Last night, the Santa Monica Democratic Club held its annual endorsement meeting, and, in a sign of both how hotly contested this year’s election will be and the rightward drift of its membership, it failed to reach consensus on any candidate for City Council. To earn an endorsement, a candidate needed to be listed on 55% of ballots cast.
In recent months, there was a push from more conservative Democrats to join the Dem. Club. After the club’s surprise decision to oppose Assembly Bill 1740, authored by local Democratic Assemblymember Rick Zbur, this spring, a counter-push from more progressive Democrats to join the club took place ahead of last night’s meeting.
Last night’s results illustrated that divide.
The top two vote-getters in the process were Councilmember and former Mayor Lana Negrete and Mayor Caroline Torosis. The two candidates will be on opposing slates in the election.
The Dem. Club’s Board of Directors makes recommendations as part of the endorsement process. The board had recommended support for Torosis and Rent Control Board Member Danny Ivanov.
SMMUSD Board
There was also a surprise in the race for School Board. The Dem. Club joined Communities for Excellent Public Schools in endorsing incumbent school board members Alicia Mignano and Stacy Rouse, along with newcomer Robbie Staenberg. However, the Dem. Club was unable to reach consensus on the fourth seat up for election, choosing between incumbent Laurie Lieberman and challenger Harry Leshner.
Lieberman did receive a majority of votes in a head-to-head contest with Leshner but didn’t reach the 55% threshold. Lieberman has received the endorsement of CEPS, and the Dem. Club’s board had also recommended her endorsement.
Rent Control Board
In the race for Rent Control Board, there were also a few surprises. Both came courtesy of Heather Thomason, the only candidate who earned an endorsement on the first ballot. Also earning endorsements were former Mayor Sue Himmelrich, Kurt Gonska, and Soledad Marcial. The Dem. Club’s Board of Directors had backed Himmelrich, Gonska, and Marcial.
Thomason not only beat out the board-endorsed candidate but also managed to earn more votes than a former mayor, both of which show the strength of her campaign.
SMC Board
There were no surprises in the race for the SMC Board. Dem. Club leadership, CEPS, and Dem. Club membership all agreed on supporting incumbents Sion Roy, Tom Peters, and Luis Castanon, along with newcomer Kera Blades-Snell. A fifth candidate, former Councilmember Oscar de la Torre failed to earn much support in this process.
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