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The race for Santa Clara Valley Water District’s District 7 seat is looking like a potential upset as newcomer Rebecca Eisenberg takes the lead against incumbent Gary Kremen in the Nov. 8 general election.
On Monday Nov. 14, Eisenberg held her lead of 54.6% to Kremen’s 45.5% with an estimated 79% of the total ballots cast having been counted, according to the Registrar of Voters.
The energetic Kremen, who has been on the board for 12 years, was seeking a third term. Eisenberg, a Palo Altan, challenged him for the seat.
Kremen at one point amassed a $272,814 war chest that was more than 10 times that of Eisenberg, funded largely by a $101,000 loan he made to his campaign and $162,440 that was rolled over from his campaign for county assessor, which was aborted earlier this year.
Eisenberg reduced Kremen’s lead from 10 times to four times her campaign funding, largely with funding from individual donors and her own loans to her campaign. Through Oct. 22, she raised more than 1 1/2 times the amount from individual donors — $41,889 to his $26,317, Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) filings show.
Both candidates focused their campaigns on promises of building a sustainable future for the water district, which has faced the need to rebuild an aging infrastructure, dwindling water supplies during the current drought and concerns about a growing population thirsting for more water amid climate change.
Eisenberg said that she thinks her position “looks good.”
“I also think that this reflects a growing understanding and appreciation by voters of how important climate change is, and how urgent it is for us to implement more sustainable measures.
“If my opponent wins, it shows how hard it is to beat an incumbent, and how important shorter term limits are,” she said.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Glad to see Kremen getting the boot.
Has Kremen conceded yet?