The West Valley’s city council races are tight this election season, with some candidates trailing just a few hundred votes behind the leaders — leaving the seats open to change with hundreds of thousands of uncounted ballots remaining.
In the contentious race for Cupertino City Council, Councilmember Kitty Moore and former Planning Commissioner R “Ray” Wang are leading for the two open seats in an at-large election. In Campbell, business owner Terry Hines appears to have an edge over young politico Juan Rodríguez for City Council.
Voter turnout in Santa Clara County is at about 60% with more than 633,000 ballots cast as of 5 p.m. Sunday. But approximately 126,000 ballots still need to be counted, and West Valley candidates are separated by slim margins. Data on total ballots cast in individual cities isn’t yet available as more are counted. The county must certify election results to the state by Dec. 5, per California guidelines.
Cupertino
Cupertino’s council race is close this year, with pro-development and less development-friendly factions pulling for their preferred candidates to take the council majority.
Moore is leading with about 25.1% of the vote, or roughly 10,180 votes. She has historically been less development-friendly.
“I’m hopeful that the trends are going to continue,” she told San José Spotlight. “Looking forward, it’s going to be time for us to roll up our sleeves and get to work for the residents.”
Moore has a large lead over Wang, who has about 18.55% of the vote, or 7,524 votes. But there are only 48 votes separating Wang and Sinks who is trailing in third with roughly 18.43%, or 7,476 votes. The two are battling it out for the chance to snatch the council majority, with Wang less development-friendly and Sinks pro-development.
The council race’s hottest topic was The Rise mixed-use development, which includes plans for about 2,700 homes, 890 of which deemed affordable, at the former Vallco Mall site. It has sat vacant for years, with councilmembers making slow progress.
Wang and Moore, who ran together, want to unseat the existing development-friendly council majority, which includes Councilmember Hung Wei, Vice Mayor J.R. Fruen and Mayor Sheila Mohan. Wei is up for reelection and ran alongside Sinks but is trailing with 17.3% of the vote after her campaign was complicated with her stage four lung cancer diagnosis.
Sinks said he’s unsure who will come make it into the top two but said his messaging to get The Rise built resonated with voters.
“It’s hard to be an incumbent, right? (Kitty and Ray) had a very strong ground game, and they were well organized,” he told San José Spotlight. “It was certainly always going to be a challenge to knock off both of them.”
Wang also said it’s difficult to speculate about the final winners, but said he and Moore ran a strong campaign.
“Even when we (weren’t) candidates, we showed what we could do by working, doing the homework,” he told San José Spotlight. “We may have surprised a few people, but we really want Vallco to be built.”
Other trailing candidates include former Mayors Gilbert Wong and Barry Chang and Parks and Recreation Commissioner Claudio Bono.
Campbell
Roughly 160 votes separate Hines and Rodríguez, the two candidates vying for Campbell City Council District 1. Hines has about 52.7% of the vote, or 1,572 votes, and Rodríguez has about 47.3% or 1,410 votes. Mayor Susan Landry terms out of the seat in December.
District 2 was also up for election, but Vice Mayor Sergio Lopez ran unopposed.
Hines, who owns small business NovaTech Services, is the more pro-business candidate and ran unsuccessfully for council in 2020. He said if the numbers keep him ahead as more ballots are counted, he will work with the other councilmembers.
“I look forward to representing all of Campbell while on the city council,” he told San José Spotlight. “I look forward to working with Juan in the next steps that he chooses to take and really appreciate the respectful campaign.”
Rodríguez, a legislative staffer for Assemblymember Ash Kalra, said he’s still optimistic, with ballots left to be counted. He said Hines may have had more sway due to name recognition and his appeal to homeowners rather than renters, but said Hines ran a positive campaign.
“Regardless of the final outcome, I am beyond proud and deeply grateful for this campaign,” he told San José Spotlight. “I’ve had the honor of knocking on hundreds of doors, connecting with neighbors and building meaningful connections that have truly made this journey rewarding.”
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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