Evelyn Mendez is the first standalone Sonoma County Registrar of Voters.
Sonoma County has its first-ever standalone registrar of voters.
Evelyn Mendez, a longtime veteran of overseeing state- and county-level elections, was named Sonoma County Registrar of Voters this week by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. The board will officially appoint Mendez to the role at its July 22 meeting.
The new position was created in January to better align Sonoma County with other similar-sized jurisdictions. The registrar had formerly been a combined responsibility with what had been the elected position of Clerk-Recorder-Assessor-Registrar of Voters office.
“The board was intentional in creating a standalone Registrar of Voters Department to eliminate the inherent conflict of interest in having an elected official overseeing elections,” Lynda Hopkins, chair of the Board of Supervisors, said.
Deva Proto will continue in the elected position of Clerk-Recorder-Assessor.
Mendez comes to Sonoma County from the County of Santa Clara, where she served six years as a division manager in the Registrar of Voters Department. She previously worked in the California Secretary of State Elections Division, eventually serving as program manager. She has worked more than 110 elections at the state and county level, county officials said in an announcement of her appointment.
Mendez will oversee the next scheduled election on Nov. 4, when seven small districts hold elections. The 2026 election cycle includes a June primary and a November General Election. Her starting salary will be $195,041.
