By Jorge Casuso
May 4, 2026 -- Six months before November's City Council election, two potential slates are coalescing around rival incumbents who have announced they will seek reelection.
Unlike the 2024 race that saw Santa Monica's liberal establishment regain control after a historic loss in 2020, the November 3 election for three open seats won't flip the Council majority.
One slate will be headed by Mayor Caroline Torosis, the top vote getter in 2022, and likely won't include fellow incumbent Jesse Zwick, who has indicated he is unlikely to seek a second term.
The rival faction will be headed by Councilmember Lana Negrete, who has been the lone anti-establishment vote on the Council after two of her allies were swept from office two years ago and a third chose not to run.
Ten potential candidates have so far announced their intention to run in this year's General Election, and key endorsements remain more than a month away.
Negrete is expected to soon announce she will run with Doug Trussler, a local businessman whose company, Bison Capital, manages some $1 billion in assets, and Ashley Oelsen, an environmentalist and vocal critic of the current Council's pro-development policies.
By contrast, the liberal establishment's rival slate won't be determined until after Santa Monicans' for Renters' Rights (SMRR) and the local Democratic Club hold their conventions, which took place historically early in 2024 in late June .
According to sources, the front runners in the bid to join the slate headed by Torosis are Brett Morrow, who like the incumbent works for Los Angeles County, currently serving as Chief Communications Officer for the Department of Public Health.
The slate would also likely include Angela Scott, a Navy veteran who is a member of Santa Monica's Black Caucus, the Committee for Racial Justice and the City's Public Safety Reform and Oversight Commission.
Other candidates who have expressed their intent to run are Rent Control Board members Ericka Lesley and Daniel Ivanov, abundant housing advocate Eli Gill and Derrick Townsend, an occupational therapist at Kaiser-Permanente.
SMRR, whose endorsed candidates have held a majority on the Council for 32 of the past 43 years, and the local Democratic Club have not set a date for their conventions, which took place in August two years ago.
SMRR could set a date this week, when its steering committee meets Wednesday and a membership meeting takes place Saturday, said Patricia Hoffman, a member of the steering committee and former co-chair.
The Democratic Club is "working on locking (in a date) with our board," Club president Jon Katz said in an email. "Nothing officially set yet."
Two years ago, the city's two most influential political groups held their conventions days apart to avoid a divided slate, which dashed their efforts to regain a council majority in 2022.
The endorsements are expected to again be made before candidates fill out the required paperwork to run for office during the nomination period for the November race, which takes place this year from July 13 to August 7.
To qualify for the ballot, candidates must submit the valid signatures of at least 100 registered Santa Monica voters.
Candidates who would like a statement included in the Official Sample Ballot must pay a $1,100 fee.