Liccardo declares himself new SJ mayor despite uncounted votes
SAN JOSE -- New figures released early Wednesday night show San Jose City Councilman Sam Liccardo increasing his lead by a few hundred votes in the San Jose mayor's race.
The vote is still very close in the race for San Jose mayor. Fiscal conservative Sam Liccardo has 51 percent of the vote, versus 49 percent for labor-backed Dave Cortese. Liccardo has already declared victory.
The narrow edge that puts council member Sam Liccardo ahead of county supervisor Dave Cortese gives neither candidate a mandate from those who voted.
"I've never believed that elections carry with them mandates," Liccardo said. "We've got a diverse community with a lot of diverse views about a lot of issues, and my job as mayor is going to be to work with everyone, and that includes many of those folks who opposed me."
Liccardo immediately reached out to the leaders of the South Bay Labor Council and the San Jose Police Officers Association, both groups had backed Cortese. Cortese is not conceding.
"Although I congratulated Sam Liccardo this morning on running a great campaign," Cortese said in a written statement, "this race is still too close to call."
The Registrar of Voters said there are an estimated 120,000 mail-in ballots to be counted, dropped off at precincts on Election Day. Plus, 10,000 provisional ballots that require verification.
VIDEO: San Jose uses outdated vote counting equipment
"We know that they believe there is still an election to be contested," Liccardo said. "I'll let them do that. We'll allow the process to work its way out, and when they're ready to sit down, I'll be there."
Jim Unlund is president of the police union.
"Politics is rough and tumble, and then the next day, you come out and you're adults and you've got to govern and you've got to police this city," Unlund said. "We'll go forward obviously with whoever ends up being declared the winner."
San Jose resident Anna Flores said she hopes the election wounds will heal.
"I pray that there are better times ahead because we all have to really get along," she said. "I mean, times are not going to get any easier if we don't."
The vote tabulation is expected to last until the weekend.
"With a contest this close, I think that definitely the number of ballots that we have still can make a difference," Assistant Registar of
Voters Matt Moreless said.
For full election coverage visit our Bay Area Election Results and Voting Guide.
