Elections

It took nearly two weeks, but supporters and opponents of local candidates and ballot measures in the Nov. 6 election are now fairly certain how residents voted – with one exception.

In Mountain View, incumbent Councilwoman Pat Showalter benefited from a flurry of late ballots to come from 155 votes behind at one point and overtake challenger Alison Hicks in the race for the third open city council seat. Showalter did not take a lead in the vote count until nearly a week after the election. As of Monday, that race was still too close to call, with 14 votes separating the two candidates.

Los Altos resident Alex Glew lost his bid for the District 24 State Assembly seat held by incumbent Marc Berman.

With most of the vote counted Monday, Berman was ahead with 62,796 votes, or 75.23 percent of the tally. Glew totaled 20,120 (24.27 percent).

Editor's update (Wednesday, Nov. 14): The Town Crier may be guilty of a "Dewey Beats Truman" scenario here. Results within the last day show a dramatic shifting of election results with incumbent Councilwoman Pat Showalter leapfrogging into third place in the race for the third open council seat. Candidate Alison Hicks has since dropped to fourth while Lucas Ramirez has risen to second place behind Ellen Kamei. For the latest on Showalter's gains, click here.

In a repudiation of the current city council’s direction, Mountain View residents last week voted out incumbent Mayor Lenny Siegel and fellow Councilwoman Pat Showalter, while electing three newcomers to the council.

Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier
Kavita Tankha, seated, in black, and Joan Sherlock watch election results on the television beside George Tyson, standing, and Los Altos Hills City Councilwoman Michelle Wu Tuesday night at Wu’s Los Altos Hills home. Tankha's husband, Raj Bahri, is pictured at far left. Tankha and Tyson ultimately won the two open seats on the council.

While campaign sign vandalism and theft and accusations of misleading advertising characterized other Silicon Valley election contests, the race for Los Altos Hills City Council remained a staid affair – two of the three candidates declined to erect campaign signage.

It appears that this is the Los Altos City Council’s “Year of the Woman,” as the newly elected Anita Enander and Neysa Fligor join incumbents Jeannie Bruins, Lynette Lee Eng and Jan Pepper on the dais.

Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier
Attendees of the No on Measure C election party mingle inside 359 State St., an empty downtown Los Altos shop previously home to Los Altos Research Center.

When the dust settled from phone calling, door knocking and campaign sign posting, the “no” votes outweighed the “yeses,” as one of Los Altos’ most controversial initiatives in years was heading to defeat in the Nov. 6 election.

Measure C, which would have required any land-use change to city-owned property larger than 7,500 square feet to go before voters, was losing by 363 votes as of Monday morning. Tallies compiled by the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters reported 4,206 votes against the measure (52.25 percent) versus 3,843 in favor (47.75 percent).