The Newport Record Their record, on the record.

We don’t want LA’s rent control laws in Newport Beach.

Andrew Gerken wants to turn Newport Beach into Santa Monica. He’s in a pickle.

The card vote is at 23:15 in the Chamber’s own video of the forum. Source 1.
Six Newport Beach city council candidates sit at a table holding up vote cards. Joe Stapleton, Tina Babajanians, Erik Weigand, Walter Stahr and Tim Stoaks hold red thumbs-down cards. At the far right, behind the District 6 placard, Andrew Gerken holds a green thumbs-up card.
Newport Beach Chamber candidates forum, Witte Hall, September 3, 2026 23:15

Gerken’s yes: Source 1. Santa Monica has had rent control since its voters adopted it in April 1979: Source 12.

July 4, 2026: 402 arrests. The curfew the council passed, and what Gerken and Stahr said about it.

“Are you in favor of residential rent control?” The moderator, to the six candidates on stage. They answered by holding up a card.

Five candidates held up a red card for no. One, Andrew Gerken, held up a green card for yes.

  • Stapleton: no
  • Babajanians: no
  • Weigand: noincumbent
  • Stahr: nochallenger
  • Stoaks: no
  • Gerken: yeschallenger

Andrew Gerken was the only candidate at the forum to say yes to rent control.

The five red cards belong to Joe Stapleton, Tina Babajanians, Erik Weigand, Walter Stahr and Tim Stoaks. Mayor Lauren Kleiman was not at the forum.

Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Lauren Kleiman and Erik Weigand oppose rent control.

Keep Kleiman and Weigand.

Newport elects its council citywide, so every Newport voter votes on both seats.

District 3
Erik WeigandincumbentagainstWalter Stahrchallenger
District 6
Lauren KleimanincumbentagainstAndrew Gerkenchallenger

What it looks like when a city does it

Santa Ana is the first city in Orange County to put rent control on its books. This is what its own rules say, from the city’s own page.

  1. The cap

    Rent can rise no more than 3 percent a year.

    Santa Ana rent stabilization rules
  2. The registry

    Every rental unit goes on a city list, at about $100 a year per unit.

    Santa Ana rent stabilization rules
  3. The lawsuit

    Landlords sued the city over it in February 2023.

    Voice of OC, February 2023

Santa Ana adopted this; Newport has not. About 47 percent of households in Newport Beach rent (Census, 2020 to 2024).

Gerken, on the record

The District 6 challenger. The record shows the only yes to rent control at the forum, $2,315 from his committee to the Democratic Party of Orange County, and $1,500 each way with Walter Stahr.

  1. GerkenD6, challenger

    Asked “Are you in favor of residential rent control?” he held up the green card. He was the only candidate at the forum to say yes.

    Chamber forum video, 23:15
  2. GerkenD6, challenger

    His committee paid the Democratic Party of Orange County $1,315.31.

    NetFile filing 217232495
  3. GerkenD6, challenger

    It paid the Democratic Party of Orange County $1,000 more.

    NetFile filing 217432390
  4. GerkenD6, challenger

    It took $1,200 from the Newport Beach Women’s Democratic Club.

    Campaign statement, Newport Beach portal
  5. GerkenD6, challenger

    The Democratic Party of Orange County, the Orange County Labor Federation AFL-CIO and the Planned Parenthood Community Action Fund all endorse him. His own site lists them.

    His endorsements page
  6. GerkenD6, challengerStahrD3, challenger

    He and Walter Stahr gave each other $1,500, three weeks apart. Both campaigns pay the same consultant, Christopher Jones Consulting.

    Campaign statements, filing 217031226

Walter Stahr, in his own words

Walter StahrD3, challenger

District 3, running against Erik Weigand. From his own blog, December 21, 2019. Still online.

Republicans should “legislate to OPEN our borders.”

The capital letters are his. The post is called “Chase on Immigration,” December 21, 2019, on walterstahr.com. Here is the page as it appears on his site, with the sentence marked.

Screenshot of walterstahr.com. The post is titled Chase on Immigration, by Walter Stahr, December 21, 2019. The final sentence is highlighted: I post this in the vain hope that today's Republican leaders will read, reflect, and legislate to OPEN our borders to those whose love of liberty and free institutions directs them to our shores.
walterstahr.com, “Chase on Immigration,” December 21, 2019. Captured September 20, 2026. Select the image to open the live post. Source 11.

