Former Los Gatos mayor Mike Wasserman, the only self-proclaimed
Republican in the non-partisan race for Santa Clara County’s
District 1 seat on the Board of Supervisors, trounced four
opponents in Tuesday’s election.
With all results reported, Mike Wasserman won a commanding victory over four challengers for top spot in the Santa Clara County District 1 Supervisor race, according to the county Registrar’s Office. However, he did not manage to get 50 percent of the vote, meaning he will have to face the next highest vote-getter, Forrest Williams, in a November runoff election.
While Wasserman pulled down a strong 42.65 percent of the vote, Williams only edged out third place Teresa Alvarado, 19.29 percent to 18.48 percent, according to the registrar. Wasserman got 18,160 votes, while Williams received 8,215 and Alvarado secured 7,870.
The fourth and fifth place candidates, Tom Kruse and Peter Arellano, garnered 11.45 percent and 8.12 percent of the votes, or 4,874 and 3,457 votes, respectively. The final precinct count was complete at 2:03 a.m. today.
District 1, which has a population of more than 330,000 and encompasses about 800,000 acres – or 70 percent of the county’s land area – is the largest geographical district. It includes Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin, Los Gatos, Almaden Valley, Santa Teresa and Blossom Valley, as well as the Mt. Hamilton Range and the Santa Cruz Mountains.
According to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, there are 765,680 registered voters in the county. In Tuesday’s primary, 225,113 votes were cast or 29.4 percent. Of those, 159,200 were vote by mail or 20.79 percent and 65,913 were precinct votes that comprised 8.61 percent of the overall tally.
Gage’s term expires this year and he has said he will consider running for the Santa Clara Valley Water District board of supervisors, a government agency that is a water wholesaler and is the steward for flood protection and reservoirs.
Wasserman hosted an election party Tuesday night at his home in Los Gatos surrounded by his family, friends and supporters. At 12:15 a.m. Wednesday – before all the votes were tallied – he was very pleased with the 43 percent he garnered.
“The reaction from me is very, very positive and excited for all of the voters out there for their tremendous showing and their support at the polls and in the mail. That’s very, very gratifying and very encouraging toward my bid to become supervisor for District 1,” Wasserman said.
Alvarado was still at her election party at the Summit Steakhouse and Saloon at the Holiday Inn in South San Jose at 11 p.m. Tuesday with several hundred supporters. She said she felt good about her outreach in the county adding that she and her team spent a lot of time in South County, Alvarado said Tuesday night.
“I’m really hopeful. We generated a lot of momentum throughout the district. I’m very hopeful that was translated to voters,” she said.
Wasserman, 52, lives in Los Gatos and most recently served as a Los Gatos city councilman and rotating mayor. His first priority if he is elected District 1 supervisor is to curtail the county’s spending.
“I’m a big believer in prioritizing needs … I would do the same thing,” Wasserman said. “No entity can do everything for everyone.”
Williams, 73, is a computer science engineer from San Jose who said he would not cut a single job in public safety. His strategy for balancing the county’s $200 million deficit is to examine Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, which has a $2 billion budget nearly half of the county’s budget and a place Williams said could survive on much less.
He spent eight years as a San Jose council member, eight years on the Santa Clara County planning commission and 12 years as an Oak Grove school board member.
In previous primary elections, the final precinct count by the registrar was done around 11 p.m. But because the variety of ballots and the number of races this primary moved a bit slower, according to Many of the ballots did not arrive to the registrar until 10 p.m. or later, especially from South County and other outlying areas. Rosas said too in November, the ballot contains fewer races and is kept to a single ballot, which reduces the time spent counting votes. The breakdown of how South County resident voted won’t be available for at least a few days if not a week, Rosas said.
Alvarado’s life’s work has been about green technology and innovation and she has said will be a champion for a renewed economy.
“While the county is not directly responsible for generating a lot of jobs, we realize that when people don’t have a job they rely on the county,” Alvarado, 45, said, noting the rise of domestic violence and homelessness and how prevention is the “underpinning of a healthy community.”
Alvarado, a Leadership Gilroy graduate, has decades of executive experience working at the Pacific Gas and Electric Company and as NASA/Ames Research Center.
The flooding of Little Llagas creek that can wreak havoc on downtown Morgan Hill is an issue of which Alvarado is well-informed.
“We have to ask for federal dollars. This is a vibrant, active urban downtown and to get flooded on a regular basis … this is not a pork project, it’s critical.”
Arellano is a Gilroy councilmember and medical doctor. Kruse owns and operates a winery in Gilroy.
It was not known Wednesday morning whether Alvarado would seek a recount.
