Sunnyvale mayor wins second term among 2 new councilmembers

Sunnyvale voters are on track to reelect Mayor Larry Klein and fill two open City Council seats with women of color.

As of 4:48 p.m. on Thursday, Klein is leading with 72.8% of the vote. Councilmember Russ Melton is trailing with 27.2% of the vote. Melton is terming out of his District 4 council seat, and Charlsie Chang ran unopposed to replace him.

The county's voter turnout is about 49.5% and more than 519,000 ballots have been cast. As of Thursday there are 284,000 ballots left to be counted. The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, which counts votes for ballots county-wide, does not have a breakdown of votes by city yet.

Klein, 57, has served as mayor since 2018 and was the city's first mayor elected by voters in 2020. He said networking is a key component of being mayor, as building relationships with other leaders can help bring new ideas or programs to Sunnyvale. He also centered his work toward starting a citywide shuttle service and increasing affordable housing in Sunnyvale.

He said his overwhelming lead means voters support his leadership in City Hall.

"For me, it's being ready now to just get back to work and do the job of mayor for another four years," Klein told San Jose Spotlight.

District 2

Councilmember Alysa Cisneros is heading for a reelection, having secured 68.1% of the vote. Challenger Jim Davis has received 31.9% of the vote.

Cisneros, 37, was first elected to the council in 2020 and has been pushing for Sunnyvale to expand and better measure its services for homeless residents. She previously said voters could look at her track record over her past council term to see what to expect in the future.

Davis, 72, served on the city council from 2012 to 2016, and said he was encouraged to run after hearing complaints from residents that his opponent has been difficult to reach.

The district is in western Sunnyvale, bordered by the Caltrain tracks in the north and El Camino Real in the south. It encompasses Murphy Avenue, the city's downtown and Washington Park.

District 6

Councilmember Omar Din did not file for reelection, leaving an open race for his seat in District 6. Sunnyvale School District Trustee Eileen Le is leading with 54% of the vote.

She is tailed by finance analyst Richard Lesher with 30.6% of the vote and software engineer Beverly Blau by 15.3% of the vote. Le, 37, said she wanted to bring greater equity to the city council. She also wants to be strategic with how resources are added to North Sunnyvale, especially with the city's plans to add about 20,000 more homes to Moffett Park.

She said she feels good about the first rounds of results.

"I'm honored that people so far, who voted for me, have put their faith in me. It's my turn to put my faith in them to see how it shakes out," Le told San Jose Spotlight.

Lesher, 52, wanted to bring his experience managing finances to the council. He wanted to focus on the city's plans to develop Moffett Park and speed it up to increase housing and other amenities in North Sunnyvale.

Measure E and F

Sunnyvale voters also decided on two measures -- one to fund a new public library and another that would have made adjustments to the city charter. Neither look to be passing as of Wednesday.

Measure E, a $290 million general obligation bond to rebuild and renovate the Sunnyvale Public Library, has 58.4% approval and needs 66.6% to pass.

Measure F has 37% approval and needs more than 50% to pass. It would have changed the charter's language to be gender neutral, adjusted the way city council meetings are scheduled and allowed non-citizen Sunnyvale residents to sit on city boards and commissions.

Klein said the city council will have to return to both of these topics, especially to look for other ways to finance rebuilding the library.

Regarding the charter amendments, Klein said they are probably failing due to a lack of community outreach on the issues.

"I thought these were three relatively minor changes when it really came down to it and I think that there wasn't an active campaign to educate residents," Klein told San Jose Spotlight.

This story was originally published by San Jose Spotlight.

Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at sakura@sanjosespotlight.com or @SakuCannestra on X, formerly known as Twitter.