Eli Stern is a campaign manager who ran Travis's mayoral campaign.
History[]
Working for Travis[]
Eli came into the station with a box of store-bought treats. He tried to offer them to Andy for the Halloween open house, but she firmly told him they couldn't accept edible treats from strangers, even store-bought ones. He then told her the real reason he was there. He was following the mayoral race and wanted to be Travis's campaign manager. Andy told him he already had a campaign manager, but he wanted to meet Travis and pitch his case. Travis came in at that point and Eli gave him his card after telling him how he could help his campaign.
Eli went for a walk and ate, then came back to the station, where he talked his way into helping Carina and Andy decorate. As they decorated, he tried to talk Andy into putting a good word in for him with Travis, but she stayed firm that she wouldn't.
Eli came back again for the Halloween open house, bringing his niece, London. She was dressed as Peter Pan while he was dressed as the city of London, wearing a Big Ben costume. He asked Andy if she'd put in a good word for him with Travis. When she said she hadn't, he went over to talk to Travis on his own. ("Demons")
Eli returned a few days later after Dixon released an attack ad about Travis's arrest. He told Travis he needed to spin it and showed Vic and Travis how he would spin it. Vic stepped down as Travis's campaign manager and told him to hire Eli. Eli and Travis the had a meeting to talk strategy. Eli told Travis he needed to give back what Dixon had given to him. Andy came in while they were talking and the two of them bickered. Andy didn't trust his intentions. ("Pick Up The Pieces")
Eli came to the station to try to persuade Travis to let him leak the Crisis One call with the Dixons. Travis was adamant that he didn't want to despite Eli's insistence that it could change the narrative on Dixon. He also took pictures of Travis as he got ready to go on a call. When Travis showed up to the meeting after it was over, he started to give a speech only to learn that the people in the room were just the clean up crew. Travis kicked a chair in frustration, which Eli said just made it look like he actually had anger issues. Desperate, Travis agreed to let Eli leak the Dixon story. ("Everybody Says Don't")
After he found out the fire union was giving him another shot to speak to them, Travis called Eli and told him not to leak the story. Eli said he'd already put it into motion, but Travis told him to stop that. Eli said he would try, but the story was later posted. ("We Build Then We Break")
Eli came to the station to talk about the campaign with Travis, but Travis was out on a call, so he talked to Andy and tried to convince her he wasn't a bad guy. He wanted her support because she had influence over Travis. He explained what he did and how it helped humanity as opposed to the work she did that helped people. He asked what it would take to get her to back off and she said he had to slide down the fire pole. Before she could stop him, he did so. He fell off the pole and hit the wall. She examined him and said his shoulder was dislocated. She reduced the dislocation and gave him ice and a sling. She also recognized the look of affection on his face and said that was common and would pass. ("I Know A Place")
Ride Along[]
Eli decided to go on a ride along with Travis in the hopes of getting photos and stories he could use to help Travis in the polls. Eli was concerned at the risks laid out in the waiver he had to sign, but decided to sign it when the klaxons rang and they were called out. They arrived to find Morgan and Todd fighting over Joanie. They broke up the fight, but when things heated back up, Eli got caught in the crossfire when Joanie tried to punch Todd. He was knocked to the ground and his nose was bloody, though Andy said it didn't look broken. She cleaned him up. Then Morgan started to feel faint, so they pulled off his costume, believing that he was just overheated, but discovered he was bleeding. Eli avoided looking at it as they rushed Morgan to the hospital.
Back at the station, Eli admitted to having a newfound respect for the firefighters and the work they did. Travis allowed him to use the bathroom to clean up and Andy came in to shower while he was in there. He asked her out on a date and she accepted. ("Come As You Are")
Press Junket[]
Eli set up a press junket for Travis, in which he spent the whole day going from one show to the next, answering questions and taking calls from Seattle voters. At the end of the day, they learned that the Dixon campaign's polls showed they were in a dead heat and Eli said if that trend continued, he could very well end up the mayor. After they were finished, Eli went to the station to drop off Andy's keys, as she'd let them use her apartment for the day, and he encouraged her to stop trying to keep the peace and take care of her team. She kissed him. ("Even Better Than the Real Thing")
Helping Andy[]
Eli went to Andy's place to pick her up for their date only to find that Andy had lost track of time and wasn't ready. She told him about the mutiny she'd led at her work and he told her that to get through it, she just needed to change the narrative and frame it as a revolution.
