Tân Thị Trưởng San Jose : Sam Liccardo

Một năm tình lận đận

Hai đứa cùng xanh xao 

Một năm tình lận đận

Hai đứa cùng hư hao

( Nhái thơ Nguyễn Tất Nhiên )

Sam sụt cân 20 pounds

Dave Cortese với những đêm khó ngủ

Chiều thứ hai 10-11-2014, sau khi biết kết quả kiểm các phiếu tạm thời khoảng 7,000 phiếu  ( provisional ballots )   từ văn phòng bầu cử quận hạt Santa Clara , ứng cử viên Dave Cortese  đã gọi điện thoại chúc mừng Tân thị trưởng Sam Liccardo và chấp nhận thua cuộc.

Cuộc chiến đã đến lúc phải kêt thúc sau bao nhiêu tranh cãi, ồn ào, lăng mạ, phỉ báng , vu cáo chỉ xảy ra  giữa những nhóm phe phái ủng hộ trong cộng đồng người Việt tại San Jose .

Đay là cuộc  chiến " tồi tệ- dirty campaign " tốn kém nhất   trong lịch sử tranh cử chức vụ Thị Trưởng tại San Jose kể từ năm 1966 là năm  bắt đầu có cuộc tranh cử bằng hình thức cử tri  bầu trực tiếp người đại diện cho mình , vì hai bên đã chi ra trên 1 triệu mỹ kim.

Trả lời cuộc phỏng vấn của ký giả báo The Fly được đăng trên  Website San Jose Inside , ƯCV Dave Cortese đã phải than rằng " đêm nay tôi khó ngủ " và sau đó chắc rằng ô. Dave Cortese phải mất ngủ dài dài sau những ngày chờ đọ, theo dõi kiểm phiếu từ ngày thứ tư 5-11/2014 đến ngày thứ hai 10-11/2014. Và cho đến chiếu ngày  hôm nay, ông đã cảm thấy nhẹ nhõm sau khi tuyên bố chấp nhận thất cử "The mood in the downtown Marriott ballroom was festive as well, until the Santa Clara County registrar of Voters ran an hour later on the crucial 10 o’clock return. Cortese admitted, “It’s probably going to be hard to sleep,” but that he’d be staying up as late as 4am—the time county ROV Shannon Bushey told Fly would be the best time to get clear results."

ƯCV Sam Liccardo cũng vậy, khi trả lời buối phỏng vấn của ông Nguyễn Xuân Nam trên đài truyền hình Calitoday sáng ngày thứ tư 5-11-2014, ông đã cho biêt ông sụt cân  hơn 20 pounds sau những tháng ngày vận động tranh cử

 Cũng theo bài báo của ký giả Mike Rosenberg thì ƯCV Dave Cortese không có ý định yêu cầu đếm phiếu lại

Cortese hasn't shown any indication that he would ask for a recount, which would be very uncommon with a 2 percentage-point gap in the results.

Kết quả kiểm phiếu lúc 5:00pm, thứ hai 10-11/2014 :

Sam Liccardo   : 88,759 tức 51%

Dave cortese   : 85,280 tức 49%

Tổng số :           174,039 

Sam dẫn Dave : 3,479

Số phiếu đềm thêm  được : 1,807 

By Mike Rosenberg

mrosenberg@mercurynews.com

Posted:   11/10/2014 05:10:42 PM PST0 Comments | Updated:   13 min. ago

Latest elections news

SAN JOSE -- 

ll be the next mayor of San Jose, as the city councilman emerged victorious following a year of campaigning, two close elections and, now, a week of ballot-counting.

County Supervisor Dave Cortese called Liccardo to concede the race late Monday, as it became clear a last-second comeback would be just about mathematically impossible. Heading into Tuesday, with only a few thousand ballots remaining, Liccardo was leading by about 3,500 votes and had 51 percent of the tally -- an advantage he has held since the first results were released on Election Night.

Sam Liccardo at his campaign headquarters in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014. (Gary Reyes)

Liccardo, 44, will take office Jan. 1 and replace termed-out Mayor Chuck Reed, who had held the post since 2007. Liccardo will be joined by several new council members and figures to have the votes on his side to champion a frugal approach toward slowly restoring services following nearly a decade of mostly budget cuts under Reed.

"With Mayor Reed having led us through very stormy seas, this is a great opportunity for a new mayor to come in and really take San Jose to the next level, and I'm excited about that opportunity," Liccardo said.

Liccardo praised Cortese for being a "very formidable opponent" who "ran a very strong and spirited campaign."

On the biggest issue in the campaign, Liccardo had vowed to continue fighting for voter-approved pension reforms and use the savings to hire more police officers, though the city has seen its short-staffed police force shrink dramatically in part because the retirement cuts have angered officers. Cortese had vowed to undo parts of the pension reform to appease cops and open the floodgates for hiring officers more quickly using revenues from the recent economic boom, but there were serious questions over whether the city could afford it.

Cortese had gained the most votes in a June primary that featured five major candidates, and had a slight lead in polls last month. But Liccardo was apparently able to consolidate support from backers of the three pension-reform candidates that were eliminated in the primary while winning over enough of the huge chunk of voters that were recently undecided.

Political experts say the historically low turnout also benefited Liccardo. With about 43 percent of San Jose's registered voters casting ballots -- roughly 10 percentage points lower than in the last open mayoral contest, in 2006 -- analysts say those who did participate were likely to be more conservative. Although both candidates in the non-partisan race are Democrats, Liccardo was seen as more of a moderate and was endorsed by Republicans.

San Jose mayoral candidate Dave Cortese, current Santa Clara County Supervisor, speaks to San Jose police officer Brian Meeker outside of the San Jose Police Department in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) (Nhat V. Meyer)

And some voters interviewed at the polls said they were turned off by the scare tactics used by Cortese's supporters, mainly the police union, which sent mail advertisements and gave media interviews depicting criminals running wild under a Mayor Liccardo.

Cortese hasn't shown any indication that he would ask for a recount, which would be very uncommon with a 2 percentage-point gap in the results.

Heading into Tuesday, there were roughly 5,000 estimated provisional votes left to be counted in the mayor's race, although that number will shrink as some ballots get disqualified. Cortese was tailing by about 3,479 votes.

County elections officials expect to post new results daily and be finished by Friday evening. County Registrar Shannon Bushey said the proposed outside independent review of the election, launched after concerns over the registrar's head of IT quitting just before Election Day, would not affect the ballot counting.

Although the contest was bruising at times, Liccardo says there are no hard feelings. He says the two candidates worked well together on the City Council last decade and he has no doubt they'll do the same while Cortese serves two more years on the Board of Supervisors.

But Liccardo added: "I'm certainly happy that the campaign is behind us."

Contact Mike Rosenberg at 408-920-5705. Follow him at Twitter.com/Ro