Brian Goldsmith declared his candidacy for state senate on April 17. (photo courtesy of Brian Goldsmith)

With Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) termed out in 2026, several candidates have declared their intention to run to replace the 24th District’s representative. Last month, Democratic consultant Brian Goldsmith threw his hat into the ring. In the first 10 days of his campaign, he raised over $500,000.

Goldsmith has an extensive background in journalism and worked many years at CBS and Yahoo! News. He even produced the infamous Sarah Palin interview with Katie Couric.

“Part of me thinks that the Palin interview would not have happened in this day and age, because people just go to their echo chambers and they don’t want tough interviews or journalists that hold [politicians] accountable, and I’m not sure it would have had the impact [today],” Goldsmith said in an interview. “[John] McCain publicly said he thought it was a fair interview and fair questions. That certainly wouldn’t happen today.”

The shift in political norms inspired a shift in Goldsmith’s career.

“I had been trained as an old school journalist. You didn’t know my politics. I covered both sides fairly, and found that I just couldn’t do that with Donald Trump laying waste to our institutions during his first term,” he said.

Goldsmith joined Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign.

“I found that I enjoyed that and I had something to contribute,” he said. “I became a political advisor to different candidates, companies [and] causes.”

With Allen’s seat opening, Goldsmith sees an opportunity to “practice some of what I’ve been preaching.”

“Democrats [need to do] a much better job about governing the places we control – making it easier and more affordable to live here, providing serious answers on crime and homelessness, really fighting for the future of California,” he said.

Goldsmith said that when a new governor and new legislators are seated in 2027, the state will “have a moment.”

“That’s going to force a lot of hard questions about why are we doing business the way we’re doing business, and are we actually getting value for all the billions of dollars in taxpayer money we’re spending on various programs,” he said, advocating for California to become more “results and outcome oriented” versus “being process oriented.”

Goldsmith noted the current Legislature has an opportunity to make a real impact with the Film and TV Jobs Act.

“We created this industry. We’re the home of this industry. We have the most talented workforce, including a lot of union members, and it is a scandal that we’re losing this industry. We don’t want to be the Detroit of film and TV production,” he said. “But I view this proposal as the floor, not the ceiling. I think we should be doing more.”

Goldsmith also said that the state has to make it easier to build housing.

“We’ve got to speed up permitting and processes. We’ve got to look at self-certification. We’ve got to look at alternatives to a process that is too slow, too costly, too bureaucratic, while still respecting local voices and perspectives. I think there’s a tremendous amount we can do in commercial corridors and transportation corridors to expand housing.”

Goldsmith said that while he certainly thinks the state could be more efficient with spending, he subscribes to the “Al Gore reinventing government initiative” and not Elon Musk’s DOGE model.

“We have a lot of power. We’ve got to do everything we possibly can to fight the Trump administration where we have to – on issues like tariffs. Trump got elected to make life more affordable, and his policies are doing the exact opposite,” he said. “But can we make up for the federal government cutting off support to California, even though we contribute $83 billion a year more to Washington than they send back to us? No, we can’t make up for that. But we need to do everything possible to fill in some of those gaps. And that means that we can’t have another episode of wasting, billions of dollars on EDD fraud or spending billions of dollars on homelessness services that don’t work and don’t move the needle. We’ve got to look at all of our spending fresh. If I were in charge, I’d look at zero-based budgeting, starting from scratch and seeing what works. [If it works], you double down on it. [If it] doesn’t work, you get rid of it.”

If elected, Goldsmith would be representing one of the state’s most diverse districts, an area that includes Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Hollywood and the Miracle Mile. Goldsmith lives on the border of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood with his wife, who works in the educational nonprofit sector, and two children.

“This is the place where I was born and raised. It’s where I’ve lived most of my life. I care deeply about these communities. It’s personal to me – it’s not political,” he said. “I take seriously the responsibility of representing arguably, the LGBTQ capital of America in West Hollywood. But [also] all the way from Agoura and Calabasas down to Torrance and Manhattan Beach, these are diverse, remarkable communities – the crown jewels of California in a lot of ways. Some places like Malibu and Palisades obviously need unique care and attention right now. It’s a very serious responsibility, and that’s one of my motivations for jumping in.”

Other Democratic candidates for the seat include West Hollywood Councilman John Erickson, Santa Monica College trustee Dr. Sion Roy, Doheny Sunset Plaza Neighborhood Council president Ellen Evans, Los Angeles Human Relations Commissioner Brittany McKinley, Los Angeles Planning Commissioner Mike Newhouse and Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District board member Eric Alegria. The lone Republican to declare, thus far, is Palisades Charter High School trustee Kristina Irwin, who was the runner-up for Allen’s seat in 2022.

For information about Goldsmith’s campaign, visit briangoldsmith.com.