Matt Mahan holds slight lead over Cindy Chavez in contentious San Jose mayoral race
SAN JOSE -- Matt Mahan took a slight lead over Cindy Chavez late Tuesday as the two candidates battled it out in a very expensive and tight contest to become the mayor of San Jose.
The race between Santa Clara County Supervisor and longtime civic leader Cindy Chavez and relative newcomer, freshman city councilmember Matt Mahan, to replace outgoing Mayor Sam Liccardo is one of the most hotly contested local races this election cycle.
The latest numbers had Mahan in the lead with 52% of the vote with Chavez close behind with 48% of the vote.
Mahan noted Tuesday that there will be a need for unity in San Jose, regardless of who wins the mayoral race.
"We're going to have to come together after this election and solve problems. Whichever one of us is ultimately mayor is going to have to bring people together, put forward pragmatic solutions and be accountable for results," Mahan said at his campaign's election night party.
Housing and the homeless crisis as well as crime, public safety and police staffing have been among the key campaign issues in the race.
While Mahan was endorsed by Liccardo, Chavez received the support of all of the other San Jose City Council members currently serving alongside Mahan.
At the campaign headquarters for Chavez in the Willow Glenn neighborhood, the crowd was thinning as the candidate fell further behind in the close race. Chavez initially had an advantage of around 1,000 votes before Mahan's total gradually eclipsed hers. As of about 11 p.m., she remained behind by about 5,000 votes.
Chavez specifically called Liccardo out for how he conducted himself during the race.
"I hold Mayor Liccardo responsible for two things; one, for trying to damage my reputation in the community, but two, for bringing the discourse to an incredibly new low in San Jose. And that's something as a community we need to discuss, because what we don't want to do is discouraged people from running for office."