Incumbent appeared headed for victory late Tuesday
Gilroy – Rosemary Kamei was headed for a narrow victory over political rookie and water expert Ram Singh Tuesday night in a race to serve as District 1 representative to the water district’s governing board.
At 11:50 p.m., Kamei, a three-term incumbent first appointed to the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s board of directors in 1993, had an 1,100-vote advantage with 314 of 370 precincts reporting. Kamei held 51.1 percent of the 54,000-plus votes cast compared to Singh’s 48.9 percent.
Kamei could not be reached shortly before midnight, and Ram Singh went to sleep skeptical that he would pick up enough momentum to win the race.
“I will see in the morning, but the trend looks like it’s against me,” he said. “It is very difficult to defeat an incumbent of 13 years, even though I had a good message and I was fighting for a good cause – that the water district is out of control. But if the people want to keep the status quo … ”
Singh differentiated himself from other challengers by highlighting his 45 years of experience in water resources management, a career that spans everything from designing dams and levees to helping pubic officials budget for water resources.
On Tuesday, few voters in Gilroy said they pay attention to the water district, though there was a clear preference among those who did cast a ballot in the race.
“I went with Ram Singh, just to shake things up,” Luis Ramirez said at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church off Hecker Pass.
