Donald P. (Don) Wagner

The campaign's centerpiece: Wagner calls California's election system "mismanaged and broken" and pledges to speed up vote counting so results are known close to Election Night rather than a month later; he fully supports the 2026 Voter ID initiative and vows to enforce and even sue to protect it if passed; he wants an effort in all 58 counties to clean the voting rolls, an end to the COVID-era mass mailing of ballots to everyone on the rolls (returning to excuse-based absentee ballots), shorter cure periods and a faster certification timeline, and a verifiable chain of custody for every ballot via his Fair Elections Ballot Committee.

“I pledge to speed up vote counting, secure our elections, and remove the chief elections officer from partisan politics.”

vig.cdn.sos.ca.gov·As of August 2026

Criticizes the incumbent's stewardship of CalACCESS, the public database for campaign and lobbying disclosure, which failed during the 2026 cycle when voters tried to look up who was funding candidates, after the state spent tens of millions on it. Pledges a robust, reliable disclosure system so the public can track who supports which candidates and how much they raised, framing dependable transparency as essential to public confidence.

“Just in this election cycle, the CalACCESS system failed when members of the public attempted to access campaign filings to find out who was supporting which candidates and how much they had raised. That should be unacceptable.”

ocregister.com·As of May 2026

Advocates removing the chief elections officer from partisan politics and formally making the Secretary of State a nonpartisan office like the Superintendent of Public Instruction, requiring legislative action. He styles himself an 'umpire for fair elections, not a partisan player,' pledges to enforce the people's will regardless of his personal views, and chairs the Don Wagner Ballot Measure Committee to Protect Fair Elections, which pushes the same nonpartisan-office reform alongside defense of the open primary.

“The Office of Secretary of State should be non-partisan, representing the will of the people, not answering to Sacramento political machines. I will be an umpire for fair elections, not a partisan player.”

vig.cdn.sos.ca.gov·As of August 2026

Wants the SoS Business Programs Division - the office's largest - to be 'small-business friendly': replace the antiquated business-registration technology, direct every public-facing employee to actively help business owners, root out filing fraud (citing a CBS News investigation), and aggressively protect small businesses and startups from trademark infringement, arguing a friendlier business climate addresses California's affordability crisis.

“I would start by making the office under my leadership the most business-friendly office in state history.”

ocregister.com·As of May 2026