SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo's term is ending, but the race to succeed him is only just beginning with two candidates seemingly headed for a November run-off.
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With 52% of ballots counted on Tuesday night, Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez and San Jose City Councilmember Matt Mahan had 39.1% and 32.6% of the vote, respectively. City councilmembers Dev Davis (District 6) and Raul Peralez (District 3) combined for 19.0% of the vote as of 10:54 p.m.
The top two vote-getters will advance to the November election unless one candidate earns more than 50% of the vote on Tuesday. It appears Chavez and Mahan, both of whom are Democrats, will vie for election as the city's 66th mayor.
"I couldn't be more humbled or grateful," Chavez said during her victory speech Tuesday night.
"We know that we can make San Jose shine again," she added. "We can clean this city up and make this a place that we not just feel safe in, but proud of again."
Mahan, a relative newcomer serving his first term on the city council, has the mayor's support. Liccardo is the subject of a complaint claiming he violated state law for doling out nearly $400,000 to Mahan's campaign through his political action committee while still serving in office.
Mahan's opponents have also criticized him for receiving the endorsement of the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women, which has hosted speakers spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine, calling for the execution of political figures and espousing homophobic and transphobic views.
Those charges have aired in advertisements, as the race has attracted a large amount of candidate and outside spending. Chavez and Mahan had each raised more than $900,000 as of May 21, according to a San Jose Mercury News accounting of the candidates' fundraising efforts, with outside groups spending $1.2 million backing Chavez and Liccardo's committee spending $360,000 on Mahan’s behalf.
"So naturally, you can see where land interests, unions, groups of all different persuasions have a lot at stake in terms of the way that the city goes over the next four years," Larry Gerston, a San Jose State University political science professor emeritus, told KCBS Radio.
Gerston said Tuesday's primary would come down to which of the four candidates were able to energize their supporters most in what was expected to be a low-turnout election. As of 10:54 p.m. on Tuesday, the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters said just 18.0 % of voters had cast a ballot in the primary.
"We're right where we want to be. We started off this campaign last fall tied for last with 5% of the vote," Mahan said on Tuesday night. "We have grown tremendously. I think voters are ready for change in San Jose, this is awesome."
"We just need to keep getting to the neighborhoods reaching voters. The truth is there are still a lot of voters in San Jose who don’t know who I am and haven’t heard our message yet. So we need to keep knocking on doors," he continued.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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