California law allows candidates running for a federal or state office to have a candidate statement included in the state Voter Information Guide, on the Secretary of State website, or in certain cases, in the county Voter Information Guide, depending on the office.

Some candidates must accept campaign finance spending limits in order to purchase space for a candidate statement, as outlined below.

For more information, please contact the Elections Division at (916) 657-2166 or by email at Candidate-Statements@sos.ca.gov.

Presidential Candidates

The Secretary of State provides the opportunity to all candidates running for President of the United States to submit a 250-word candidate statement for inclusion on the March 5, 2024, Presidential Primary Election Voter Information Guide portion of the Secretary of State’s website. (Elections Code section 9084(k)). 

Presidential candidates may submit a 250-word candidate statement to be published on the Secretary of State website no later than December 29, 2023.

United States Senate Candidates

Candidates running for United States Senate (both the full term and the partial/unexpired term) may purchase space for a 250-word statement in the state Voter Information Guide. The statement may not make any reference to any opponent of the candidate (Government Code section 85601(a)). The statement shall be limited to a recitation of the candidate’s own personal background and qualifications. 

The candidate statement and accompanying forms may also be submitted via email or fax before the deadline. Candidate statements and accompanying forms may be scanned and emailed to Candidate-Statements@sos.ca.gov or faxed to (916) 653-3214 by the deadline (5:00 pm on Wednesday, November 15, 2023).

The original copies of the signed forms must be received at the SOS Elections Division within 72 hours of submittal.

United States House of Representatives Candidates

Candidates running for the United States House of Representatives may purchase space for a 250-word statement in the county Voter Information Guide of the county or counties in their jurisdiction.  The statement may not make any reference to any opponent of the candidate (Elections Code section 13307.5).  

Legislative Candidates

State Senate and Assembly candidates, who choose to keep their campaign spending under specified dollar limits, may purchase space in the county Voter Information Guide for a 250-word candidate statement (Government Code section 85601(c)).  

Listed below are cost estimates provided by county elections officials of how much they plan to charge for legislative and congressional candidate statements in their county voter information guides.  Please note that these are estimates and are subject to change.

  • Cost Estimates for State Legislative and U.S. Congressional Candidate Statements (as of 11/29/2023) (PDF) | (XLSX)

To comply with Assembly Bill 773 (Pellerin) Chapter 664, Statutes of 2023, effective immediately, elections officials are required to post the form to be used by a candidate to submit a candidate statement pursuant to Section 13307, Section 13307.5, or subdivision (c) of Section 85601 of the Government Code, below is a list of each county’s URL to its candidate statement forms.

For additional information, please contact your county elections official.

Proposition 34 Candidate Statement Provisions

Proposition 34 established voluntary spending limits for candidates running for statewide office, the State Senate, and the State Assembly.  Candidates who choose to accept the spending limits are able to purchase space for a 250-word candidate statement in either the state Voter Information Guide or in the county Voter Information Guide, depending on the office.

Listed below is the Proposition 34 – March 5, 2024, Presidential Primary Election Semi-Final District Candidates Form 501 Status Report.

March 5, 2024, Presidential Primary Election Semi-Final District Candidates Form 501 Status Report (as of December 22, 2023) (PDF)

To accept the spending limits, candidates running for statewide office or state Senate or state Assembly, must file a Candidate Statement of Intention (Form 501) with the Secretary of State's Political Reform Division indicating whether they intend to abide by the spending limits prior to submitting a candidate statement. The following voluntary expenditure ceilings are effective for elections held between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2024. (Regulation 18545)

This chart identifies where a candidate can place a
statement and the Proposition 34 spending limits for that office (if applicable).
    Prop. 34 Voluntary
Expenditure Limit
(Effective January 1, 2023 – December 31, 2024)
 
Office 250-word
Candidate Statement Location
Primary/Special Election General/Special Runoff Election
President and
Vice President
of the United States
Secretary of
State Website
N/A N/A
United States Senate State Voter
Information Guide
N/A N/A
United States Representative County Voter
Information Guide
N/A N/A
Governor State Voter
Information Guide
$10,908,000 $18,181,000
Lieutenant Governor State Voter
Information Guide
$7,272,000 $10,908,000
Secretary of State State Voter
Information Guide
$7,272,000 $10,908,000
Controller State Voter
Information Guide
$7,272,000 $10,908,000
Treasurer State Voter
Information Guide
$7,272,000 $10,908,000
Attorney General State Voter
Information Guide
$7,272,000 $10,908,000
Insurance Commissioner State Voter
Information Guide
$7,272,000 $10,908,000
Superintendent
of Public Instruction
State Voter
Information Guide
$7,272,000 $10,908,000
Member, State
Board of Equalization
State Voter
Information Guide
$1,818,000 $2,727,000
State Senator County Voter
Information Guide
$1,091,000 $1,636,000
Member of the State Assembly County Voter
Information Guide
$727,000 $1,273,000