The full sentence: “I post this in the vain hope that today’s Republican leaders will read, reflect, and legislate to OPEN our borders to those whose ‘love of liberty and free institutions’ directs them to our shores.”

Editorial

Where The Record stands

Lauren Kleiman and Erik Weigand oppose rent control.

Keep Kleiman and Weigand.

Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Every Newport voter votes on both seats.

District 3
Keep Erik WeigandincumbentnotWalter Stahrchallenger
District 6
Keep Lauren KleimanincumbentnotAndrew Gerkenchallenger
Read the full endorsement

Sources

  1. 1Wake Up Newport candidates forum, Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, Witte Hall, September 3, 2026. The Chamber’s full video runs 1:21:38; the moderator asks the rent-control question at 23:15 and the cards go up at 23:20. YouTube, e98NlzUPDyo. Retrieved September 19 and 21, 2026.
  2. 2City of Santa Ana, Rent Stabilization Division, the ordinance’s own rules: the annual cap (the lesser of 3 percent or 80 percent of the change in the Consumer Price Index, set by June 30, effective September 1), mandatory annual registration of every rental unit by July 1, and the per-unit registration fee ($100.00 for the program year beginning July 1, 2026, $104.00 from August 1, 2026, half of which a landlord may pass through to the tenant in twelve monthly installments). santa-ana.gov, rent stabilization questions and answers. Retrieved September 22, 2026.
  3. 3Voice of OC, “Santa Ana Becomes First Orange County City With Rent Control,” October 2021. voiceofoc.org. Retrieved September 22, 2026.
  4. 4Voice of OC, “OC Landlord Group Moves to Sue Santa Ana to Overturn Rent Control,” February 2023: the Apartment Association of Orange County filed suit calling the ordinance unconstitutional and challenging the seven-member rental housing board. voiceofoc.org. Retrieved September 22, 2026.
  5. 5U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, five-year estimates 2020 to 2024, housing tenure for Newport Beach: 52.1 percent owner-occupied. Census data profile, Newport Beach. Retrieved September 22, 2026.
  6. 6Gerken for Newport Council 2026, campaign-finance filing 217232495: $1,315.31 paid to the Democratic Party of Orange County, August 13, 2026. NetFile, City of Newport Beach portal. Retrieved September 18, 2026.
  7. 7Gerken for Newport Council 2026, campaign-finance filing 217432390: $1,000 paid to the Democratic Party of Orange County, September 14, 2026. NetFile, City of Newport Beach portal. Retrieved September 18, 2026.
  8. 8Gerken for Newport Council 2026, campaign statement: $1,200 received from the Newport Beach Women’s Democratic Club, June 30, 2026. NetFile, City of Newport Beach portal. Retrieved September 18, 2026.
  9. 9Andrew Gerken’s own endorsements page, gerkenfornewport.com/endorsements, and the Democratic Party of Orange County 2026 endorsements page, which lists “Newport Beach City Council, District 6, Dr. Andy Gerken.” Retrieved September 18, 2026.
  10. 10Walter B. Stahr to Gerken for Newport Council 2026, $1,500 on May 5, 2026 (filing 217031226); Andrew Gerken to Stahr for City Council 2026, $1,500 on April 22, 2026 (first-half 2026 Form 460, filed July 10, 2026). Both committees report payments to Christopher Jones Consulting. NetFile, City of Newport Beach portal. Retrieved September 18, 2026.
  11. 11Walter Stahr, “Chase on Immigration,” walterstahr.com, December 21, 2019. Retrieved September 18, 20 and 26, 2026.
  12. 12City of Santa Monica, Rent Control: “adopted by the voters in April 1979 in response to a shortage of housing units, low vacancy rates, and rapidly rising rents,” controlling the rent that may be charged for a residential rental unit and limiting the grounds for eviction, carried out by the Rent Control Board and the Rent Control Agency. santamonica.gov, Rent Control. Retrieved September 23, 2026.
  13. 13Walter Stahr, email to the Newport Beach City Council, “Curfew Ordinance,” September 23, 2026, 8:06 a.m., a public comment on the city’s new youth curfew ordinance. Full text of the email. Retrieved September 26, 2026.
  14. 14Andy Gerken, “Residents deserve answers for July fourth riot,” guest opinion, Newport Beach Independent, July 17, 2026. Copy of the Independent’s page (PDF). The same text is posted on his campaign site: gerkenfornewport.com. Retrieved September 21 and 26, 2026.
