Municipal elections in San Jose, California (2014)
2015 →
|
 |
2014 Elections By Date Recent News |
Arlington • Austin • Bakersfield Chandler • Chesapeake Chula Vista • Corpus Christi Fremont • Fresno • Garland Gilbert • Glendale • Honolulu Irvine • Irving • Laredo Lexington • Long Beach Louisville • Lubbock • Mesa New Orleans • Newark • Norfolk Oakland • Oklahoma City Orlando • Portland • Reno Sacramento • San Antonio San Bernardino San Diego • San Francisco San Jose • Santa Ana Scottsdale • Stockton • Tulsa Virginia Beach Washington, D.C. |
| Note: Cities listed in this box are those among the 100 largest in the United States that held elections in 2014. |
The city of San Jose, California, held nonpartisan elections for mayor and city council on November 4, 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014. In any race where a candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, they were declared elected and were not required to run on November 4. This happened in District 5, where Magdalena Carrasco defeated incumbent Xavier Campos, and District 9, where incumbent Donald Rocha defeated Lois Wilco-Owens.[1]
In total, six of San Jose's eleven council seats, including the mayor's, were scheduled for elections in November 2014. But due to outright primary victories in districts 5 and 9 in June, only four seats were up for election in the November 4 general elections. These included the mayor and districts 1, 3 and 7. All four were open seats, meaning that no incumbent ran for re-election.[1]
Mayor
Candidate list
Note: Incumbent Chuck Reed did not run for re-election.
- June 3 Primary election candidates:
November 4 General election candidates:
Election results
| San Jose Mayoral General Election, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
 Sam Liccardo |
50.8% | 91,840 | |
| Dave Cortese | 49.2% | 89,090 | |
| Total Votes | 180,930 | ||
| Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters - Official 2014 General Election Results | |||
| San Jose Mayoral Primary Election, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Dave Cortese |
33.7% | 43,887 | |
| Sam Liccardo |
25.8% | 33,521 | |
| Pierluigi Oliverio | 10.1% | 13,197 | |
| Bill Chew | 1.2% | 1,563 | |
| Timothy Harrison | 1.3% | 1,715 | |
| Rose Herrera | 6.1% | 7,950 | |
| Michael Alfred Alvarado | 1.5% | 1,959 | |
| Madison Nguyen | 20.3% | 26,365 | |
| Total Votes | 93,883 | ||
| Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters - Official 2014 Primary Election Results | |||
Polling
| 2014 Mayor of San Jose, California | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Dave Cortese | Sam Liccardo | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| Survey and Policy Research Institute at San Jose State University (October 12-16, 2014) | 34% | 26% | 40% | +/-4.1 | 571 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected]. | |||||||||||||||||||
City council
Candidate list
District 1
Note: Incumbent Pete Constant did not run re-election.
- June 3 Primary election candidates:
November 4 General election candidates:
District 3
Note: Incumbent Sam Liccardo did not run for re-election.
- June 3 Primary election candidates:
November 4 General election candidates:
District 5
- June 3 Primary election candidates:
- Aaron Resendez
- Magdalena Carrasco
- Xavier Campos - Incumbent Campos was first elected to the council in 2010.
District 7
Note: Incumbent Madison Nguyen did not run for re-election.
- June 3 Primary election candidates:
November 4 General election candidates:
District 9
- June 3 Primary election candidates:
- Donald Rocha - Incumbent Rocha was first elected to the council in 2010.
- Lois Wilco-Owens
- Donald Rocha
Election results
General
| San Jose City Council, District 1, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Charles Jones |
59.3% | 10,311 | |
| Paul Fong | 40.7% | 7,070 | |
| Total Votes | 17,381 | ||
| Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters - Official 2014 General Election Results | |||
| San Jose City Council, District 3, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Raul Peralez |
59.1% | 7,605 | |
| Don Gagliardi | 40.9% | 5,255 | |
| Total Votes | 12,860 | ||
| Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters - Official 2014 General Election Results | |||
| San Jose City Council, District 7, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Tam Nguyen |
50.8% | 6,942 | |
| Maya Esparza | 49.2% | 6,733 | |
| Total Votes | 13,675 | ||
| Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters - Official 2014 General Election Results | |||
Primary
| San Jose City Council District 1 Primary Election, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Paul Fong |
29% | 3,575 | |
| Charles Jones |
22.8% | 2,805 | |
| Richard A. McCoy | 5.5% | 677 | |
| Susan Marsland | 17% | 2,096 | |
| Tim Gildersleeve | 1.2% | 153 | |
| Art Zimmermann | 7% | 863 | |
| Bob Levy | 17.4% | 2,142 | |
| Total Votes | 9,306 | ||
| Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters - Official 2014 Primary Election Results | |||
| San Jose City Council District 3 Primary Election, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Raul Peralez |
27.7% | 2,493 | |
| Don Gagliardi |
24.2% | 2,179 | |
| Mauricio Mejia, Jr. | 8.2% | 737 | |
| George Kleidon | 11.8% | 1,061 | |
| John Hosmon | 5.7% | 510 | |
| Kathy Sutherland | 22.3% | 2,008 | |
| Total Votes | 6,980 | ||
| Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters - Official 2014 Primary Election Results | |||
| San Jose City Council District 5 Primary Election, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Magdalena Carrasco |
