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City of Santa Monica · Statewide General Election

Santa Monica City Council

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person holds one of three at-large seats up this cycle on Santa Monica's 7-member City Council, elected to staggered 4-year terms: the city budget, land use, and municipal ordinances, plus confirming top city appointments including the city manager and police chief. The council selects one of its own members to serve as Mayor and another as Mayor Pro Tem each year -- neither title is separately elected.

Twelve candidates are running for three of Santa Monica's seven at-large City Council seats on November 3 — the largest local field this project has authored. Two incumbents, Mayor Caroline Torosis and Councilmember Lana Negrete, are seeking new terms; a third incumbent whose seat is up this cycle, Jesse Zwick, chose not to run. There's no primary: all 12 go straight to November, and the three highest vote-getters win.

Each winner serves a 4-year term as one of seven votes on the council that sets Santa Monica's budget, land use, and municipal ordinances, and confirms top city appointments including the city manager and police chief. The council selects one of its own members to serve as Mayor and another as Mayor Pro Tem each year — neither title is separately elected — while day-to-day operations run through the appointed city manager.

Two informal slates have emerged: SMRR, the city's dominant renters'-rights political organization, endorsed Torosis and Ivanov and later added Morrow; Negrete is running alongside Oelsen and Trussler without a formal group endorsement. The other five candidates — Brock, Lesley, Gill, Kelley, and Townsend — are running independent of either slate. Twenty candidates originally pulled nomination papers; weigh each candidate's own record and platform rather than treating a slate label as a substitute for one.

Caroline Torosis

Caroline Torosis is the sitting Mayor and a first-term councilmember, an attorney who served on the Rent Control Board before winning one of Santa Monica's three City Council seats in 2022. She's seeking a second term, framing her campaign around the city's fiscal recovery from a budget shortfall she says the city faced four years ago. She was sworn in as Mayor in December 2025 and delivered the city's 2026 State of the City address in July.

Strengths

Two years of council experience plus prior Rent Control Board service, current standing as Mayor, and an SMRR endorsement, the city's dominant renters'-rights political group.

Trade-offs

Her fiscal-recovery pitch ties her record to decisions the full council made collectively, including any a voter wants changed; credit for it is necessarily shared.

Keep in mind

No controversies surfaced in this pass's research. She is one of two incumbents on this ballot, alongside Lana Negrete, after a third incumbent up this cycle, Jesse Zwick, chose not to run.

Lana Negrete

Lana Negrete is a councilmember and small-business owner seeking a second full term, first appointed to the council in 2021 to fill a vacancy and elected outright in 2022. She served as Mayor from December 2024 to December 2025, a term that included public statements on immigration-enforcement activity in Santa Monica. She owns the Santa Monica Music Center.

Strengths

Incumbency plus a business background outside city government, and direct experience as Mayor during a period of local immigration-enforcement tension in 2025.

Trade-offs

Her path to the council started with a 2021 appointment to fill a vacancy, not a first win at the ballot box — a fact a challenger can raise about how she got there.

Keep in mind

No controversies surfaced in this pass's research. She has not aligned with the SMRR-endorsed slate of Torosis, Ivanov, and Morrow, instead running alongside Ashley Oelsen and Doug Trussler.

Phil Brock

Phil Brock is a former councilmember and one-time Mayor of Santa Monica running to return to the council after losing his seat in the November 2024 election. He served on the council for several years, including a term as Mayor. He's running independent of either informal slate in this race.

Strengths

The field's longest council tenure and a prior term as Mayor give him a governing record voters can weigh directly against his bid to return.

Trade-offs

He already lost his seat in the November 2024 election — a result a voter can weigh alongside whatever case he makes for a different outcome this time.

Keep in mind

No controversies from his tenure surfaced in this pass's research. The Santa Monica Lookout's own framing of the field names him specifically as a former mayor who suffered a 2024 defeat.

Daniel Ivanov

Daniel Ivanov, who goes by Danny, chairs Santa Monica's Rent Control Board and is an attorney running for his first City Council term. He's one of three candidates endorsed by SMRR, the renters'-rights political organization, alongside Mayor Torosis and Brett Morrow. He's filed a Candidate Intention Statement (FPPC Form 501) for his 2026 committee with the city's campaign-finance portal.