  15. 15“Suspected migrants dock boat in Newport Beach and scatter, exclusive video shows,” FOX 11 Los Angeles, September 20, 2026: a panga carrying at least a dozen suspected migrants docked near Cypress Street in Newport Harbor on the afternoon of Saturday, September 19, and the group walked into the neighborhood. Councilmember Erik Weigand: “This is a very law-and-order-friendly community” and the city is working with federal partners and the police “in making sure we apprehend these guys.” foxla.com; the station’s video of the segment. Retrieved September 23 and 26, 2026.
  16. 16“‘Expert’ human traffickers used getaway cars in Newport landing to help illegal migrants flee: witnesses,” by Ben Chapman, California Post (the New York Post’s California edition), September 26, 2026, 11:00 a.m. PT: a resident told the paper she saw the men from the September 19 Newport Harbor landing get into two vehicles on her street and drive away. Councilmember Erik Weigand said the harbor’s steady pleasure-boat traffic may give smugglers cover: “We’re one of the largest pleasure craft harbors this side of the Mississippi. Maybe it’s just the high volume of traffic.” nypost.com. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
  17. 17City of Newport Beach, City Council meeting, September 22, 2026, the city’s own video, “City of Newport Beach Council Meeting September 22, 2026,” YouTube, VWps6G8-xu0. Public comment on Ordinance 2026-15, the youth curfew: Walter Stahr at 1:00:23 to 1:00:50; Andrew Gerken at 1:02:40 to 1:03:50. Final adoption on the consent calendar at about 1:09:17, by unanimous vote. The record is on the curfew page. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
  18. 18U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, “Previously Deported Illegal Alien Charged with Attempting to Smuggle Illegal Aliens Through Newport Beach Harbor,” press release, October 6, 2026: Jose Miguel Castro-Duenas, 44, was arrested October 3, 2026, in Newport Beach and charged in a federal criminal complaint with attempted transportation of illegal aliens and illegal reentry. According to the release, he admitted he had been “previously deported in 2008 following a 2007 federal conviction for alien smuggling,” that he was at Newport Beach Harbor on the morning of October 3 because he had been instructed “to pick up individuals arriving by boat that day,” and that he “had completed at least two prior smuggling pickups at the same location.” That same morning, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations and the U.S. Border Patrol “interdicted a boat off Newport Beach Harbor carrying 14 Mexican nationals.” The release notes that a criminal complaint contains only allegations and that he is presumed innocent. justice.gov. Copy of the release (PDF). Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  19. 19“Another suspected migrant boat intercepted off Newport Beach as councilmember pushes for harbor cameras,” by Matthew Seedorff, FOX 11 Los Angeles, October 5, 2026: according to the Department of Homeland Security, a boat carrying 14 people, all of whom told authorities they were Mexican nationals, was intercepted “Oct. 3 around 1:30 p.m. south of Newport Beach” and everyone aboard was taken into U.S. Border Patrol custody. Councilmember Erik Weigand, who is proposing surveillance cameras at the harbor entrance: “The last Saturday, then the Saturday before, and a few Saturdays before that. These guys have been trying to unload illegal migrants into our city and then off into the community.” foxla.com. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  20. 20Gerken for Newport Council 2026 (ID 1490422), Form 497 contribution report, Report No. 2026-10, e-filed September 15, 2026, filing 217432390: a $1,000 contribution to the Democratic Party of Orange County (ID 742006), made September 14, 2026. Copy of the filing (PDF). Retrieved September 29, 2026.
  21. 21Stahr for City Council 2026 (ID 1489936), Form 460 campaign statement for January 1 through June 30, 2026, Schedule A, monetary contributions received, page 6 of 40: $1,500 received from Andrew Gerken of Corona del Mar, April 22, 2026. Copy of the filing page (PDF). Retrieved September 29, 2026.
  22. 22Gerken for Newport Council 2026 (ID 1490422), Form 460 campaign statement for July 1 through September 19, 2026, Schedule D, page 37 of 55: monetary contributions in support of the Democratic Party of Orange County of $100 on July 10, $1,315.31 on August 13 and $1,000 on September 14, 2026, $2,415.31 for the period. Copy of the filing page (PDF). Retrieved September 29, 2026.