Eight candidates have qualified for three Santa Monica City Council seats after the nomination filing deadline closed at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, setting up contested races across all four local offices on the Tuesday, Nov. 3 ballot.
Incumbents Lana Negrete and Caroline Torosis will defend their seats against six confirmed challengers: Phillip L. Brock, Eli Gill, Daniel Ivanov, Wade Kelley, Ericka Lesley and Brett Morrow, according to city candidate filing records reported by the Santa Monica Observer. Five additional filers, including Ashley Oelsen and Douglas Byron Trussler, remain pending City Clerk verification and could still qualify.
The council race carries a political fault line. SMRR (Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights) and the Democratic Club, which together hold a 6-to-1 council supermajority, backed different candidates. SMRR endorsed Torosis and Ivanov at its Aug. 10 convention but left a third seat unresolved. Negrete is running on a rival slate with Oelsen and Trussler that drew a surge of new members into the Democratic Club.
That Club held its own endorsement convention July 15 and deadlocked, with no candidate reaching the required 55 percent threshold. "It's a really broad coalition now. What we saw is non-consensus," Democratic Club president Jon Katz said at the time.
Early fundraising numbers through June 30 show Trussler leading with $75,420 in total contributions, boosted by a $25,000 personal loan. Torosis held the strongest cash-on-hand position at $53,362 with the deepest local donor base. Negrete raised $42,646 and Morrow brought in $42,199.
Rent Control Board
Five candidates are competing for three Rent Control Board seats: incumbent Kurt Gonska, Sue Himmelrich, Soledad Marcial, Zoë Muntaner and Heather Thomason. Four have been confirmed qualified; Muntaner's paperwork is still under review.
College and school boards
The Santa Monica College Board of Trustees has five filers for four seats: incumbents Luis Barrera Castanon, Thomas Peters and Sion Roy, plus challengers Kera Blades-Snell and Oscar de la Torre. Four candidates have been confirmed qualified; de la Torre's status has not yet been listed as confirmed.
Five candidates are running for four SMMUSD Board of Education seats: incumbents Laurie Lieberman, Alicia Mignano and Stacy J. Rouse, along with challengers Harry Leshner and Robert "Robbie" Staenberg. Staenberg led school board fundraising through June 30 with $36,530.
What's next
The nomination period originally ran July 13 through Aug. 7 but was extended to Aug. 12 after at least one incumbent in each race did not file by the initial deadline, triggering a California Elections Code extension for non-incumbents.
Write-in candidates can file starting Sept. 7 through Oct. 20. The League of Women Voters of Santa Monica has scheduled school board candidate forums for Sept. 29 and Oct. 2, along with a college board forum Oct. 2.
The Nov. 3 municipal election is consolidated with the Los Angeles County statewide general election. The City Council formally called the election June 9. Residents can find official candidate information at santamonica.gov/elections.
