By Jorge Casuso
Editor's note: This article was updated to include former Mayor Phil Brock among the potential candidates.
July 7, 2026 -- The race for three open City Council seats is kicking into high gear next week, as candidates begin circulating nominating petitions on Monday and a major political group picks its slate two days later.
So far, 11 potential candidates have announced they are running for a seat on the seven-member Council and must file their nominating papers signed by at least 100 registered Santa Monica voters by Friday August 7.
The filing period will be extended to Wednesday, August 12 at 5:30 p.m. if an incumbent does not file nomination papers. Councilmember Jesse Zwick has not indicated he plans to seek a second four-year term.
Tomorrow night, 10 of the 11 candidates competing for the three open seats will take part in the Santa Monica Democratic Club debate at the Church In Ocean Park, 235 Hill Street.
In addition to Mayor Caroline Torosis and Councilmember Lana Negrete, the other Council candidates who are participating are Angela Scott, Doug Trussler, Ashley Oelsen, Danny Ivanov, Wade Kelley, Eli Gill, Brett Morrow and Ericka Lesley.
The 11th candidate, former mayor Phil Brock, announced he will be running for Council after the deadline to participate in the debate had passed. The debate is free and open to the public, and will also be live-streamed on Zoom.
The Club will then meet next Wednesday to vote on endorsements in the Council race -- as well as the School, College and Rent Board races -- at its Annual Endorsements Meeting, which will be held on Zoom only.
Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR), which along with the Democratic Club holds a 6 to 1 majority on the Council, will hold its 2026 Convention on August 9 at the Grant Elementary School Auditorium.
"This meeting provides the opportunity for SMRR members to determine which candidates for elected office and which ballot measures will receive the support of the organization in the November election campaign," according to the group's website.
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 current 6 to 1 majority on the Council.
In her weekly newsletter Monday, Negrete announced she would hold a campaign launch party on July 17 for her slate, which includes Oelson, an environmentalist and vocal critic of the current Council's pro-development policies, and Trussler, a local businessman whose company, Bison Capital, manages some $1 billion in assets.
By contrast, the liberal establishment's rival slate won't be determined until after the Dem Club and SMRR make their endorsements.
The front runners in the bid to join the slate headed by Torosis are Brett Morrow, the Chief Communications Officer for the LA County Department of Public Health, and Angela Scott, a member of the City's Public Safety Reform and Oversight Commission.