Cupertino City Council race recount begins

A tight West Valley city council race is headed to a recount with fewer than 10 days until the vote must be certified.

The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters began a manual recount of the Cupertino City Council race Monday because of the slim margin separating candidates R “Ray” Wang and Rod Sinks. Wang is winning with 7,633 votes, but Sinks is only 60 votes behind. The registrar automatically triggers a recount, before vote certification, when the margin of victory is either less than 0.25% of ballots cast or fewer than 25 votes “to help ensure the accuracy of the election,” according to the recount notice.

The candidates are vying for the second open seat in an at-large election to control the five-person council’s majority. Councilmember Kitty Moore is the frontrunner with 10,334 votes. The registrar must certify the recount to the state by Dec. 5, along with all other races.

Wang, a former Cupertino planning commissioner, said he’s not nervous about the recount.

“We told all our supporters this was going to be a close race,” he told San José Spotlight. “You can’t celebrate too early, you can’t be disappointed too early.”

Sinks, a former Cupertino mayor, did not respond to requests for comment.

The recount comes at a critical time for the power balance on the council regarding one of the city’s most contentious issues: development.

Wang and Moore, who ran together, want to shake up the existing development-friendly council majority of Mayor Sheila Mohan, Vice Mayor J.R. Fruen and Councilmember Hung Wei — who is running to keep her seat but sitting in fourth place. Wang and Moore describe themselves as resident-forward and pro-responsible development. The duo has been less development-friendly in the past.

Sinks was also part of a political slate, running alongside Wei, with the goal of keeping the development-friendly majority. Their campaign largely focused on getting The Rise done, but was complicated by Wei’s stage four lung cancer diagnosis. The project is the city’s largest housing development to date, located on the former Vallco Mall site. It has consistently divided residents and whichever majority wins will play a large role in shaping it.

Cupertino resident Glenn Fishler, who’s lived in the city since 1997, said he’s disappointed with how the election is going as a Sinks supporter.

“I believe in everything that Rod has to offer the city,” he told San José Spotlight. “I think the city is going to be sorry that they didn’t vote him in. It’s not done yet, but it’s not looking good.”

The county recount is unlike the Congressional District 16 recount in April. A congressional recount is not automatically triggered, but has to be requested. The race, which was initially a three-way tie between former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Assemblymember Evan Low and county Supervisor Joe Simitian, was requested by Liccardo’s former mayoral campaign staffer. That recount had to be paid out of pocket by an individual and it cost thousands of dollars, whereas the Cupertino recount will not cost the candidates.

Cupertino resident Sashi Begur, who’s lived in the city since 1996 and supports Wang and Moore, said she has faith the recount will keep Wang ahead.

“I trust the system,” she told San José Spotlight. “I believe there may be three or five votes that may go this way or that way, but I don’t expect that there will be a reversal of this.”
Other Cupertino council candidates include Parks and Recreation Commissioner Claudio Bono and former Mayors Gilbert Wong and Barry Chang.

County elections spokesperson Steve Goltiao said residents who have questions about the recount can visit the registrar to observe the process. He said the county will get the results out as soon as it can.

“We’re working diligently to make sure that every vote is coming properly,” he told San José Spotlight.

Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X, formerly known as Twitter.