RIVERSIDE — With California voters facing a crowded 2026 primary ballot, CalMatters took its nonpartisan voter guide on the road in May, bringing election information and community discussions to cities across the state, including Riverside and other Southern California communities.
The VotingMatters series was designed to help voters sort through a primary that includes nine statewide offices, 61 candidates for governor and redrawn congressional districts. Over the month, CalMatters held 17 events with about 30 local partners, drawing more than 600 participants from Vallejo to Riverside.
The events used CalMatters’ 2026 voter guide, videos of gubernatorial candidates answering questions and printed “Choose your next governor” zines to prompt conversations among voters. CalMatters partnerships director Dan Hu traveled roughly 3,000 miles during the effort.
In Southern California, events were held in Montecito, Camarillo, Los Angeles and Riverside. The Riverside gathering brought together as many as six partner organizations, including Mindful Media Makers, which featured its puppet character Panchito in an interview with Hu.
Organizers said the goal was not to tell residents how to vote, but to give them reliable information and a setting where they could discuss issues with neighbors. At several events, attendees watched video clips of leading gubernatorial candidates before discussing what they heard in small groups.
At a Montecito event co-hosted by Noozhawk, Santa Barbara resident Marty Conoley said the candidate videos were more useful to him than televised debates, which he said often became dominated by attacks. He said the videos should be shown on television in prime time without interruption.
Celeste Barber, who also attended the Montecito event, said her table included six strangers who avoided partisan arguments and instead focused on issues. She said that kind of exchange reflected what she believes civic engagement should look like.
The statewide tour also included Central Valley stops in Modesto, Merced, Fresno and Bakersfield, where events were held at bars, community colleges and other gathering places. In Modesto, about 100 people attended a program at Contentment Brewing Company, co-hosted by The Modesto Focus, where participants played state and local political trivia before discussing the governor’s race.
Attendees across the events included election workers, business owners and college students preparing to vote in their first midterm election. At the Camarillo event, some participants who had not known one another before the discussion exchanged contact information afterward.
CalMatters also provided materials in Spanish. In Bakersfield, Merced and Modesto, attendees picked up stacks of Spanish-language voter guide zines to share with students, relatives and friends.
The VotingMatters events were organized with local news outlets, nonprofits, churches, county registrar offices, League of Women Voters chapters and the California State Library. In Yolo County, Abridged from PBS KVIE used the series for its first event there as it works to expand local coverage.
CalMatters also made a VotingMatters event kit available for people who wanted to host their own gatherings. Members in Petaluma and Long Beach organized small groups of more than 10 people to review ballots and the voter guide. One Long Beach attendee described the gathering as the kind of community event that democracy should encourage.
CalMatters said VotingMatters will return for the 2026 general election.
Original source: CalMatters
