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After counting over 750,000 ballots, Santa Clara County is done tallying the votes and has released the final results from last month’s election.
The Nov. 5 general election included an array of races in the Mountain View area, including open seats on the City Council and multiple school boards, as well as various local tax measures.
Although initial results began being released soon after polls closed on election night, the county released the final count on Thursday, Dec. 5.
Read on to see the results of local races.
Mountain View City Council
The Mountain View City Council had four out of seven seats up for election this November, but all four spots will be filled by candidates who have experience serving on the council.
Incumbents Pat Showalter and Emily Ann Ramos garnered the largest amount of support, with 16.15% (13,523 votes) and 15.81% (13,232 votes), respectively.
Chris Clark and John McAlister, who both previously served on the council from 2012-2020, once again secured seats, winning 13.08% (10,947 votes) and 12.07% (10,108 votes), respectively.
The five newcomers in the race – IdaRose Sylvester, Devon Conley, Erik Poicon, Nicholas Hargis and José Gutiérrez – all fell short of winning a seat.
Showalter, Ramos, Clark and McAlister will join Alison Hicks, Lucas Ramirez and Ellen Kamei on the council.
Mountain View Whisman School District governing board
In contrast to the City Council, three newcomers have been elected to Mountain View Whisman’s school board.
None of the incumbents ran for the trio of open seats on the five member governing board.
Out of the eight candidates who ran, Ana Kristina Reed, Lisa Henry and Charles DiFazio came out on top.
Reed got 17.47% (9,290 votes), followed by Henry with 16.46% (8,754 votes) and DiFazio with 15.51% (8,247 votes).
They will join Devon Conley and Bill Lambert on the school board.
Mountain View Los Altos High School District governing board
The Mountain View Los Altos High School District’s board saw a three-way race for two open seats, with neither incumbent running.
Alex Levich and Vadim Katz were elected, beating out Li Zhang for the pair of seats. Levich got 35.48% (22,278 votes), while Katz received 33.44% (20,997 votes).
Levich and Katz will replace Phil Faillace and Sanjay Dave, who opted not to run again. The newly elected trustees will join Thida Cornes, Esmeralda Ortiz and Catherine Vonnegut on the five-member school board.
Santa Clara County Board of Education – Trustee Area 1
It was a tight race for the seat on the Santa Clara County Board of Education representing the area that includes Mountain View.
Jessica Speiser ended up narrowly beating incumbent Grace Mah, securing 51.03% (47,420 votes) to Mah’s 48.97% (45,506 votes).
Mah has served on the county board since 2007 and also faced a tight race to hold her seat in 2020, which she ended up winning.
Speiser comes to the county board from the Los Altos School District’s board, where she has served since 2016.
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors – District 5
Mountain View City Council member Margaret Abe-Koga beat Sally Lieber for the District 5 seat on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.
Abe-Koga will replace Joe Simitian to represent a district that includes Mountain View on the countywide governing body. She received 57.12% (82,490 votes), well ahead of Lieber’s 42.88% (61,937 votes).
El Camino Healthcare District board
Incumbents Carol Ann Somersille, Julia Miller and John Zoglin have retained their seats on the El Camino Healthcare District’s board, fending off a challenge from Lynette Lee Eng.
Somersille got the most support, with 29.75% (47,109 votes). Miller came in second with 28.29% (44,805 votes), followed by Zoglin with 25.69% (40,690 votes). Lee Eng trailed in fourth place with 16.26% (25,755 votes).
Measure G – Mountain View property transfer tax
The city of Mountain View’s property transfer tax measure easily passed with 72.32% support (21,330 votes).
Measure G is expected to raise $9.5 million annually to pay for a new public safety building and other city priorities. The measure increases the transfer tax on all residential and commercial properties that sell for over $6 million.
Measure AA – Mountain View Whisman parcel tax
The Mountain View Whisman School District’s parcel tax measure also passed by a substantial margin, with 75.28% support (19,275 votes). It required two-thirds to pass.
Measure AA will levy an annual tax of 15 cents per square foot of building area on parcels within the school district’s boundaries, capped at $1,750 per parcel. It replaces an existing parcel tax, which charges a flat $191 per parcel.
The new tax will last for eight years and is expected to raise about $5.4 million annually.
Measure EE – Los Altos School District bond
The Los Altos School District’s $350 million bond measure narrowly passed with 56.21% support (13,032 votes), just over the required 55% mark.
The district has said it plans to use the money raised to pay for a combination of upgrading existing campuses and building on a plot of land intended for a new school site. While the district has said a majority of the fund would go towards its current schools, it hasn’t specified the split.
Measure EE authorizes taxing properties within the school district at an estimated average annual rate of $30 per $100,000 of assessed value.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Lisa Matichak was a continuing member of the Mountain View City Council. Matichak’s term expires after this year, whereas Ellen Kamei’s term continues through 2026. The Voice regrets the error.
