Only seven votes stand between Jaime Rosso and a third term on
the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees. Due to the
closeness of the race, the Santa Clara County Registrar’s Office
will be conducting a recount.
Only seven votes stand between Jaime Rosso and a third term on the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees. Due to the closeness of the race, the Santa Clara County Registrar’s Office will be conducting a recount.
Rosso trailed the other three board candidates since the outset by as many as 200 votes after the first round of precincts were counted on election night. As of Monday afternoon, though, he could upset former trustee Mark Good, who has held steady in third place after incumbent Rhoda Bress bumped him from second place last week.
“It’s been kind of a roller coaster but all I can do is wait until the election is called,” Rosso said. “It’s all just speculation until they give us the final numbers. But it still makes the election exciting.”
Like Rosso, Good said he’s anxious to get the results.
“I’m keeping my fingers crossed,” Good said.
Barring a ballot miracle, newcomer Fred Tovar will finish first and occupy one of the three open seats on the board.
When Good last ran for school board in 1996, he said the race was much less suspenseful. Of the six candidates grappling for three seats on the board, he came out on top, he remembered.
“I didn’t have these same concerns back then,” he said. “I keep checking the Web site every now and again to see what’s going on. I’m looking forward to the final results, whenever they might be.”
With about 17,000 provisional ballots left to tally countywide, seven votes for Rosso could still be out there. More than 10,000 votes were added to the tally since Friday, according to the registrar’s Web site. Spokeswoman Elma Rosas said she wasn’t certain when the tally would be finished.
State regulations require the registrar’s office to conduct manual recounts when the elections are decided by 0.5 percent or less. Registrar workers will retally 10 percent of Gilroy Unified’s 41 voting districts, then recalculate the race.
The districts will be randomly chosen Thursday and the recount will begin Monday.
Tovar, with 9,347 votes, has widened his lead with every new ballot tally. He now has more than 1,000 votes more than Bress, who’s claimed 8,255 votes. Good has 8,189 and Rosso has 8,182.
Incoming trustees will be sworn Dec. 11.
