By Jonathan Friedman
Lookout Staff

November 5, 2010 -- Despite the challenge of being a Republican and a rent control-opposed landlord in a left-leaning city where rent control is popular, Robert Kronovet vocally declared numerous times throughout the City Council campaign that he would win. In a September interview with The Lookout, he said “SMRR doesn’t stand a chance against me, no chance. We’re going to crush them.” But when the ballots were counted, it was Kronovet who was crushed.

The man who shocked political observers in 2008 when he became the first person to win a seat on the Rent Control Board without the backing of Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights (SMRR), placed a distant third in the race for two two-year seats on the council. He received 5,675 votes. SMRR-backed appointed incumbents Terry O’Day (12,592 votes) and Gleam Davis (10,632) were the victors.

“Somehow the 15,000 Kronovet voters (who elected him to the rent board) either fell asleep or didn’t think it was important to vote,” said Kronovet, who during the campaign said he had done the calculations that showed it was a guarantee he would place first or second. “I think they’re going to realize their mistake now that SMRR has a major majority.”

The rent board election two years ago in which Kronovet received 15,186 votes had three competitors, while this council contest had five. In both races, voters were able to choose two candidates. Kronovet said he and his supporters would study the results “to see what happened with the numbers.”

Kronovet said he would run again in two years because there is “nobody defending the residents.”

“At this point, SMRR is going to go unchecked completely,” Kronovet said. “That’s a very bad thing for the residents. I don’t understand their voting habits, and I thought I did.”

With their victories, O’Day and Davis were elected for the first time to the council. Both had unsuccessful council runs in 2006. They later were appointed to the dais, with Davis filling the seat made vacant by the death of Herb Katz in 2009 and O’Day filling the seat made vacant by the death of Ken Genser this year.

“People have not been hesitant to point out I was not elected,” Davis said. “And it is the same thing about Terry O’Day. And now that we have been elected, it will put an end to those comments.“

As to how Davis was able to win this time, she said voters “thought with my two years on the council, I have been thoughtful and even-handed and fair.”

Davis continued, “So I’m hoping that after the chance to observe me, that they thought I added something to the council as a whole.”

Davis said she thought it was overall a positive campaign. However, she said there was “a fair amount of negativity directed at” O’Day and Pam O’Connor (who was elected to her fifth term in the four-year council race).

“I think what the election results show is that the Santa Monica voters don’t have any interest in negative campaigning,” Davis said.

The group campaigning against O’Day and O’Connor was Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (SMCLC), which opposes most major development projects. It accused the two council members of being development friendly. SMCLC promoted three candidates, including Susan Hartley in the two-year race. She finished fourth with 4,923 votes. Also competing in the two-year contest was newspaper publisher David Ganezer, who received 4,181 votes.