Alameda voters await results of close mayor's race

ALAMEDA, Calif. (KGO) -- Eight days after the election and some Bay Area races are still undecided, that includes the race for mayor in the city of Alameda, where the challenger appears poised for what many consider a big upset.

The office is closed for the holiday, amid the thousands of ballots still to be counted at the Alameda County Registrar of Voters are some that could decide who will be the city of Alameda's next mayor.

At last count, challenger Trish Spencer leads incumbent Marie Gilmore by 129 votes, but the election hasn't been finalized or certified.

"I'm confident that we won this," Spencer said. She said she's not declaring victory, but thinks the numbers speak for themselves.

Gilmore did not respond to requests for comment on the matter. Her husband said she planned to wait until the final vote tally.

At the heart of the election, was the issue of how much development is too much for this island community of 76,000 people.

"This property here is owned by the GSA, the feds up to that fence."

Spencer, a current school board member, wants former military properties converted to open space.

Gilmore has supported redevelopment of the city's old Naval air station, now called Alameda Point.

Louis Dunlap has lived in Alameda for 20 years.

"The new person, we don't know anything about, but Mayor Gilmore, we know that she has done a good job in the past, so hopefully she can win it," Dunlap said.

Liza Morse voted for Spencer, who ran her campaign on just $9,000, while Gilmore raised several times that amount.

"Power of the people, just true democracy," Morse said. "We're tired, we're tired of the traffic and we're tired of big business taking over."

The Alameda County Registrar of Voters will update election figures for the Alameda mayor's race and others when workers return on Wednesday.