Strengths

Current chairmanship of the Rent Control Board gives him direct experience with one of the city's most active regulatory bodies, plus an SMRR endorsement signaling institutional backing.

Trade-offs

No prior City Council experience; the SMRR endorsement that some voters read as an asset is, for others, a reason to see him as tied to an existing political bloc.

Keep in mind

No controversies surfaced in this pass's research. His rent-board record was not independently audited beyond his chairmanship title in sources this pass reached.

Brett Morrow

Brett Morrow is a Los Angeles County health official and Santa Monica commissioner running for his first City Council term. He was added to the SMRR-endorsed slate by the organization's steering committee, alongside Mayor Torosis and Daniel Ivanov. His ballot designation is Health Official/Commissioner.

Strengths

A professional background in Los Angeles County public-health work, plus an SMRR steering-committee endorsement added after the group's initial slate.

Trade-offs

No prior City Council experience; the specific county role he holds and the city commission he serves on were not detailed beyond his ballot designation.

Keep in mind

No controversies surfaced in this pass's research. His SMRR endorsement came by steering-committee addition rather than the group's initial vote, per the Santa Monica Lookout's account.

Ericka Lesley

Ericka Lesley chairs Santa Monica's Rent Control Board and sits on the board of Downtown Santa Monica Inc., the downtown business-improvement district; she ran for City Council in 2024 and lost. She's campaigning on a platform of equity, inclusion, and justice, per her own campaign site. She's one of five candidates running independent of either informal slate this cycle.

Strengths

Direct experience chairing the Rent Control Board plus a seat on Downtown Santa Monica Inc.'s board, spanning both housing regulation and the downtown business community.

Trade-offs

She already lost a City Council bid in 2024; a voter can weigh what, if anything, has changed in her case for a second run two years later.

Keep in mind

No controversies surfaced in this pass's research. Her campaign site names a platform of equity, inclusion, and justice without itemized policy proposals this pass could verify.

Eli Gill

Eli Gill is a business operations manager and self-described housing advocate running for his first City Council term. He's one of five candidates running independent of either informal slate in this race. His ballot designation is Business Operations Manager.

Strengths

A described focus on housing issues, in a city where rent control and housing policy are central council business, though this pass could not verify a specific advocacy record.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office or city commission service; no independent news coverage of his candidacy beyond roundups naming him as qualified was found.

Keep in mind

No controversies surfaced in this pass's research. His 'housing advocate' framing, per the Santa Monica Lookout, was not detailed with named organizations or specific work in reachable sources.

Wade Kelley

Wade Kelley is a musician and community volunteer, one of five candidates running independent of either informal slate that has formed in this race. His platform centers on human rights, which he's called his reason for running. He's a former SAG-AFTRA actor and a regular public commenter at meetings of the city's Measure GS Resident Oversight Committee, which tracks spending from Santa Monica's local sales-tax measure.

Strengths

A visible, independent voice with a record of showing up: he's a regular public commenter at Measure GS oversight meetings through much of 2026, engaging with city fiscal detail firsthand.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office, city commission seat, or professional government experience; his public statements emphasize values over specific policy proposals.

Keep in mind

No controversies surfaced in this pass's research beyond roundups naming him as qualified. Weigh his human-rights framing, and his SAG-AFTRA acting background, on their own terms.

Derrick Townsend

Derrick Townsend is an occupational therapist at Kaiser Permanente running for his first City Council term. He's one of five candidates running independent of either informal slate in this race. His ballot designation is Healthcare/Rehabilitation Specialist.

Strengths

A healthcare background distinct from the field's attorneys, business owners, and government officials, in a city where housing and public health intersect.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office or city commission service; no independent news coverage of his candidacy beyond roundups naming him as qualified was found.

Keep in mind

No controversies surfaced in this pass's research. Weigh his healthcare-professional background on its own terms against candidates with prior city-government experience.

Ashley Oelsen

Ashley Oelsen is a scientist and city commissioner running for her first City Council term, informally aligned with Councilmember Lana Negrete and Doug Trussler in this race. The Santa Monica Lookout describes her as an environmentalist. Her ballot designation is Scientist/Commissioner.

