San Jose mayor’s race still too close to call
The race for San Jose mayor is still undecided, but newcomer Matt Mahan has pulled ahead of long-time politician Cindy Chavez by about 4,700 votes. It could be days before we know who won the race and tonight ballots are still being counted.
SAN JOSE, Calif. – The race for San Jose mayor is still undecided, but newcomer Matt Mahan has pulled ahead of long-time politician Cindy Chavez by about 4,700 votes. It could be days before we know who won the race and tonight ballots are still being counted.
This race was close as the polls suggested and right now, Mahan has taken a small lead, but there are still thousands of ballots to be counted.
“I think they didn’t do a very good job of really outlining what both parties stand for, and I think the city is torn because there’s confusion,” said San Jose resident Ethan Garabedian.
A day after people in San Jose cast their votes for the next mayor, just 51% of the ballots have been counted, and a clear-cut winner has not been announced. Santa Clara County’s Registrar of Voters shows City Councilman Matt Mahan slightly pulling ahead of County Supervisor Cindy Chavez by 4,766 votes. Chavez raised about $5 million during the campaign compared to Mahan’s $3 million in support. The day before the election, Chavez talked about the tight race ahead.
“I feel like being mayor of San Jose and running should be hard. Right? It’s an important job and the community should put us through our paces as they make their choice,” Chavez said.
Chavez released a statement on Wednesday, saying: “It was a spirited campaign, and it’s critically important that every vote is counted. While we don’t yet know the outcome of this race, my focus remains on representing my community on the Board of Supervisors.”
“So, we don’t know the outcome is yet, and we need to let the democratic process play out. But it was just very validating to know that our message of greater focus, greater accountability for results on issues like homelessness and crime really resonated,” said Mahan.
Mahan says because about half of the votes still need to be counted, he’s cautiously waiting on the final results.
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself. We need to count all the ballots, but I can say, whatever role I’m serving in whether as mayor or continuing on as council member, I’m committed to working with all of my colleagues to move our city forward,” Mahan said.
All vote centers have reported and over 138,000 people cast their vote for San Jose’s next mayor. KTVU will have an update when the next count is announced Thursday by 5 p.m.
