Manh Nguyen is expected to be confirmed as the winner of the San Jose City Council’s District 4 election. With 95 percent of the ballots counted, the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters’ latest tally shows Nguyen with 56.20 percent, compared to Tim Orozco’s 43.80 percent. Another update will be given at 5 p.m. Thursday, with the last of the votes to be counted on Friday.
"Votes are still being counted, but I'm humbled to report that the people of District 4 have chosen me to be their next city council member," said Nguyen, a journalist and Vietnamese-language media owner. "I'm proud to have run a campaign focused on personal interactions and funded predominantly by donations from San Jose residents."
Nguyen and Orozco, an Assembly legislative aide, were competing for the seat currently occupied by interim Council Member Margie Matthews. She was appointed to fill the seat after Kansen Chu was elected to the state Assembly.
Nguyen’s win will be a victory for Mayor Sam Liccardo, who had strongly endorsed the pro-business candidate over his labor-backed opponent Orozco. Nguyen, who was also endorsed by the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, shares Liccardo’s sentiments on Measure B, a city pension reform measure that sparked legal challenges from employee unions.
"I'm not surprised," said Larry Gerston, political science professor emeritus at San Jose State University, of Tuesday’s outcome. "When you look at how the votes were spread out in the primary, Nguyen had many more candidates close to him while Orozco looked fairly isolated. It is a solid win for him and for Liccardo and should give the mayor breathing room as he attempts to negotiate the Measure B residue."
Read more about the election results here.
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