ENES

The Choice

The choice

Congressman Carbajal has represented this district since January 2017.

Congressman Carbajal’s record, and what it has meant here.

Not a fight about character. A decision about method and results.

Five things you can check yourself. Every source is his own: his votes, his filings, his words, his website.

Beat one: the vote

Congressman Carbajal voted against banning members of Congress from trading stocks.

His objection, first

Congressman Carbajal says the bill was packaged with something he could not support. That is a fair objection and it happens constantly in the House. 232 members still found a way to vote yes.

Bob supports a clean standalone ban and will vote for it in any vehicle.

13
of 211 Democrats
crossed over and voted for the ban

Thirteen members of his party found a way to break ranks on this. Congressman Carbajal did not.

Each dot is one Democratic member of the House.

13 voted yes

198 voted no

Congressman Carbajal

One side was unanimous
Republicans
218 of 218 voted yes

Democrats
13 of 211 voted yes

The bill passed
232 to 198

The bill
H.R. 7008
Stop Insider Trading Act

Congressman Carbajal voted
NAY

Beat two: the money

Six cycles of PAC and other political committee contributions

From his own FEC filings. Each bar is one cycle, on the same scale. Six cycles for him. This is Bob’s first.

2016
$623,624
20% of his receipts

2018
$761,728
28% of his receipts

2020
$638,538
30% of his receipts

2022
$665,689
31% of his receipts

2024
$765,262
38% of his receipts

2026 to 30 Jun
$571,016
35% of his receipts

His average, per cycle
$671,000
Across six cycles, 28.8% of everything he has raised.

Bob, this cycle
$0.00
From PACs and other political committees. $203,264 raised, $169,882 of it from individuals.

“When I vote, I want to answer to exactly one group of people: the ones who live here.”

Bob Smith

Beat three: his own words

He is not describing a problem he inherited.

He is describing the one that got this way while he held the seat, and he is the one who says it got this way.

“For many Central Coast families, housing is their biggest monthly expense. Whether they’re renting or buying, housing costs have gotten out-of-control.”

Congressman Carbajal
His own press release, 25 June 2026. Quoted verbatim, emphasis added.

Gotten out of control, on whose watch
He has held this seat continuously

Jan 2017
Sworn in

Jun 2026
He announces the problem

Naming a problem is not the same as fixing one.

Families here did not need to be told housing costs are out of control. They write the check every month. What they have not been given is a result.

Bob Smith

The case for someone new

This seat has had the same answer since January 2017.

Nothing about that is a personal failing. It is simply a long time to hold one seat, and long enough that a voter is entitled to compare the record against the promises.

The incumbent
Five terms in the same seat
Sworn in January 2017 and on the ballot again this November.

The alternative
Has never held elected office
Twenty six years of service before ever asking for a vote.

The difference it makes
Seven dated promises, published first
Put in writing before the election so they can be graded after it.

“An incumbent should have to run against his own record. That is the whole job of an election.”
Bob Smith

Beat five: what Bob brings

A different kind of resume

26
Years of active duty Navy service

900+
Days deployed. Combat veteran

2023
Navy Engineer of the Year

Enlisted AEGIS technician to commissioned officer
Commissioned through the Seaman to Admiral program. He started on the deckplates.

Has never held elected office
Running to solve problems, not to build a career.

Seven specific commitments for the first hundred days
Dated, public, and published before the election rather than after it.

Read the first 100 days

What is actually at stake

Margins here are thin

CD-24 runs from San Luis Obispo County through Santa Barbara County into Ventura County. It is a district of farmworkers and engineers, students and retirees, small business owners and service members.

Districts like this are decided by a few thousand voters who decide whether to turn out. That is the entire election, and it is why one conversation with a neighbor matters more than any advertisement.

Bob Smith and his wife Adriana, photographed together in black and white. He is wearing a Bob Smith campaign cap and a checked shirt.
Bob with his wife, Adriana.

“You do not have to dislike anyone to want better results.”
Cmdr. Bob Smith, USN (Ret.)

Check every figure on this page
The vote
House Roll Call 280, on passage, 22 July 2026. clerk.house.gov

The money
Federal Election Commission filings, 2016 through 30 June 2026.

His words
His own press release, 25 June 2026. Quoted verbatim.

Winning CD-24 takes a team

Pick one way to help today and we will take it from there.

Bob Smith is a retired member of the United States Navy. Use of his military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense.
Paid for by Bob Smith for Congress.