SAN JOSE (KCBS RADIO) – The San Jose mayoral race – one of the most closely watched elections in the Bay Area – remains too close to call.
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With about 90% of the votes counted, San Jose City Councilmember Matt Mahan leads county Supervisor Cindy Chavez by just under four points as of Wednesday morning.
KCBS Radio attended both candidates' watch parties on Tuesday night, which marked the culmination of a year filled with campaigning and record breaking spending.
The Mahan camp erupted in cheers when the early returns came in, but the candidate himself cautioned that the actual results may not be known for several days.
Nevertheless, the 39-year-old still took time to celebrate as he reflected on how far his campaign has gone since the June primary, where each candidate finished as the top vote-getters but neither accumulated 50% of the vote, which triggered Tuesday’s special runoff election.
"We challenged the status quo with something much more powerful than campaign cash. Common sense," Mahan said.
"We started this race far behind," he continued. "Not just taking on an entrenched politician with essentially a 20 year head start, but also taking on the special interest donors, who sided with the status quo."
Meanwhile, Chavez trailed in the early returns, but optimism won the day at the candidate's election night event.
"I feel great because we have this amazing coalition of labor leaders and business leaders and environmentalists and neighborhood leaders and they’re all here tonight," she said.
Chavez remained hopeful that victory is still in reach.
"You can hear the vibe," she said. "In fact we had to come (outside to speak with reporters) because it was so loud, so I feel very positive and I know it’s going to take a few days for us to get the final numbers in. I'm a very patient women."
The hard fought election has focused on housing, homelessness and crime.
You can follow the latest vote count here.
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