Strengths

A scientific and city-commission background distinct from the field's attorneys and businesspeople, plus a visible alignment with incumbent Lana Negrete's informal slate.

Trade-offs

No prior City Council experience; which city commission she serves on was not detailed beyond her ballot designation in sources this pass reached.

Keep in mind

No controversies surfaced in this pass's research. Her informal alignment with Negrete and Trussler, per the Lookout, is a slate dynamic, not a formal party or committee endorsement.

Doug Trussler

Doug Trussler is a businessman running for his first City Council term, informally aligned with Councilmember Lana Negrete and Ashley Oelsen. His ballot designation is Businessman/Coach/Parent. His 2026 campaign committee has recorded at least one payment, $675.75, in the city's NetFile campaign-finance portal.

Strengths

A business background and an informal alignment with incumbent Lana Negrete's slate; his 2026 committee shows at least one recorded expenditure in the city's own finance portal.

Trade-offs

No prior City Council experience; no independent news coverage of his candidacy beyond roundups naming him as qualified was found.

Keep in mind

No controversies surfaced in this pass's research. Weigh his business background and Negrete alignment against the SMRR-endorsed slate's institutional backing.

Lindsay Davis

Lindsay Davis is a yoga instructor who markets herself online as 'Daisy the Venice Healer,' running for her first City Council term. She qualified for the ballot after the Santa Monica Daily Press's mid-August roundup of qualified candidates, later than most of the field. Her ballot designation is Yoga Instructor.

Strengths

A wellness-and-community background distinct from the rest of the field's attorneys, business owners, and government officials.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office or city commission service; no independent news coverage of her candidacy beyond social media and the city's own candidate list was found.

Keep in mind

No controversies surfaced in this pass's research. A co-campaigner named in her own social posts, Ryan Blomberg, does not appear on the city's final qualified-candidate list.

Source review: Strong (84/100) · 7 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Ericka Lesley's own campaign website (erickalesleyforcitycouncil.com) may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • santamonica.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Santa Monica — General Election 2026 page (November 3, 2026: lists all qualified City Council, Santa Monica College Board, Rent Control Board, and School Board candidates with ballot designations, five ballot measures, and the full election calendar including the write-in nomination window)
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)City of Santa Monica — Public Portal (NetFile), Campaign Finance Elections page, showing the 11/03/2026 General Election's Candidate Seats (City Council, Santa Monica College Board of Trustees) and hundreds of registered candidate and committee filers
  • smdp.com (opens in a new tab)Santa Monica Daily Press, by Matthew Hall — Santa Monica 2026 Ballot Takes Shape With Contested Races (Aug. 13, 2026: confirms three four-year City Council seats contested; names 7 qualified candidates plus 5 then-pending verification; two withdrawals, Nathaniel I. Jones and Angela D. Scott)
  • surfsantamonica.com (opens in a new tab)Santa Monica Lookout, by Jorge Casuso — 11 Candidates Qualify to Run for Council (Aug. 17, 2026: field narrowed from 20 who pulled nomination papers; SMRR endorsed Torosis and Ivanov, later added Morrow; Negrete running with Oelsen and Trussler; Brock, Lesley, Gill, Kelley, and Townsend running independent of a slate; Jesse Zwick did not run after accepting a position directing statewide housing-advocacy work)
  • smdp.com (opens in a new tab)Santa Monica Daily Press — Rent Control Board Chair Ericka Lesley announces run for City Council (May 10, 2024: identifies Lesley as a Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. board member and Chair of the city's Rent Control Board)
  • erickalesleyforcitycouncil.com (opens in a new tab)Ericka Lesley's own campaign website (erickalesleyforcitycouncil.com) — stated platform of equity, inclusion, and justice
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — Santa Monica City Council (roster as of Dec. 2025: Caroline Torosis, Jesse Zwick, Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin, Barry Snell, Natalya Zernitskaya, Lana Negrete; cites the city's own Dec. 10, 2025 press release for Torosis's mayoral installation and Zwick's move to mayor pro tem)

Last updated August 31, 2026.