Incumbent Lisa Gillmor wins Santa Clara mayor's race, overcoming 49ers challege

SANTA CLARA -- Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor has secured a third term as mayor, beating back a challenge from City Councilman Anthony Becker and the deep pockets of the San Francisco 49ers.

Gillmor beat Becker 51% to 49% - a margin of just 687 votes (14,376  to 13,689) - despite being outspent eight-to-one by the 49ers alone. The team's efforts to unseat Gillmor came following her sustained criticism of the team and their operation of Levi's Stadium.

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The 49ers spent millions of dollars to support Becker's candidacy, coming out to early 150 dollars on every person who voted for Becker.

Gillmor and her allies on the city council have led a years-long campaign for greater oversight and accountability for the 49ers and their management of the stadium. The relationship between the city and the team has been adversarial at best and occasionally downright acrimonious.

Becker, a content moderator at an information technology company, ran against Gillmor, a real estate broker, for mayor in 2018 and was elected to the council in 2020.

In their 2018 contest, Gillmor beat Becker in a blowout with 74.2 percent of the vote. 

In this year's race, Gillmor received donations from Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who runs a massive development near Levi's Stadium.

In a statement following the completion of the vote-counting, the 49ers issued a statement, saying, "We congratulate all candidates on their campaigns. We will move forward in the spirit of collaboration and partnership and look forward to working with the Mayor, the re-elected council members, and all local officials, to support our community."