On the other hand, Rosenstein, who ran as an independent, relied on steady, though not overwhelming, support across the city to finish fourth, behind SMRR Councilman Ken Genser. Genser once again counted on strong backing from apartment dwellers across the city. Paul beat the SMRR people in Coalition country and Coalition people in SMRR country. But Zivi warned against placing too much emphasis on geography, noting that there are few areas in the city that cast votes as monolithic blocs. Greenberg, Feinstein and Genser's strong showings are an indication of the power of slates in Council races, with heavy renter precincts remaining loyal to SMRR candidates, while precincts dominated by homeowners backed the Coalition slate.
People do put a lot of stock in that.
Loyal to the slate The renter bulwarks across the city remained loyal to the SMRR slate, helping push Feinstein and Genser over the top, while the downtown area, which includes single-family homes and apartments, gave the slate a slim margin of victory. The Pico and Ocean Park areas in the city's south side provided a lopsided mandate, with voters casting 9,650 votes for the SMRR ticket, and 5,694 for the Coalition slate. The Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevard areas on the north side, which include more condominiums and single family homes, gave the SMRR slate a slimmer 12,297 to 9,041 margin. Former Councilman Kelly Olsen, however, consistently trailed his running mates, with the renter base that helped elect him in 1990 showing signs of erosion. Support Fell Olsen, who won the backing of half the Ocean Park voters in 1990, picked up little more than a third last Tuesday, while his support in the Wilshire and Santa Monica areas dropped from approximately 45 percent to 35 percent.