By Jorge Casuso

July 17, 2026 -- While the Democratic Club for the first time on Wednesday failed to endorse a City Council slate, its expanded membership base successfully weighed in on three other local races.

There were however, a few surprises, with a longtime School Board member failing to win the group's endorsement, a former Council member falling far short in the College Board race and a former Mayor winning a seat on the Rent Board on the second round of voting.

In the race for four open seats on the School Board, incumbent Laurie Lieberman, who has served 16 years on the School Board, failed to win the necessary 55 percent of the vote in the two rounds of voting, as did challenger Harry Leshner.

As a result, the Club endorsed only three candidates -- incumbent Alicia Mignano, with 207 votes; Robbie Staenberg, with 192 votes, and incumbent Stacy Rouse, with 179 votes.

The endorsements came two days after the Board of the Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS) announced it was backing Lieberman, along with the three candidates the Dem Club also endorsed.

In the race for four open College Board seats, former Council and School Board member Oscar de la Torre failed to reach the threshold in the first round with 76 votes.

Incumbents Sion Roy with 219 votes, Luis Castanon with 203 votes and Tom Peters with 194 votes all won endorsements in the first round.

So did Kera Blades-Snell, who was endorsed to replace Nancy Greenstein, who is not seeking reelection. The Club's endorsements mirrored those of CEPS.

In the race for three seats on the Rent Control Board, former Mayor Sue Himmelrich won an endorsement in the second round of voting after falling short of the 55 percent threshold with 48.4 percent of the vote.

Only challenger Heather Thomason was endorsed in the first round, winning 59.4 percent of the vote. Incumbent Kurt Gonska was endorsed in the second round after falling short with 46.2 percent in round one, while Soledad Marcial finished third behind Himmelrich and Gonska.