Santa Barbara Mayoral Race Heats Up with Endorsements, Candidate Forum

With less than two months left until Election Day, the race to become the next mayor of Santa Barbara is ramping up, with the frontrunning candidates boasting new endorsements and campaign donations, while all three of the top candidates gave voters a chance to hear their platforms during the first public mayoral forum on September 3.

Candidate Forum

About 220 people packed into the New Vic Theatre for Thursday’s forum — hosted by Santa Barbara News-Press Editor Josh Molina and Jerry Roberts of SB Newsmakers — where mayoral candidates Kristen Sneddon, Eric Friedman, and Wendy Sims-Moten spoke on hot topics such as the city budget, State Street, rent stabilization, and the direction of local leadership.

Throughout the night, current councilmembers Friedman and Sneddon stood out as the leading candidates, as both displayed a deep knowledge of city matters, despite falling on opposite ends on many of the individual issues. Sims-Moten, a former school board member who has a long track record of leadership in the education sector, emerged as a strong third option after an impressive performance in the forum, where she offered a fresh perspective and a people-centered approach to the city’s most polarizing subjects.

Friedman and Sneddon traded jabs over the city budget, which was at the center of council conflict during this year’s budget planning season. While both agreed that the city should not dip any further into its reserve fund, there was some disagreement about how the city got into its budgetary troubles, and who was to blame. 

Friedman, a moderate Democrat who serves as chair of the Finance Committee, said the city budget was the “single most important thing” the City Council does. He said the city needed to expand its economic base and asked voters to consider how the city would pay for the big-ticket items on its wishlist, such as the recently approved $96 million State Street Master Plan

Sneddon, a self-described progressive Democrat who already earned the endorsement of the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party, said she agreed the city’s reserves needed to be replenished as soon as possible. She added context, saying the city’s budget concerns were not simply due to council overspending, since there was added pressure from inflation, tariffs, and cuts to federal and state funding.

When discussion turned to housing, Friedman said the city needed to do more to encourage developers to increase supply by making the planning and permitting process easier and faster. Friedman said the current process was “flawed,” and often cost developers far too much in time and money, forcing many to walk away from potential housing projects because they just aren’t financially feasible.

Friedman called the proposed rent stabilization ordinance “one of the most extreme” policies in the state, and worried that the new restrictions would force owners to sell their properties, take units off the market, or raise rents across the board.

“In terms of rent stabilization itself, I’ve never said that there won’t be those that benefit,” Friedman said. “The initial people that get into those units will benefit, but for everybody else, the rents will go up.”

Sneddon, who was among the four concilmembers to vote in favor of rent stabilization, agreed that housing supply should be addressed by streamlining the review process for developers, though she said that rent stabilization was a necessary component to a holistic approach to solving the city’s housing crisis.

During one especially heartfelt moment, Sneddon offered a public apology to her colleagues on the council who felt that Sneddon had pushed rent stabilization through to approval when she and Councilmember Wendy Santamaria wrote a two-person memo with a sample ordinance included in November 2025.

“I regret that,” Sneddon said, adding that she wished she had made sure that all of her fellow councilmembers were on board before filing the memo. “I learned something very valuable that I won’t do again.”

Sims-Moten said she supported rent stabilization as a way to get the city back into a more healthy place to address the housing crisis. “We need to make the patient stable before we go to the next step,” she said.

She said city politics were increasingly divisive, and she hoped that local leaders would continue to center the people who were most affected by the policies city council put into place.

“What do the people who are most impacted think?” Sims-Moten asked.

Endorsements

The week prior to the forum, both Friedman and Sneddon announced endorsements from prominent local politicians.

Friedman earned the endorsement of Congressmember Salud Carbajal, a fixture in local politics who has risen through the ranks to become one of the most well-known politicians from the area. Carbajal’s support of Friedman — who worked as a staffer when Carbajal was a county supervisor — is a departure from the County Democratic Party, which unanimously chose Sneddon for its official endorsement.

Carbajal said he stands behind Friedman due to his “fiscally responsible leadership,” and said that Friedman is the “right choice to tackle the budget challenges.”

