Brian Goldsmith declared victory Thursday in California's 24th State Senate District, and John Erickson, his Democratic rival, conceded that evening after congratulating him on the win. The afternoon count that day showed Goldsmith with 163,656 votes, or 56.73%, to Erickson's 124,813 votes, or 43.27% — a lead of 38,843 votes, though Erickson had clawed back 454 votes from Goldsmith in that same batch.
According to wehoonline.com, Goldsmith, a Beverly Hills small business owner and former journalist, is set to succeed termed-out Sen. Ben Allen in a district that includes Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, El Segundo, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, West Hollywood, Bel Air, Beverly Grove, Brentwood, Fairfax, Holmby Hills, Hollywood Hills, Little Holmby, Pacific Palisades, Playa del Rey, Sunset Hills, Venice and Westwood, stretching from Malibu to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. As Santa Monica Mirror reports, Goldsmith said he was grateful to Senate District 24 voters for their trust and credited his campaign with building what he called a broad and diverse coalition.
Goldsmith finished second to Erickson in the June primary before picking up endorsements from several former primary rivals, the same outlet notes. Erickson, a West Hollywood City Council member who also serves as chief of staff at Alliance for a Better Community and previously held the title of vice president at Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, had built his own base of support heading into the fall.
A Record-Setting Price Tag for a Westside Seat
The contest became the most expensive state Senate general-election race in California this cycle, driven largely by outside spending, as reported by Politico. Outside spending topped $8.5 million as of Nov. 5, according to Target Book figures cited in that report, with Erickson absorbing the brunt of the opposition spending. A separate account from the same week found that the two candidates had raised more than $3.2 million combined since June, while independent expenditure groups poured in at least another $5.8 million, according to a report from the Southern California News Group.
Campaigns and outside groups leaned hard into affordability, public safety, homelessness and opposition to President Donald Trump in their messaging, per the Politico account. Goldsmith's ads cast him as a candidate who would bring common-sense solutions to Sacramento by building housing and enforcing public camping bans, the same report found.
Erickson's Concession and Parting Message
Erickson said earlier Thursday that votes were still being counted but that his campaign had come up short, according to Santa Monica Mirror's account of the concession. He congratulated Goldsmith and said he hoped his former rival would fight hard for the district going forward.
In his concession remarks, Erickson also said special-interest money carries substantial influence over representation in Sacramento and argued that district voters want leaders who deliver for working people rather than corporations, vowing to keep fighting for that demand. Goldsmith, for his part, saluted Erickson for a hard-fought contest and said he looked forward to collaborating with him, while thanking volunteers, donors, community leaders and voters across the district.
Goldsmith's Sacramento Agenda
Goldsmith said his campaign had promised to listen to residents, bring people together and find practical answers to the state's biggest problems. He has said he opposes SB 79, the state law allowing more housing near transit stops, and instead wants to convert empty commercial buildings into housing, per wehoonline.com's reporting.
Looking ahead, Goldsmith has said he plans to address the drivers of unaffordability, including housing and child care costs, while also working to improve schools, fight for the environment and entertainment-industry jobs, and make progress on homelessness once in Sacramento. An earlier report on the county's legislative races cautioned that results are not official until certified, a reminder that applies broadly across Los Angeles County's down-ballot contests this cycle, according to the Southern California News Group's coverage from Nov. 3.
