By Jorge Casuso
August 31, 2026 – Continuing a trend of unusual City Council endorsements, Santa Monica's public safety unions backed an initial candidate Monday and said more endorsements will be made in the coming weeks.
The Police and Fire unions both backed Councilmember Lana Negrete -- a staunch supporter of public safety and often the lone dissenting voice on the dais -- who is one of eleven candidates in the November 3 race for three Council seats.
"It's no surprise our members came together so quickly around Lana Negrete," Garrett Childers president of Santa Monica Firefighters IAFF Local 1109 said in a statement.
"She has been a relentless champion for public safety in Santa Monica -- on staffing, on response times, and on the resources our members need to do this job," Childers said. "When it counted. She showed up."
Both unions noted in their statements that "additional endorsements will be announced in the coming weeks."
"I’m incredibly proud to have the support of both our police officers and firefighters because public safety isn’t something you support only during an election," Negrete said in a statement.
"It means standing with the brave men and women doing this work every day, and making sure they have the resources, staffing and support to do it well.
"I have consistently and unapologetically supported responsible public safety, not because it is politically convenient, but because a thriving city depends on it," Negrete said.
"This endorsement means a great deal to me because it comes from the men and women who know firsthand what it takes to keep Santa Monica safe."
The delayed endorsements come as the six groups that make up Santa Monica's political establishment have failed to agree on a unified slate, as they did when the four candidates they all backed were swept into office two years ago ("Political Establishment Lacks Unified Front in Council Race," August 27, 2026) .
This year, the highly influential Democratic Club failed to make any endorsements for Council at their convention in July, and only Mayor Caroline Torosis has won the backing of the five other groups. The third incumbent, Councilmember Jesse Zwick, is not seeking reelection.
Two years ago, the public safety unions were the first major groups to make endorsements for four open Council seats and, for the first time, failed to back the same slate.
The Police and Firefighters unions struck out, when none of the four candidates the groups both backed --- including incumbents Phil Brock and Oscar de la Torre -- were elected.
Two years earlier, the Firefighters union backed incumbent Lana Negrete, Rent Board Commissioner Caroline Torosis and Residocracy founder Armen Melkonians. Bothe Negrete and Torosis were elected.
Meanwhile, the Police union -- which sat out the 2020 election after the Department came under fire for its response to the May 31 Santa Monica riots -- backed Negrete, Melkonians and Recreation and Parks Commissioner Albin Gielicz.
Torosis and Zwick -- who were backed by Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR), the local Democratic Club and the hotel workers union -- cruised to easy victories, with Negrete finishing third.
This year's Council race, unlike the 2024 race that saw Santa Monica's political establishment regain control after a historic loss in 2020, won't flip the Council super-majority.