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Editor's note: This article has been updated to indicate the Club's Executive Committee will not make endorsements and to include comments from its president. It also corrected the number of votes Brett Morrow received in the second round.

By Jorge Casuso

July 16, 2026 -- The Santa Monica Democratic Club won't make endorsements in the upcoming City Council race the ten candidates seeking the powerful group's backing failed to reach the 55 percent vote threshold Wednesday night.

Club Preisent Jon Katz confirmed that there will be no further voting by the membership or the Executive Board.

Wednesday's deadlock at the group's Endorsement Convention held via zoom was the result of a surge in new members who backed a rival slate challenging the liberal establishment candidates the Club has traditionally endorsed.

It came after Councilmember Lana Negrete -- who is heading a slate challenging the liberal establishment -- finished first with 181 votes, followed by Torosis with 164 votes, with neither meeting the threshold.

Environmentalist Ashley Oelson and businessman Doug Trussler, who are running with Negrete, finished with 156 and 153 votes respectively.

They were followed by Brett Morrow, an LA County Public Health employee, with 84 votes and Rent Control Board member Danny Ivanov with 73 votes.

In the second round, bullet voting for individual candidates resulted in another deadlock with none of the candidates meeting the 55 percent threshold.

Torosis finished first with 163 votes, followed by Negrete with 152, Trussler with 151 and Oelson with 136. Morrow received 101 votes, while Ivanov received 80.

Calls by several club members to hold a third round of voting were rejected by Club President Katz.

"Right now we are standing as is," Katz said. "As I understand it, through the Club's bylaws and Robert's Rules we are not able to continue with any vote."

The Board had recommended that Club members vote to endorse Torosis and Ivanov at Wednesday's meeting.

Katz said Wednesday's meeting illustrated how that Club had expanded in recent years to reflect differing views, as well as the organizing skills of its members.

"It's a really broad coalition now," Katz said. "What we saw is non-consensus. I think it was a good outcome. I was prepared to wake up this morning with half the club hating me."

The local Democratic Club has seen a surge in membership, with its rolls doubling to more than 500 members over the past ten years, with the biggest increase coming over the past two years, according to Katz.

Members who voted at Wednesday's meeting were required to have been "in good standing, with dues paid no later than June 15," according to Club officials.

Unlike the Dem Club, which gains influence at the State level by increasing membership, SMRR officials have made special note of "efforts by outside groups" to "influence our endorsement process."

Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR), which along with the Democratic Club holds a 6 to 1 super-majority on the Council, will make its endorsements during a membership convention on August 9.

SMRR members must be present in person at the August 9 Convention at the Grant Elementary School Auditorium and must have paid their dues and joined prior to May 12.