“[Eric] understands that building Santa Barbara’s future starts with a budget we can sustain,” Carbajal said in a statement announcing the endorsement. “That same discipline is how Eric delivered real results on affordable housing, public safety, and emergency preparedness, without ever compromising the city’s finances. With Eric as mayor, Santa Barbara will have steady, responsible leadership and I am proud to endorse him.”

Friedman, who also received the endorsement of current Mayor Randy Rowse, said he was grateful for Carbajal’s support. 

“He has been a mentor to me and showed me effective leadership starts with bringing people together to solve challenges using common sense,” he said. “As Mayor of Santa Barbara, I will prioritize responsiveness and collaboration to ensure I meet the needs of all our residents.”

Sneddon, who had early endorsements from the state and county Democratic Party, and several former mayors — including Marty Blum and the late Sheila Lodge — added another batch of endorsements from the majority of the sitting members of the county Board of Supervisors.

Santa Barbara County Supervisors Laura Capps, Joan Hartmann, and Roy Lee announced their shared endorsement of Sneddon, adding to her growing list of supporters, which include the Sierra Club, SEIU Local 620, the Santa Barbara Teachers Association, CAUSE Action Fund, and the city firefighters union.

Supervisor Capps said Sneddon is a “local who loves this community and has spent much of her life giving back to it through teaching, volunteering, and serving as an elected official.

“She knows what makes Santa Barbara special and is committed to protecting its character,” Capps said. “She is experienced, compassionate, prepared, and ready to lead. I’m proud to support Kristen for Mayor.”

Hartmann pointed to Sneddon’s history of environmental leadership, saying that Sneddon helped move the city toward clean energy and strengthened wildfire resilience.

“She understands that protecting our environment requires collaboration and follow-through. I’m proud to support Kristen for Mayor,” Hartmann said.

Lee said he hopes to continue working with Sneddon to keep the strong relationship between city and county leadership. “I know I can pick up the phone, talk about an issue with her, and work together on a solution,” Lee said. “That kind of partnership matters, and I’m proud to support her for Mayor.”

Sims-Moten has not announced any formal endorsement at this point.

Campaign Donations

Another major factor in the mayoral race will be campaign funding. While Sneddon has the advantage in number of endorsements, Friedman is far ahead when it comes to early campaign donations.

For the first half of the year, Friedman reported more than $148,000 in donations to his campaign. After spending nearly $11,000, Friedman’s campaign war chest sits at over $136,000.

Friedman’s financial supporters include notable names such as Mayor Rowse, former city administrator Rebecca Bjork, Councilmember Mike Jordan, and housing developer Peter Lewis. Friedman has many donations from business owners and real estate industry insiders, including real estate agents, investors, architects, contractors, and land use consultants.

Friedman also received a maximum donation of $5,900 from billionaire real estate developer Herb Simon, who splits time between Montecito and Indianapolis, Indiana. According to Forbes, Simon, who founded one of the largest mall and real estate groups in the country, is worth more than $7.7 billion, and holds an 80 percent ownership stake in the Indiana Pacers, along with a majority stake in the WNBA’s Indiana Fever.

As of September 4, Sneddon has received about $70,000 in donations, which after campaign expenses is now closer to $65,000. Sneddon’s supporters include smaller donations from local leaders, members of nonprofit groups, and educators. Contributors include three former mayors, Planning Commissioner John Baucke, county Housing and Grants Programs Manager Lucille Boss, architect Fred Sweeney, and UCSB environmental politics professor Leah Stokes.

Sneddon’s largest contributions came from retired nonprofit CEO Eileen White Read, who donated $5,900, and historic preservationist Richard Closson, who has contributed $2,575 to Sneddon’s campaign this year.

Sims-Moten has not yet claimed any contributions for this election cycle. 

The Santa Barbara Independent will be hosting multiple forums across the City of Santa Barbara ahead of the upcoming election, including a mayoral forum on Wednesday, September 30, at 5:30 p.m. at Alhecama Theatre. Forums will be moderated by news reporter Ryan P. Cruz. For more information and to save your spot for these free discussions, RSVP here.

Editor’s Note: Santa Barbara resident Matthew Kilrain, known as “Boat Rat Matt,” is also running for mayor of Santa Barbara. Kilrain has not claimed any campaign donations or endorsements. Kilrain previously ran for mayor in 2021, when he finished sixth out of six candidates with 0.68% of the vote.