Sue Himmelrich, incumbent Kurt Gonska and Heather Thomason won the three open Santa Monica Rent Control Board seats, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported on Nov. 5.

Himmelrich led with 19,194 votes. Gonska followed with 17,190, and Thomason had 14,180, according to the Daily Press, citing the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's 9:21 a.m. update.

Thomason held a 7,420-vote margin over fourth-place Soledad Marcial, who had 6,760 votes. Zoë Muntaner was fifth with 5,913.

The results are unofficial. The county will not certify them until Nov. 27, the Daily Press reported. But the leads have only widened through consecutive counting updates since election night, and about 34,311 ballots had been counted in Santa Monica as of the Nov. 5 morning update. That represents roughly 49% of the city's 69,904 registered voters, according to the Daily Press.

Counting status

The county planned to release daily updates between 4 and 5 p.m. for up to two weeks after the election, the Daily Press reported. Mail ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 can still arrive through the following week.

Rankings in the Rent Control Board race have held steady through multiple counting updates. The Daily Press noted that Santa Monica results saw little change between early-vote and Election Day tallies.

Official results are posted at results.lavote.gov.

The board

The five-member Rent Control Board administers Santa Monica's Rent Control Law, setting allowable rents, limiting eviction grounds and preserving covered rental housing. Voters created the board on April 10, 1979, according to city records. Gonska is the only incumbent in the race. Voters could select up to three candidates.

Several charter-amendment measures tied to rent control and eviction policy appeared on the same ballot, according to Patch. As of the Nov. 5 update reported by the Daily Press, Measure RR, barring evictions for small rent debts, had 71% yes. Measure VV, extending eviction protections to single-family homes and condominiums, had 61.8% yes. Measure GG, which affirms just-cause eviction laws and lets board commissioners serve up to three terms, had 58.9% yes.

All three led by wide margins but remain unofficial until certification.

The county's next results update will be posted at results.lavote.gov.