Politics & Government

Renters' Rights Group Won't Endorse Mayor

In choosing who to support in the race for the 50th Assembly District, the influential group picks Torie Osborn, not longtime member Mayor Richard Bloom.

Santa Monica's influential renters' rights groups "snubbed" its longtime member, Mayor Richard Bloom, in choosing to endorse Sunday night liberal activist Torie Osborn in June's state Assembly race, The LookOut News reported.

The LookOut reports that Osborn comfortably snatched the endorsement of Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights with 67 percent of the members' votes.

Osborn—who has decisively won support from several local Democratic clubs, including those in , and —is vying for the new 50th Assembly District seat along with two other Democratic candidates, Bloom and current Assemblywoman Betsy Butler, who represents Marina del Rey and parts of the South Bay.

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Bloom has reportedly been a Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights member for more than 20 years and was absent from Sunday night's meeting, saying in a statement that he was disappointed in how the group conducted the meeting. He said it was only clear at the last minute that an endorsement would take place that night.

“The actions of a select group of SMRR members leading the effort to endorse a candidate without SMRR’s traditional transparent process mirrors the dysfunction of Sacramento and are exactly the kind of conduct that voters are fed up with,” Bloom said in a press release issued Sunday.

Find out what's happening in Santa Monicawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The will include Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills, Malibu and West Hollywood

Read the full story at surfsantamonica.com.

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