Darkhorse candidate Anthony Tordillos has taken a five vote-advantage over Matthew Quevedo for second place in the District 3 City Council race, adding slightly more breathing room in his quest to enter a June runoff with frontrunner Gabby Chavez-Lopez.
While Chavez-Lopez has cemented her place as the leading candidate, earning 29.9% of the vote, the margin between second and third place had remained between one and two votes over the past week – with both candidates switching spots in the pecking order multiple times – before Tordillos widened over Quevedo, 22.19% to 22.13%.
Although the race for second could still turn, it has become a virtual certainty that a runoff will occur on June 24 because no candidate cracked the 50% vote mark.
Tuesday’s ballot drop, one week after the election, marked the last day the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters would accept mail-in ballots, so long as they were postmarked by April 8.
The race to enter a runoff, however, is far from over, with the Registrar of Voters estimating there are 30 unprocessed ballots as of 4 p.m.
The slim margins between the candidates have also left open the possibility of a recount as county policy requires an automatic review for contests with a margin of victory less than .25% or where that margin is less than 25 total votes. The final results of the election will be certified by April 28.
Chavez-Lopez, Tordillos and Quevedo quickly became the frontrunners in the race that initially featured seven candidates to replace disgraced former City Councilmember Omar Torres, who resigned in November and pleaded no contest to sex abuse charges involving a minor last week.
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Rounding out the field were former City Council candidate Irene Smith, who earned 16% of the vote, followed by Adam Duran, Tyrone Wade and Phil Dolan.
While there remains some uncertainty around who she will face in the runoff, Chavez-Lopez told The Mercury News that it will not impact her campaign moving forward as she attempts to court voters who supported other candidates during the primary.
