Gilroy election: Bozzo pulls ahead in vote count for mayor

After more ballots were counted over the weekend for the Nov. 5 election, Greg Bozzo has pulled ahead of incumbent Marie Blankley for the office of mayor. 

As of 4:24pm Nov. 12, Bozzo now leads Blankley by 152 votes, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters office. Bozzo, a local business owner who is new to the local political scene, has 10,341 votes (or about 50.4%) to Blankley’s 10,189 votes. 

Blankley is running for her second term as the city’s mayor. Up until the weekend that started Nov. 9, Blankley had been leading Bozzo in the official vote tally by about 200 votes. 

Zach Hilton is the only one of three incumbents up for reelection who will remain on the Gilroy City Council for another four-year term, as he leads the field of six candidates. Terence Fugazzi and Kelly Ramirez appear on their way to securing the other two council seats, according to the registrar’s latest results. 

And Measure C, Gilroy’s proposed quarter-cent public safety sales tax measure, will not become law despite receiving a majority of votes in Nov. 5 balloting. About 61% of ballots favor Measure C so far, but that falls short of the two-thirds majority required for passage. 

Overall turnout for Santa Clara County on Nov. 5 currently measures about 68%, with 712,224 ballots counted by election officials as of Tuesday evening. There are about 1.05 million registered voters in Santa Clara County. 

Although incumbents at the local level are in danger of losing their seats, those at the statewide level have survived the Nov. 5 election, according to results from the Secretary of State’s office. Zoe Lofgren, U.S. Congressmember for the 18th District, has handily defeated former San Benito County Supervisor Peter Hernandez. Lofgren has garnered 65% of the ballots counted so far. 

And in State Assembly District 29, Speaker Robert Rivas is walking away with 66% of the ballots counted as of Nov. 12. Challenger J.W. Paine has received about 34% of the ballots. 

Below are the latest detailed results for Gilroy, district, state and federal races that appeared on the Nov. 5 ballot, as of the afternoon of Nov. 12. Results are from the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters and California Secretary of State’s offices. 

Mayor of Gilroy

Greg Bozzo: 50.37% 

Marie Blankley (incumbent): 49.63% 

Total votes counted: 20,530

Gilroy City Council 

The top three vote recipients will be elected to office: 

Zach Hilton (incumbent): 20.87% 

Terence Fugazzi: 19.39%

Kelly Ramirez: 17.48% 

Fred Tovar (incumbent): 16.57% 

Stefanie Elle: 14.87% 

Rebeca Armendariz (incumbent): 10.82% 

Total votes counted: 48,148

Measure C Public Safety Sales Tax

This measure requires a two-thirds majority in order to be enacted into law.

Yes: 60.5% 

No: 39.5%

Total votes counted: 20,435

Gavilan College Board of Trustees, Trustee Area 4

Lorena Tariba: 64.07% 

Alex A. Larson: 35.93% 

Total votes: 7,735

State Assembly, District 29

Results from the California Secretary of State’s office are for the entire district, which includes portions of San Benito, Santa Clara and Monterey counties:

Robert Rivas (incumbent): 66%  

J.W. Paine: 34% 

Total votes: 116,881

U.S. Representative, District 18

Results from the California Secretary of State’s office are for the entire district, which includes San Benito County as well as parts of Santa Clara and Monterey counties: 

Zoe Lofgren (incumbent): 65%

Peter D. Hernandez: 35%

Total votes: 190,115

Federal and statewide results

Results from the California Secretary of State’s office reflect how the state’s electorate voted on the following races: 

President 

Kamala D. Harris: 59%

Donald J. Trump: 38%

Jill Stein: 1%

Other: .8%

U.S. Senator, full term

Adam B. Schiff: 59%

Steve Garvey: 41%