing up — knocking on doors, listening to neighbors, and refusing to treat the Eastside as an afterthought. During my term, I co-introduced the inclusionary housing ordinance that created workforce housing pathways for nurses, teachers, and first responders. I advocated for the Alisos Street bike lane. I championed the renovation of Ortega Park, Cabrillo Ball Park, Eastside Park, and Dwight Murphy Field. And when the city presented a $401.6 million budget that I believed prioritized the wrong things, I was the only vote against it — because my constituents deserved honesty, not applause.

I lost my 2019 re-election by 8 votes. I didn't stop caring about this city.

I was asked to join the board of New Beginnings Counseling Center to help fight the homelessness crisis. I was appointed to the a National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council — and my colleagues elected me Secretary. I became a tribal judge for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, deepening my commitment to community-centered justice.

And most importantly — I became a dad. My wife, a pharmacist, and I are raising a daughter who is the pride of our lives. That's made me more committed than ever to the kind of Santa Barbara she'll grow up in — one that is affordable, safe, and worth staying for.

District 4 is a different community from the Eastside I represented — the Upper East, the Riviera, Mission Canyon, San Roque, Eucalyptus Hill, Coast Village Road, and the State Street corridor have their own character, their own concerns, and their own priorities. These are beautiful neighborhoods where people have deep roots, high stakes in decisions made at City Hall, and a right to a council member who will be straight with them — about fire risk, about development, about where every dollar goes.

I am not a partisan candidate. I answer to constituents, not to political machines — and I have the voting record to prove it. My opponents in this race have résumés. I have results.

District 4 deserves someone who has done this before, who has stood alone when it mattered, and who will always put the neighborhood first.

That's why I'm running. I hope to earn your vote.