With just 63 more votes than his opponent, former Cupertino Planning Commissioner Ray Wang secured a spot on the City Council, ending a protracted contest – which included a recount – against Rod Sinks to fill the second open seat.
Wang finished with 7,641 votes, or 18.5% of the vote, while Sinks received 7,578 votes, or 18.4% of the vote. The numbers come from a Santa Clara County voter registration recount that ended Monday, the county confirmed. The final results shall be confirmed on Friday.
“We are super excited, it shows how important every vote is,” said Wang. “We do the hard work, we read the stuff. I'm really looking forward to working with (Moore). Our goal is to bring the community together.”
Sinks said he’s dissatisfied by the loss but looks forward to serving on other nonprofit boards and “contributing to the community in different ways.”
A recount is triggered when the margin between two candidates is lower than 0.25% of all votes forged, or lower than 25 votes. A candidate only must win by a straightforward majority once a recount is accomplished. The Cupertino candidates were previously separated by 65 votes, which meets the 0.25 percent requirement, in keeping with the voter registry.
Wang, together with incumbent Councilmember Kitty Moore, will lead town for the following 4 years. Moore won the primary seat with 10,344 votes, or 25.14% of the vote. Moore and Wang ran on a shared platform of promoting a “resident first” council by advocating for greater fiscal responsibility and responsible development in town. Moore describes himself as a “smart watchdog” on the subject of community issues and proposed recent urban developments.
Sinks led a campaign aimed toward expanding transportation services and environmentally friendly practices in town. He also advocated for transforming The Rise, the location of the previous Vallco Mall, right into a vibrant, business-friendly downtown for Cupertino. Sinks and Councilman Hung Wei supported one another closely through the race, which was complicated by Wei's stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis.
“We ran a very strong campaign,” Sinks said. “Unfortunately, we have two people competing against five people for the two seats.”
Sinks said he is worried about how the newly elected leaders will impact town's development plans for The Rise and downtown areas. Mayor Sheila Mohan, Deputy Mayor JR Fruen and Wei have spoken in favor of the event. But with the addition of Moore and Wang, who’ve been more critical of the City Council's approval of enormous projects, city leaders could also be heading down a less development-friendly path.
Aside from Sinks, Moore and Wang, 4 other candidates were within the running for the 2 open Cupertino City Council seats this election season, including incumbent Wei, former mayors Gilbert Wong and Barry Chang, and political newcomer Claudio Bono.
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