The November election in Santa Monica will be among the least contested in City history as one of the two races that voters would have had a voice in is now moot following the withdrawal of the lone challenger for School Board.
School Board candidate Christine Falaguerra notified the City Clerk’s office of her intent to withdraw from the race last week.
"I have decided to withdraw my candidacy from the School Board election," she wrote. "Please let me know if there are any further steps I need to take."
She was one of four individuals competing for the three open seats. The other three are incumbents Jon Kean, Jennifer Smith and Maria Leon-Vazquez.
Falaguerra did not respond to a request to elaborate on her decision by press time but while she may no longer be actively seeking office, the lack of contest does not mean the election for School Board will be canceled.
The City Clerk's office confirmed receipt of Falaguerra’s email this week but said voters would still see Falaguerra’s name when they cast their votes as ballots were finalized last week. Printed ballots are already in the mail to some voters and they can be returned as of Wednesday next week. Falaguerra’s name and candidate statements are going to be included in those ballots regardless of her intent to withdraw from the race.
Santa Monica’s elections are consolidated with Los Angeles County and local officials said they have notified County election officials about the request to withdraw but local election code has no procedure to remove a candidate at this late stage unless they were to die prior to the election.
While the now uncontested race for School Board will still go before voters, races for Rent Control Board and the Santa Monica College board were canceled earlier this year due to a similar lack of candidates. In both cases, the number of potential candidates matched the number of open seats and no election was required.
Voters will still have a meaningful choice of candidates for City Council with 10 individuals vying for the four open seats but even that choice is vastly reduced from years past when the city saw up to 20 individuals campaigning for local office.
Election experts said the lack of residents seeking local office is unlikely to have a significant impact on the outcome of the one remaining contested race as there’s plenty of heat at the top of the ticket.
UCLA lecturer Jim Newton said the impact of local races, or the lack thereof, on overall voter turnout is negligible and while a particularly interesting local race would ideally generate its own pool of informed voters, it is more likely that a high intensity national or regional race would skew the local voter pool.
"Trump/Harris is a serious choice and people understand there’s a lot on the line there. Also the fact that Harris is a Californian and I think that will additionally drive some turnout here. Quite possibly, you could see a real movement in the electorate here. It’s a possibility that with a woman, a woman of color … who is significantly younger than Trump, all those things combined could really produce a significant turnout increase for her."
He said the Harris candidacy combined with a national focus on abortion could generate a surge in turnout among women who would then have a corresponding influence on local races, regardless of their quantity or intensity.
Newton said it’s possible a surge in turnout could have a real impact on the race for District Attorney.
"One race to watch locally is the DA race," he said. "That’s a race where Gascon polls very badly, and has for months, but Hochman doesn’t poll great either."
He said Hochman’s past identification as a Republican could sway the kind of voters who may be brought out to vote by the Presidential race.
"Hochman has a very good chance of winning this race because Gascon’s numbers are so bad but if you saw a big surge in young voters, voters of color, I would think they are more likely to be Gason rather than Hochman supporters."
