Lana Negrete and Caroline Torosis won reelection to the Santa Monica City Council, and newcomer Ashley Oelsen captured the third open seat as updated returns widened her lead.

Negrete led the 12-candidate field with 13,567 votes (16.1%), followed by Torosis with 12,992 (15.4%) and Oelsen with 11,745 (13.9%), according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's 9:21 a.m. update on Nov. 5, as first reported by the Santa Monica Daily Press. The top three vote-getters win four-year seats on the seven-member council.

The count reflected 34,311 ballots, about 49% of the city's 69,904 registered voters. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day can still arrive through next week, and the county will not certify results until Nov. 27. But Oelsen's lead over fourth-place Doug Trussler grew to 1,590 votes. The Daily Press reported that Trussler would need about 45% of remaining ballots to overtake Oelsen, more than double his average share so far.

Trussler had 10,155 votes. Brett Morrow had 9,676 and Daniel Ivanov had 9,655. Former council member Phil Brock was seventh with 5,840.

Ericka Lesley, Derrick Townsend, Eli Gill, Lindsay Davis and Wade Kelley each had less than 5% of the vote.

These results remain unofficial. County election officials are continuing to process remaining vote-by-mail ballots, provisional submissions and conditional voter registrations, the Santa Monica Mirror reported.

Rent Control Board

Sue Himmelrich, incumbent Kurt Gonska and Heather Thomason won the three Rent Control Board seats, according to the Daily Press. Himmelrich led with 19,194 votes, followed by Gonska with 17,190 and Thomason with 14,180. Thomason was 7,420 votes ahead of fourth-place Soledad Marcial, who had 6,760. Zoë Muntaner had 5,913.

Ballot measures

Voters approved four of five Santa Monica ballot measures. Measure RR, restricting evictions for small rent debts, was passing with 71% yes. Measure TT, on hotel taxes during major events, had 73.1%. Measure VV, extending eviction protections to houses and condominiums, had 61.8%. Measure GG, on Rent Control Board and eviction rules, had 58.9%.

Voters rejected Measure ES, a proposed $495 annual parcel tax for public schools. It had 47.1% yes to 52.9% no, a gap of 1,804 votes. The no side grew its lead slightly in the Nov. 5 update, and the outstanding ballots would have to differ significantly from those counted so far to close the gap, the Daily Press reported. The measure qualified as a citizen initiative requiring a simple majority to pass, according to Patch.

School and college boards

Incumbents Alicia Mignano, Laurie Lieberman and Stacy Rouse were reelected to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education, and Robbie Staenberg also won a seat, according to the Daily Press. Mignano led with 21,542 votes and Staenberg was second with 19,964. Harry Leshner finished fifth, 8,857 votes out of a seat.

On the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees, incumbents Sion Roy, Tom Peters and Luis Barrera Castanon were reelected and Kera Blades-Snell won the fourth seat. Oscar de la Torre was fifth with 11,951 votes, 5,091 behind Blades-Snell.

Next steps

The LA County Registrar began around-the-clock ballot processing on Nov. 4, with day and night shifts continuing through Nov. 6, according to the Santa Monica Lookout. Multiple updates will be published daily throughout the week, with additional updates continuing through the official canvass, election officials said, according to the Lookout. Mail ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 can arrive as late as Nov. 10 and still be counted. The county registrar is set to certify final results on Nov. 27, according to Patch. Updated results are posted at results.lavote.gov.