Valladares

FACTS

Williams is a former Navy SEAL whose roughly five-year service ended when he retired from the Navy in 2010. He published a book two years later, and since that time has relied on speaking engagements as his primary source of income. According to Williams, he is “invited by organizations that

2 are looking for a ‘Navy SEAL Speaker’ to provide a keynote on Navy SEAL leadership principles to their groups.” After declaring his candidacy for the city council in the November 2024 election, Williams filed a ballot designation worksheet with the city clerk on August 7, 2024. In it, he provided a proposed ballot designation of “Navy SEAL Speaker,” indicating he was self-employed, and an alternate ballot designation of “Navy SEAL Author.” His included justification for the former was: “My primary source of income comes through being booked by organizations as a ‘Navy SEAL Speaker’ to speak on Navy SEAL leadership qualities.” And for the latter, he explained: “I wrote a best-selling book titled ‘SEAL of God’ that is a memoir about my time as a Navy SEAL.” The same day, the city clerk contacted the Orange County Registrar of Voters (the registrar) “to determine if ‘Navy SEAL Speaker…