When a clip of Travis talking to a social media star he was rescuing went viral, Eli told Travis about his plan to capitalize on that, but Travis told him not to because he didn't want to be mayor. He just wanted Dixon not to be mayor. ("Never Gonna Give You Up")
Town Hall[]
Eli came to the station to help Travis prepare for the mayoral town hall that evening. He told Travis what he knew about Robel Osman, one of the other candidates, and quizzed him about the issues. Travis read from his notecards to reply. While they worked, Eli got sent an ad the Dixon campaign put out, an attack ad against Travis. Travis was upset by it, but Eli said the upside was that it meant that Dixon was scared of him. While Travis ranted about the ad, Eli asked him about the housing crisis. Impressed by Travis's improvised answer, Eli burned Travis's notecards, saying he didn't need them because he did better when he was allowed to answer things genuinely. At the town hall, they met up with Dixon before the event started and Dixon told Travis he had another ad coming. After he'd walked away, Eli told Travis to let the anger fuel him. As the event started, Eli watched as Travis delayed his turn speaking to fix a break in an electrical cord then used that to segue into how he planned to be as mayor.
Eli and Travis went back to Travis's place after the town hall to celebrate Travis's success. Then they ended up having sex. ("It's All Gonna Break")
Travis's Concession[]
The next morning, Eli contacted Travis and said he had something important for them to discuss. He came to the station with Robel Osman, who was prepared to conceded the race to Travis if Travis could give him some guarantees. After considering it, Travis decided instead to concede to Osman, with conditions that included increasing the fire department's budget and giving Eli a job. Eli was upset with him for doing this and left after Osman, saying he needed to go beg the new mayor for a job. ("Get It All Out")
Election Day[]
On Election Day, Eli transported voters to drop off their ballots. Travis tried to talk to him, but he was upset that Travis dropping out created the possibility for Dixon to be the next mayor of Seattle. Despite the anger, Travis tried to get Eli to talk to Robel about saving Ross's job. After the race was called for Robel, Eli told him he was happy Robel had won, but it was no thanks to Travis. He called Travis the most compelling person he'd ever met and the two of them ended up kissing. ("All These Things That I've Done")
Firefighter's Ball[]
Eli attended the firefighter's ball, along with Osman. Ross talked to them, but Osman had already made a list of candidates for Fire Chief and Ross's name wasn't on the list. Despite knowing this, Andy came to Eli and asked him to talk to Osman. Eli had to go from there to a mayoral event. ("Glamorous Life")
In the aftermath of the ball, Travis asked Eli if Osman would fire Ross and Eli said he didn't know. ("This Woman's Work")
Dixon's Wake[]
Eli went with Travis to Dixon's wake, saying he had to make an appearance as Osman's Chief of Staff in order to maintain good relations between the mayor's office and the police department. ("Good Grief")
Fabruary Pride[]
Eli attended Fabruary Pride with Travis, who was planning to meet up with his dad and his dad's boyfriend, Kyle, whom he hadn't met. Eli was shocked when Travis was immediately rude to Kyle, who was Eli's dentist. After a second dig at Kyle, Eli pulled Travis aside and asked him to stop being so rude. Travis confessed that he'd slept with Emmett. Eli said he was an idiot for thinking Travis wouldn't push him away, calling Travis the most repressed man he'd ever met.
After a car backfiring caused mass panic, Travis and Eli found each other. Eli said he wasn't ending things between them because of the cheating, but he was ending things. He said that Travis had a way of making everyone he talked to feel seen and he needed to understand that he was worth seeing, too. ("True Colors")
Relationships[]
Romantic[]
Past Girlfriend[]
He once dated a girl who went to art school. ("Demons")
Andy Herrera[]
Travis Montgomery[]
Eli and Travis hooked up after the mayoral town hall while celebrating Travis's success. ("It's All Gonna Break")
Familial[]
He is very close with his niece, London. When she said he needed to go as her, meaning the city London, he put on a Big Ben costume and took her to the Station 19 Halloween open house. ("Demons")
Career[]
He works as a campaign manager. When Robel Osman was elected mayor, Eli became his Chief of Staff.
Gallery[]
Episodic[]
Episode Stills[]
Appearances[]
| Station 19, Season 6 | |||||
| #01 | "Twist and Shout" | #07 | "We Build Then We Break" | #13 | "It's All Gonna Break" |
| #02 | "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" | #08 | "I Know A Place" | #14 | "Get It All Out" |
| #03 | "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" | #09 | "Come As You Are" | #15 | "What Are You Willing to Lose" |
| #04 | "Demons" | #10 | "Even Better Than the Real Thing" | #16 | "Dirty Laundry" |
| #05 | "Pick Up The Pieces" | #11 | "Could I Leave You?" | #17 | "All These Things That I've Done" |
| #06 | "Everybody Says Don't" | #12 | "Never Gonna Give You Up" | #18 | "Glamorous Life" |
| Station 19, Season 7 | |||||
| #01 | "This Woman's Work" | #05 | "My Way" | #09 | "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" |
| #02 | "Good Grief" | #06 | "With So Little to Be Sure Of" | #10 | "One Last Time" |
| #03 | "True Colors" | #07 | "Give It All" | ||
| #04 | "Trouble Man" | #08 | "Ushers of the New World" | ||