The early City Council endorsements continue this week as Santa Monica Forward announced its endorsements of Barry Snell, Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin and Natalya Zernitskaya for City Council in an email to supporters. This marks the second endorsement of this group of four candidates in as many days. The full text of their endorsement letter can be found at the bottom of this article.
“Barry Snell, Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin, and Natalya Zernitskaya understand the importance of maintaining and enhancing tenant protections, supporting workers’ rights, and addressing the housing shortage crisis . They are dedicated to ensuring that Santa Monica remains a place where everyone can live, work, and thrive,” writes Forward, explaining their endorsement.
Unlike the endorsement the quarter received from Communities for Excellent Public Schools, this endorsement also took aim at the incumbent slate that these candidates will likely be facing.
“The candidates we’ve endorsed are running against the so-called “Change Slate,” a group with a backwards-looking vision that has sought to undermine rent control, new housing production, and the rights of workers to protest. They have even opposed new protected bike lanes!”
Candidates elected to City Council serve four year terms with elections held every two years. In 2024, four seats are up for election. In the last election in 2022, three seats were up for election.
In the 2020 election, four candidates ran together as part of a “Change Slate” and unseated incumbents Ted Winterer and Terry O’Day marking what many thought might be a sea-change towards a more conservative city government.
In the next election in 2022, the more liberal wing of local politics won two of three seats up for election. Two of the three “Change Slate” incumbents: Mayor Phil Brock and Councilmember Oscar de la Torre have signaled their intention to run for re-election although they haven’t made an official announcement.
The third, Councilmember Christine Parra, hasn’t made a conclusive signal either way. The fourth candidate elected in 2024, Gleam Davis is not a member of the Change Slate and has already announced she is not seeking re-election. At this point there has not been an announcement of a new “change slate” although it is widely expected that if Parra runs the three incumbents will campaign together.
In the 2022 election, two of the three candidates endorsed by Santa Monica Forward won election: Councilmembers Caroline Torosis and Jesse Zwick. Forward also endorsed Zernitskaya, who finished a close fourth in an election where the top three candidates won office.
We are thrilled to announce our endorsement of Barry Snell, Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin, and Natalya Zernitskaya for the 2024 Santa Monica City Council Election. We believe that this is one of the most important elections of our lifetimes (at both the local and national levels) and we hope you will vote for these candidates and encourage your Santa Monica friends and neighbors to do the same.
After reviewing their answers to our questionnaires and completing our interviews, it was clear these candidates have the experience, intelligence, and vision to help get Santa Monica back on track to address the big challenges in front of us.
The candidates we’ve endorsed are running against the so-called “Change Slate,” a group with a backwards-looking vision that has sought to undermine rent control, new housing production, and the rights of workers to protest. They have even opposed new protected bike lanes!
Barry Snell, Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin, and Natalya Zernitskaya understand the importance of maintaining and enhancing tenant protections, supporting workers’ rights, and addressing the housing shortage crisis . They are dedicated to ensuring that Santa Monica remains a place where everyone can live, work, and thrive.
We urge you to support these candidates who will champion the values we hold dear and lead Santa Monica to a brighter future.
