Dan O'Brien withdraws from 2026 Election
In a statement posted to Facebook last Thursday evening, O'Brien said he will focus on improving the city through his role with the Culver City Chamber of Commerce
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Councilmember Dan O'Brien will no longer be running to keep his seat on the Culver City City Council in the 2026 General Election, he announced on social media last Thursday.
O'Brien cited the difficulties of balancing community expectations between his roles on the Council and the Culver City Chamber of Commerce as a primary driver for his decision in a statement made on his campaign’s Facebook page Thursday evening.
O'Brien was the public-facing driving force behind planning Olympic programming in Culver City, serving as a key figure in bringing the New Zealand and Pan-African Hospitality Houses to the city for the 2028 Olympics. He also led the city through the turmoil brought by ICE raids during his time as Mayor, where several members of the Culver City community were detained by the federal government in 2025.
Originally serving as an editor of commercial and other visual media scripts when he first joined the council in 2022, he was an advocate for improving filming conditions in Culver City. He pushed for subsidies to encourage more cinematic activity in the Heart of Screenland that are still in place today.
O’Brien became the CEO and President of the Culver City Chamber of Commerce earlier this year, a move that he says was a key factor behind the decision to pull out of the council race. A significant community outcry, including an appeal submitted to California’s Fair Political Practices Commission, stemmed from the concerns over a conflict of interest after O’Brien took the position.
This appeal and the community concern it represented were quickly brought to center stage following his Chamber appointment by councilmember Yasmine-Imani McMorrin, who moved to examine O’Brien’s role on various council subcommittees that made decisions tied to business interests.
While the appeal was rejected due to a lack of material wrongdoing, the FPPC advised O’Brien to recuse himself from decisions related to digital kiosks and minimum wage policy due to the potential conflict of interest.
“Although there was precedent for serving in both roles, it has become clear that I cannot effectively do both at the level our community deserves,” O’Brien said in a statement posted on his campaign Facebook page Thursday evening.
Christian May-Suzuki
In bowing out of the race, O’Brien endorsed a pair of candidates: Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin and Kimberly Griffin, the latter of whom also announced the start of her 2026 campaign for a seat on the City Council on Thursday. While Wisnosky Stehlin ran in 2024 and was just barely beaten out by current Vice Mayor Bubba Fish, this will be Griffin’s first attempt at a seat on the city council.
O’Brien cited the pair’s years of experience serving Culver City and their willingness to listen to the community as reasons behind his support. Wisnosky Stehlin has served on the Cultural Affairs Commission and Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, while Griffin has volunteered both locally with the Culver City Sister City Committee and more broadly with Habitat for Humanity.
“They both bring decades of service to our city and are smart, effective leaders who I know will dedicate themselves to listening, learning, and bringing the community together,” O’Brien’s statement reads. "They have the resumes that demonstrate a commitment to public service.”
Read O’Brien’s full statement here.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this story claimed Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin ran in the 2022 Election. This error has been corrected. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused
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