Showalter, Ramos, Clark and McAlister take the lead in Mountain View City Council race

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

In a sign that voters want to see familiar faces on the Mountain View City Council, early election results show that incumbents and former council members are in the lead to fill the four seats up for grabs this year.

Mayor Pat Showalter and City Council member Emily Ann Ramos have emerged as the frontrunners in the nine-candidate race, capturing 9,687 (16.5%) and 9,178 (15.6%) votes, respectively, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters as of an update at 4:48 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

There are tighter margins for former City Council members Chris Clark and John McAlister who have picked up 7,643 (13%) and 7,204 (12.2%) votes, respectively. Human Relations Commissioner IdaRose Sylvester is on their heels with 6,624 (10.6%) votes, coming in fifth place.

Mountain View Whisman School District trustee Devon Conley has picked up 5,686 (9.7%) votes while Human Relations Commissioner Erik Poicon has 5,263 (8.9%) votes. Trailing the pack are Nicholas Hargis, a congressional aide for U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, with 4,252 (7.2%) votes, and former Mountain View Whisman School District trustee José Gutiérrez with 3,710 (6.3%) votes.

Results will continue to come in this evening and the rest of the week. The county certifies the results no later than one month after the election on Dec. 5, followed by state certification on Dec. 13.

The candidates campaigned on issues that have been a top concern for voters, including housing affordability, climate resilience and how to revitalize the downtown area. Fiscal responsibility also ranked high as a priority for the candidates, with plenty of ideas about how to shore up more funding for the city amid a possible economic downturn.

The frontrunners were upbeat on election night, showing a lot of enthusiasm for tackling the challenges that lie ahead.

Prior to the first round of results at 8 p.m., Showalter said she was cautiously optimistic that the City Council election would be in her favor, but added that it was a great slate of candidates and Mountain View would be in good hands regardless of the outcome.

Showalter also identified several priority areas if reelected to the council. At top, she wants to add another big safe parking site in the city and expressed concern about the slowdown in housing construction. “We’ve been in a trough,” she said. The permit process also has been too slow, Showalter said, adding that the city hasn’t quite found the secret sauce to it yet.

Showalter also said she was looking forward to turning a new page in the relationship with the Mountain View Whisman School District. “I see a bright future,” she said.

City Council member Ramos expressed excitement with the early results.

“We knew many things were going well with the campaign,” she said, noting that they were working hard to raise money and knock on doors. “But we just didn’t know until the election results came in,” she said.

Chris Clark, who has previously served on the City Council for two terms, said he also was cautiously optimistic with the early results and that they looked promising. 

The four candidates who are elected to the dais will join City Council members Alison Hicks, Ellen Kamei and Lucas Ramirez. Council members Margaret Abe-Koga and Lisa Matichak are terming out of office after serving eight years on the council.

Most Popular

Mountain View council approves cheaper plan to close downtown train crossing to carsFebruary 12, 2026 10:00 am

Mountain View Whisman school board greenlights layoffs for at least 27 district employeesFebruary 13, 2026 11:30 am

Mountain View in ‘active negotiations’ to secure new pickleball facilityFebruary 13, 2026 8:00 am