53.1% | 4,369 | |
| Xavier Campos Incumbent | 33.4% | 2,744 | |
| Aaron Resendez | 13.5% | 1,108 | |
| Total Votes | 8,221 | ||
| Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters - Official 2014 Primary Election Results | |||
| San Jose City Council District 7 Primary Election, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Tam Nguyen |
31.1% | 3,270 | |
| Maya Esparza |
29.3% | 3,083 | |
| Van Le | 26.9% | 2,826 | |
| Buu Thai | 12.7% | 1,339 | |
| Total Votes | 10,518 | ||
| Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters - Official 2014 Primary Election Results | |||
| San Jose City Council District 9 Primary Election, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Donald Rocha Incumbent |
74.5% | 11,137 | |
| Lois Wilco-Owens | 25.5% | 3,813 | |
| Total Votes | 14,950 | ||
| Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters - Official 2014 Primary Election Results | |||
Issues
Transportation
Because of the city's growing population and outward expansion, transportation was a major issue in San Jose's 2014 elections.[2] The conversation focused predominantly on the extension of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system to downtown San Jose. The Bay Area Rapid Transit system, or B.A.RT, is a rail and subway system that services the San Francisco Bay area. At the time of the 2014 election, plans were underway to extend BART into San Jose with stations scheduled to open up downtown in 2018.[3] City council member and mayoral candidate Sam Liccardo was a strong supporter of the BART extension, saying "I am absolutely committed to getting BART all the way through downtown and beyond ... This is going to be a critical asset for our region and for our city. This is going to enable so many people to be able to get to work and, perhaps most importantly, to enable employers to be in San José, knowing that workers can get to them." Liccardo's opponent, Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese, while a supporter of the extension, voiced some reservations, citing unfinished transportation projects such as a light rail system in eastern San Jose.[4]
The transportation issue has also involved discussions of bike lanes. Liccardo pushed city council to create more bike lanes, while Cortese argued that bike lanes would only worsen the problem of congested traffic areas.[2]
Pension reform
Arguably, the most dominant election issue in San Jose's mayoral race was pension reform. Between 2001 and 2012, the city's annual pension payments rose from $73 million to $245 million. As Ballotpedia's Brittany Clingen reported in October 2013, this amounts to twenty-seven percent of the city's general fund budget.[5] To address this problem, on June 5, 2012, San Jose voters approved a controversial ballot measure known as "Measure B." The measure increased employee contributions, established pension costs and benefit limitations for new employees, modified disability retirement procedures and suspended retiree cost of living adjustments in times of emergencies.[6] Mayor Chuck Reed supported the measure, despite staunch resistance from city unions - especially the city's police union. The controversy over Measure B eventually made it way to the courts in 2012, after city unions announced their intentions to proceed with a legal challenge.[7]
San Jose's mayoral candidates were sharply divided on the issue. Candidate Dave Cortese, backed by the city's unions, campaigned against Measure B. Conversely, Cortese's challenger and current city council member, Sam Liccardo, campaigned in favor of the measure, thereby earning him the support of term-limited Mayor Reed and much of the local business community.[8]
A report by San Jose Mercury News showed that the debate over Measure B played out not only in campaign messaging but also in campaign spending. As of early October, public unions were reported to have spent approximately $545,000 in support of Cortese, while local pro-business groups spent in the range of $350,000.[9]
For the full story on Measure B and San Jose's pension crisis, see Ballotpedia's coverage here.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term San + Jose + California + election
See also
External links
- City of San Jose - Official Candidate List
- Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters - Official 2014 Primary Election Results
- San Jose Mercury News - San Jose mayor's race: Dave Cortese vs. Sam Liccardo in November
- United States Conference of Mayors - Elections in 2014
- Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters - Official 2014 General Election Results
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 County of Santa Clara Registrar of Voters, "Past Election Information," accessed September 16, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Next City,' "How Transportation Is Shaping Three 2014 Mayoral Races," accessed September 5, 2014
- ↑ VTA, "BART Timeline," accessed September 18, 2014
- ↑ Mercury News, "San Jose mayoral candidates sound off on regional issues," March 5, 2014
- ↑ Ballotpedia.org, "Pension reform: San Jose and San Diego voters weigh in," October 15, 2013
- ↑ San Jose Fiscal Reforms, "About Measure B," accessed September 5, 2014
- ↑ Mercury News, "Pension reform: San Jose appeals Measure B ruling," June 10, 2014
- ↑ Mercury News, "San Jose mayor's race: Dave Cortese vs. Sam Liccardo in November," June 3, 2014
- ↑ San Jose Mercury News, "San Jose mayor's race: Liccardo winning big cash race vs. Cortese as voting begins," October 6, 2014
| ||||||||||
