Santa Monica's two public safety unions expanded their slate of City Council endorsements Tuesday, adding candidates Doug Trussler and Ashley Oelsen to their earlier backing of incumbent Councilmember Lana Negrete, citing new polling that shows widespread voter anxiety about crime, homelessness and the direction of the city ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Santa Monica Firefighters, IAFF Local 1109, and the Santa Monica Police Officers Association said the expanded slate follows a survey the unions commissioned from EMC Research, which polled 250 likely November 2026 voters in Santa Monica from Sept. 5-9 using phone, email and text-to-web methods.
The results, the unions said, point to a city that wants the kind of individuals they have endorsed. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said Santa Monica is on the wrong track, and 61% said the city needs new people to change how things are done, compared with 32% who said it needs more experienced leaders. While the survey showed unease among voters over the state of the city, it specifically showed support for Negrete.
"Our members respond to this community's worst days, and we hear a consistent message: people love this city and they do not recognize it right now," said Garrett Childers, president of Santa Monica Firefighters Local 1109. "We asked the residents we serve what they think, and they answered clearly. Standing with the community isn't a political calculation for us. It's part of the job."
The poll found residents split on safety in their own neighborhoods, with 52% saying they feel safe walking alone after dark and 48% saying they do not. Downtown fared worse, with 71% of voters saying the area around the Third Street Promenade is not safe after dark. Forty-three percent said they feel less safe than they did two years ago, while just 8% said they feel more safe.
Despite that unease, voters gave high marks to the city's first responders — 88% rated the Fire Department's performance as excellent or good, and 60% said the same of the Police Department, ratings the unions contrasted with lower marks for elected leadership. The survey also found 75% of voters said they are more likely to support a candidate endorsed by the firefighters, and 59% said the same of a Police Officers Association endorsement.
"That trust is the most valuable thing our organizations have," Childers said. "We don't spend it lightly, and we're spending it here because the stakes for this city are real."
Cody Green, president of the Santa Monica Police Officers Association, said the endorsements reflect an effort to elevate resident concerns. "This is about listening to the people we serve and making sure their voices are part of the conversation about Santa Monica's future," Green said.
The survey also highlighted the now-terminated interim housing projects on Ocean Avenue as a flashpoint. Seventy-two percent of voters said they were aware of the projects, but only 25% said they would have supported them, while 56% said they would have strongly opposed them. Sixty-three percent said they are unlikely to support a council candidate who backed those or similar projects, including 54% who said they are very unlikely to do so. The unions said the findings do not suggest Santa Monica should halt housing construction altogether, but that the city should coordinate more closely with residents and consider options such as workforce housing.
Local 1109 and the police association said they plan to release a fuller report on the poll results. Negrete previously received the unions' backing following a membership meeting and what the associations described as unanimous member support.
Negrete, Oelsen and Trussler have also picked up other endorsements. The Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City backed Negrete and Oelsen for council, citing Negrete's opposition to SB 79, a state law expanding large-scale residential development that every other sitting councilmember supported, and Oelsen's role fighting a city-backed measure that would have exempted Santa Monica from California Coastal Commission oversight. The Board of Northeast Neighbors likewise endorsed Negrete, Oelsen and Trussler, with Chair Tricia Crane calling them "honest, independent, resident-focused candidates."
But the broader endorsement landscape this fall is far less unified, with labor groups, tenant organizations and civic clubs splitting in different directions across a crowded field of 12 candidates competing for three council seats.
UNITE HERE Local 11, the hotel workers union, endorsed four candidates for the three seats — Mayor Caroline Torosis, Rent Control Board chair Danny Ivanov, Brett Morrow and Trussler. The union credited Torosis with protecting Pier restaurant workers' jobs amid ownership changes, backed Ivanov for his rent-control enforcement record, and supported Morrow based on his previous work for then-Rep. Keith Ellison, now Minnesota's attorney general. The union said it backed Trussler despite some disagreements because of his approach to labor and business working together.
Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights endorsed Torosis and Ivanov but could not agree on a third candidate; its steering committee later added Morrow to campaign materials. Santa Monica Forward backed Torosis, Eli Gill and Morrow. The Community for Excellent Public Schools split its endorsement between Torosis and Negrete, and the Santa Monica Democratic Club deadlocked without endorsing any candidate. Municipal employee unions had not issued endorsements as of this report.
The council race is one of four contested local elections this fall, alongside seats on the Rent Control Board, the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees and the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education. Voters will also weigh five ballot measures, including a school parcel tax, amendments to the city's rent-control charter and a hotel-tax measure aimed at long corporate stays.
Mail ballots are set to go out by Oct. 5, vote centers open Oct. 24, and polls close Nov. 3, with results due to be certified by Dec. 3.