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Publication Date: Friday, October 11, 2002
"Traditionally, Mountain View campaigns are funky. It's still hometown politics in Mountain View."
Pollster Doug Winslow
Who votes in Mountain View, and how?
Who votes in Mountain View, and how?
(October 11, 2002) Nearing election day, speculation about which parts of the city will vote which way
By Candice Shih
The archetype seems to hold in Mountain View: conservatism comes with age and money. In the past two city council elections, Mountain View voters went along with this trend. The dozens of candidates in the upcoming November election are now wondering, will they do it again?
In the 1998 city council election, current Mayor Sally Lieber was the leading vote-getter and won 33 out of 48 precincts in Mountain View. Of the precincts in which she did not come out ahead, almost all were won by current Council member Ralph Faravelli and are located south of El Camino Real, where the number of homeowners prevails over the number of renters.
Mike Kasperzak, the only incumbent in this year's race, took just one precinct, 2476, which is in the Wright Avenue neighborhood.
Lieber, younger than Faravelli by more than 20 years and a four-year resident of Mountain View when she ran, is known for her liberal politics. Faravelli, a lifelong resident of Mountain View, is considered more conservative.
This voting pattern was apparent again, to a different degree, in 2000. Conservatives Matt Pear and Mario Ambra won support in Mountain View's more expensive housing area to the south, whereas liberals Rosemary Stasek and Nancy Noe were more successful in less affluent, renter-dominated neighborhoods.
Leading vote getter Mary Lou Zoglin was consistently popular throughout the city.
But what does Mountain View's socioeconomic diversity and high ratio of renters to owners mean in the approaching city council election, where 13 candidates are on the ballot?
"It's a crapshoot given how many candidates there are," said Doug Winslow, a democratic pollster and campaign consultant who is currently working on Lieber's state assembly campaign.
He contends that particular constituencies have been influential in Mountain View, renters being one of them. Contrary to conventional wisdom, he said, renters do vote, and at a similar percentage to Mountain View's homeowners.
In a city where about two-thirds of residents are renters, that amount is significant. Renters and homeowners tend to support different candidates, with renters leaning toward more liberal candidates, added Winslow. Non-white residents tend to vote liberal as well.
However, older and more conservative voters can be more easily depended on to actually vote come election day, said Victor Ajlouny, a campaign consultant who worked on this year's Yes on N campaign, which aimed to bring a Home Depot store to the old Emporium site at El Camino and Highway 85.
Ajlouny said that, although he does "not have a pulse on this particular election," he predicts that residents who supported Ambra and those who threatened to attempt a recall of Lieber over the last year will have an influence in this election.
Analysts posit that voter turnout in November will be low because of two relatively unpopular gubernatorial candidates. Thus, groups of voters who are likely to vote together, such as Ambra's allies, will make a more significant impact.
Other groups expected to make a difference in the upcoming election are the firefighters, police officers, unions and the Chamber of Commerce, the last of which endorsed city council candidates for the first time this year.
"Traditionally, Mountain View campaigns are funky," said Winslow. "It's still hometown politics in Mountain View."
E-mail Candice Shih at cshih@mv-voice.com
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