Many Incumbents Re-Elected in Municipal Elections in Alameda County

Municipal elections in Alameda County were marked by many victories by incumbents as well as the apparent wins of several newcomers, but some races remained too close to call.

In San Leandro, Councilwoman Pauline Cutter became mayor by defeating Councilwoman Diana Souza and businessman Dan Dillman. In the first round of voting, Cutter got 48.4 percent of the vote, Souza got 37.1 percent and Dillman finished a distant third with 14.5 percent. After ranked-choice tabulations were run, Cutter emerged victorious with 56.6 percent of the vote and Souza was second with 43.4 percent.

In City Council races in San Leandro, Deborah Cox, field representative for Assemblyman Bill Quirk, D-Hayward, won in District 1, while youth and family services manager Lee Thomas won in District 3 and information technology consultant Corina Lopez won in District 5.

In Newark, Mayor Alan Nagy defeated challenger Ray Rodriguez, an insurance agency owner, to win re-election with 67 percent of the vote. In Newark’s City Council election, Mike Hannon and Mike Bucci were victorious in a six-candidate field. Hannon got 24.2 percent of the vote, Bucci got 20.2 percent and Francisco Preciado Jr. finished third with 16 percent. In Fremont, retired police officer Rick Jones and school board member Lily Mei won the two seats at stake in a nine-candidate race. Jones had 19.2 percent of the vote and Mei got 18.8 percent. Raj Salawan, an incumbent appointed to the Council nearly two years ago, was a close third with 16.8 percent. In Oakland, Abel Guillen, a member of the Peralta Community College Board of Trustees, was elected to the City Council’s District 2 in a five-candidate race.

After ranked-choice tabulation were run, Guillen emerged with 52 percent of the vote and former KPIX news anchor Dana King finished second with 48 percent. In District 4, Annie Campbell Washington won the seat currently held by Libby Schaaf, winning 63 percent of the vote and defeating two challengers. In District 6, incumbent Desley Brooks won re-election to a fourth term by beating three challengers. Brooks got 55 percent of the vote after ranked-choice tabulations were run.

In Alameda, school board member Trish Spencer led Mayor Marie Gilmore by 50.9 percent to 48.7 percent but the margin was only 287 votes with some absentee and provisional ballots still to count. Business owner and consultant Frank Matarrese and Jim Oddie, district director for Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, were elected to the City Council, winning the two open seats in the three-candidate race. Matarrese got 37 percent of the vote, Oddie got 33 percent and Stewart Chen finished third with 30 percent.

In Dublin, City Councilman David Haubert was elected mayor, prevailing over fellow Councilman Kevin Hart and two other contenders. Haubert got 42 percent of the vote and Hart got 36 percent.

In Union City, Emily Duncan, Pat Gacoscos and Lorrin Ellis were elected to the City Council, defeating two other candidates in a five-candidate race. Duncan won 27.3 percent of the vote, Gasoscos had 24.2 percent and Ellis had 22.7 percent. In Berkeley, Linda Maio won re-election in District 1 by getting 55 percent of the vote to beat two challengers and Jesse Arreguin won without opposition in District 4. In District 7, incumbent Kriss Worthington appeared to defeat challenger Sean Barry in District 1, getting 55.3 percent of the vote, but the margin was only 81 votes.

In District 8, entrepreneur Mike Cohen had a narrow lead in the four-candidate field after ranked-choice tabulations with 50.5 percent of the vote, but his margin over teacher Lori Droste was only 25 votes.

In Pleasanton, Mayor Jerry Thorne easily beat challenger Matt Morrison, getting 68 percent of the vote. In the four-candidate City Council race, incumbent Kathy Narum and Arne Olson were elected with 34 percent and 25 percent of the vote, respectively.

In Livermore, incumbent Mayor John Marchand, who was the only candidate on the ballot, won re-election with 96.4 percent of the vote. In the four-candidate City Council race, Steven Spedowfski and incumbent Bob Woerner were elected. Spedowfski got 34.6 percent of the vote and Woerner got 33 percent.

By Bay City News