Marchand To Serve As Next Livermore Mayor After Nop Concedes

LIVERMORE, CA — John Marchand declared victory in the Livermore mayor’s race after Mony Nop conceded Thursday.

"I am truly humbled and honored to be elected to represent Livermore as Mayor once again," Marchand told Patch in a statement. "Thank you to everyone who participated in this election. Democracy is such an important privilege for all of us. I look forward to continuing to serve this community by listening, collaborating and focusing on our future. I will work to restore our sense of community spirit, bringing everyone together to keep Livermore a remarkable place to live and work."

The announcement follows several days of close results that briefly showed Nop leading by just a few votes by the end of Election Night and the next few days. Starting Thursday, Nov. 10, Marchand pulled further ahead of Nop each time new totals were released. As of Friday at 7:55 p.m., Marchand had 17,165 votes, or 53.25%, and Nop had 15,067 votes, or 46.75 percent.

Alameda County expects to certify results Dec. 8.

Nop, a realtor and former Livermore police officer who ran against Mayor Bob Woerner in 2020, released the following statement Thursday afternoon on his campaign Facebook page:

“Regrettably, based on the most recent results, I am conceding my race for Livermore Mayor. I wish John Marchand good luck serving Livermore. I love making a difference in the lives of others. I came here as a child from Cambodia with nothing and have been very blessed by this community and all of you have given my family. I ran for Mayor to give back to the community that has made such a difference in my life. I have been proud to run a strong campaign. It has been a great and humbling honor to meet and speak with so many people in all the Livermore neighborhoods, walking door-to-door. Every conversation was important to me, and I will take everything with me as I continue to find other ways to be of service to my community.”

On Sunday, Nop’s annual Turkey Drop collected 105 frozen turkeys, 51 gift cards, and $1,200 in cash donations for Tri-Valley Haven.

Marchand served as Livermore mayor from 2011 to 2020. In the most recent campaign, he favored keeping Eden Housing in its current location, while Nop did not. He has listed public safety, quality of life, housing security and downtown improvement as his top priorities, and committed to dedicating over 50 percent of the city’s General Fund to public safety, and sustaining both the Drug-House Nuisance Abatement Ordinance and the Crime-Free Multi-Unit Housing Ordinance.
In the most expensive race in Livermore history, many groups, including the anti-Eden Housing group Take Back Livermore and Save Livermore Downtown, poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Nop’s campaign, according to campaign finance reports.

In a recent statement, Marchand called for unity.

"In 2020, during the last City-wide poll, 92% of respondents agreed that Livermore is a great place to live and raise a family," Marchand said in a statement. "Now that we have heard from the voters, I am asking everyone to come together and work together for the common good, to restore our community spirit, to keep Livermore a remarkable place to live, work and play, for everyone."

Marchand will likely join Evan Branning and Ben Barrientos, who have maintained healthy leads against Carol Wahrer and Mel Chiong in the races for Districts 1 and 2, respectively.