The field of candidates for Santa Monica's 2026 local elections is set after the deadline to file for office passed this week, with contests unfolding for City Council, the Rent Control Board, the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees and the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education.
According to city candidate filing records dated Aug. 12, 2026, multiple hopefuls pulled nomination papers in the weeks leading up to the deadline, though not all who took out papers ultimately filed, and some who filed later withdrew.
City Council
Three four-year seats are up for election. While some candidates have already qualified for the race, those that submitted paperwork by the deadline may still qualify in the coming days as their applications are verified. :
Ryan Blomberg
Phillip L. Brock — qualified
Lindsay Davis
Eli Gill — qualified
Daniel Ivanov — qualified
Wade Kelley — qualified
Ericka Lesley — qualified
Brett Morrow — qualified
Lana Negrete, incumbent — qualified
Ashley Oelsen
Caroline Torosis, incumbent — qualified
Derrick Townsend
Douglas Byron Trussler
Two candidates withdrew from the race: Nathaniel I. Jones and Angela D. Scott.
Four prospective candidates who pulled papers did not submit them: Autumn Dubra, Erik Kramer, Jonathan Louis Mann and Charles A. Mokuolu. Virginia Reese also pulled papers for City Council but did not file for the seat, instead filing for a College Board seat.
Rent Control Board
Three four-year seats are up for election.
Kurt Gonska, incumbent — qualified
Sue Himmelrich — qualified
Soledad Marcial — qualified
Zoë Muntaner
Heather Thomason — qualified
No candidates withdrew or failed to file for the Rent Control Board.
Santa Monica College Board of Trustees
Four four-year seats are up for election.
Luis Barrera Castanon, incumbent — qualified
Kera Blades-Snell — qualified
Oscar de la Torre
Thomas Peters, incumbent — qualified
Sion Roy, incumbent — qualified
Brahim Boumakh — did not qualify
Virginia Reese filed for the College Board after initially pulling papers for City Council, but later withdrew her candidacy. No prospective candidates failed to file for the College Board.
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education
Four four-year seats are up for election.
Harry Leshner
Laurie Lieberman, incumbent — qualified
Alicia Mignano, incumbent — qualified
Stacy J. Rouse, incumbent
Robert "Robbie" Staenberg — qualified
Brahim Boumakh initially pulled papers for the School Board but instead filed for the College Board, where he was ultimately found not qualified. No candidates withdrew from the School Board race, and none who pulled papers failed to file.
Additional candidates can still enter local races with write-in status. Qualifications for write-in candidates are the same as those who qualified for the ballot but write-in candidates do not appear on any voter materials and when it comes time to vote, their names must be physically written on the ballot by the individual voter. The write-in nomination runs from Sept. 7 to Oct. 20.