By Robert Haugh
Gary Ferraris is on track to become one of the biggest losers in Santa Clara political history with the help of approximately $2 million in combined spending by the 49ers and organized labor.
Ferraris is running a distant fifth in the six-candidate mayoral race.
Meanwhile, Santa Clara’s next mayor remains undecided, with Karen Hardy, Kathy Watanabe, David Kertes and Kevin Park all competing for the city’s top elected job.
With tens of thousands of ballots still to be counted, the November 3 election is far from over.
Mayor’s Race: Four Candidates Still in Contention
According to the latest election returns, Hardy leads the mayoral race with 3,649 votes (23.65 percent).
Watanabe follows with 3,183 votes (20.63 percent), just 466 votes behind Hardy.
Kertes is third with 2,924 votes (18.95 percent), followed by Park with 2,645 votes (17.14 percent).
Ferraris has received 1,875 votes (12.15 percent), while Mike Wiltberger trails with 1,135 votes (7.36 percent).
The relatively narrow margins separating the top four candidates mean the race remains competitive.
An election analysis estimates that approximately 40,000 Santa Clara residents will vote.
So far, just 15,431 ballots have been counted citywide — approximately 38 percent of the projected total.
$2 Million Spending Campaign Backfires
One of the election’s biggest stories is the failure of the 49ers and organized labor to turn big spending into votes in the Mayoral race. Together, the two interests spent approximately $2 million in independent expenditures supporting Ferraris.
The 49ers, led by team CEO Jed York, invested heavily in electing Ferraris. Labor organizations also made a $100,000 expenditure.
The spending was for a huge advertising campaign, including television and digital advertising and attacks on Ferraris’ opponents.
Ferraris’ campaign will easily go down as the most expensive losing political campaign in Santa Clara history if you divide the dollars spent by votes received.
It’s an embarrassing loss for York and organized labor in Santa Clara.
District 2: Williams Leads Inciarte
In City Council District 2, 49ers-backed Kimberley Williams leads Yvonne Inciarte.
Williams has received 1,332 votes (58.24 percent), compared with Inciarte’s 947 votes (41.41 percent).
The difference is 385 votes.
District 3: Crutchlow Leads Madej
In District 3, Eric Crutchlow leads Kyle Madej by 225 votes.
Crutchlow has received 1,223 votes (55.02 percent), while Madej has 998 votes (44.89 percent).
Such a fun experience for me last night watching and hitting refresh on my phone constantly, kind of like checking the wait times while walking around Disneyland, nothing changes but I keep checking anyways. I was able to speak, text, or see about half of all the candidates last night and of course experienced some ups and downs myself too. Many more ballots to be counted but I am grateful to have gone through this and will support whoever all the winners are.
Me so happy. 😀
“Ferraris Headed for Historic Loss Despite $2 Million in 49ers and Labor Spending”