Blankley holds narrow lead in Gilroy mayoral election

With incumbent Marie Blankley narrowly leading challenger Greg Bozzo for the Gilroy mayoral election, neither candidate was ready to declare victory as of Wednesday morning. 

The latest results in the Nov. 5 election show Blankley ahead of Bozzo by 200 votes, or a total of 6,849 as of 12:15am Wednesday, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters website. That’s 50.74% of the total votes counted. 

Bozzo, a political newcomer, has received 49.26% or 6,649 of the votes counted. 

Over the coming days or weeks, elections officials will continue counting ballots dropped off or filled out in person on election day. Acting Registrar of Voters Matt Moreles said the Nov. 5 turnout included a “tremendous surge” of voters who cast their ballots in person on election day. 

Blankley, a certified public accountant, is running for her second consecutive four-year term as mayor. Prior to becoming mayor, she was elected in 2018 for a four-year term on the city council, and served on the Gilroy planning commission from 1992-99. 

“I am so very honored to have won two elections in Gilroy that gave me the opportunity to serve seven years and do so much good for the town that I love,” Blankley said in a statement the morning of Nov. 6. “Winning this third election would allow me to continue that progress with the elected city council.”

Bozzo is the owner and operator of a local landscape construction firm, and has volunteered in numerous capacities in Gilroy over the years—including the Gilroy Garlic Festival. 

He said he is “not surprised” that the results of the Nov. 5 election were so close the day after election day.

“I’m thankful to everybody that has supported this campaign and now we have to wait as long as it takes for the county to certify,” Bozzo said. 

As of 12:15am Nov. 6, the registrar’s office had received and counted a total of 460,325 ballots from Santa Clara County voters. With about 1.05 million registered voters, that equates to about a 44% turnout of ballots counted so far.