Update: On Monday, November 25, the County initiated a manual recount for the Cupertino City Council race in accordance with its automatic recount policy triggered when less than .25 percent of the vote separates two candidates for an elected position. The final certified count showed Ray Wang has won the second open seat with 7,643 votes and Rod Sinks placed third with 7,579 votes.
Nine days post-election day, the City of Cupertino’s latest election results show incumbent Council Member Kitty Moore and former Planning Commissioner Ray Wang likely have secured the votes to assume the two open Council seats in one of the tightest races in a generation.
As of 5:25pm Thursday, the Santa Clara County Registrar’s office has reported 40,329 votes counted in Cupertino’s City Council race. 740,920 ballots have been counted so far in Santa Clara County, representing 70.7 percent of total registered voters, with an estimated 21,000 unprocessed ballots remaining to be counted County-wide.
Seven candidates are vying for two seats of a five-seat Council in the hotly-contested Cupertino race with the Council majority at stake.
Moore handily secured one of the two seats from the outset, currently with 10,131 votes or 25.1%. Ray Wang and Rod Sinks have been neck and neck over the past nine days in the second and third position, trading the lead with at times fewer than two dozen votes between them, with current Council Member Hung Wei in fourth place. As of this evening, Wang has pulled ahead with 7,492 votes or 18.58 percent compared to Sinks at 7,442 votes or 18.45 percent.
Moore and Wang, who campaigned together this election, would join Better Cupertino founder and current Council Member Liang Chao in an anti-development majority that has curtailed development across the City over the past several cycles. Sinks would join progressive Cupertino For All founder JR Fruen on the other side, in a 2-2 split with the more moderate Mayor Sheila Mohan an important swing vote on many issues. However, in a contest this tight, neither side could claim a clear mandate.
With 21,000 votes County-wide still left to be counted, the race is still too close to call. However, Wang’s current 50-vote lead is far larger than previous daily spreads, and puts Wang safely outside of the County’s automatic recall protocols, which go into effect when less than 25 votes separate two candidates.
This story will be updated as further results become available.