The 2014 San Jose mayoral election was held on June 3, 2014 to elect the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of San Jose,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Councilmember A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Sam Liccardo Samuel Theodore Liccardo (born April 16, 1970) is an American attorney and politician from California and mayor of San José, California, a position he has held since January 1, 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Liccardo was elected mayor ...

defeated

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...

Supervisor A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position that is primarily based on authority over workers or ...

Dave Cortese David Dominic Cortese (born June 3, 1956) is an elected official from San Jose, California. He is currently serving in the California State Senate, representing District 15, which encompasses a majority of Santa Clara County. Before being elected ...

in a runoff on November 4, 2014.

Incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

Democratic Mayor

Chuck Reed Charles Rufus Reed (born August 15, 1948) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 64th Mayor of San Jose, California from 2007 to 2014. Biography Early life Reed was born in Garden City, Kansas. Reed attended Garden City High ...

was

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

ed and could not run for re-election to a third consecutive term in office. The election is nonpartisan per California state law, although most of the candidates chose to state a political party affiliation. A primary election was held on June 3, 2014. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a runoff election was held between the top two vote-getters,

and

, on November 4, 2014. Liccardo was elected mayor with a majority of the vote. Municipal elections in California are officially non-partisan.

Candidates

Declared

* Michael Alvarado * Bill Chew, perennial candidate *

, former

San Jose City Council The San Jose City Council, officially San José City Council, is the legislature of the government of the City of San Jose, California. As the Mayor of San Jose, Sam Liccardo casts the 11th vote on matters before the council and acts as chair ...

man and candidate for Mayor in 2006 * Timothy Harrison * Rose Herrera, San Jose City Councilwoman *

, San Jose City Councilman *

Madison Nguyen Madison Nguyen is an American politician from California. She served on the San Jose City Council from 2005 to 2014, representing District 7, and she additionally served as Vice-Mayor from 2011 to 2014. She was the first Vietnamese-American ele ...

, San Jose City Councilwoman and Vice Mayor of San Jose *

Pierluigi Oliverio Pierluigi Oliverio (born 1969) was the 6th district Councilmember on the San Jose City Council. He was sworn in on March 20, 2007, and left office in 2016. Background Pierluigi grew up in San Jose attending K-12 public schools, and obtained his ...

, San Jose City Councilman * Mark Pham * Tyrone Wade

Withdrew

Pete Constant Pete Constant (born October 22, 1963) is an American politician from California, formerly a councilmember for District 1 of the San Jose, California city council. Constant is a former San Jose police officer (1989–2000) and has owned several p ...

, San Jose City Councilman * Andrew Abe Diaz, perennial candidate * Louis Garza * Susan Marsland (running for San Jose City Council) * Larry Rouse * David Wall, candidate for Santa Clara County Supervisor in 2013 and for San Jose City Council in 1998 * David Warner, candidate for San Jose City Council in 2004

Declined

* Pat Waite, businessman and candidate for

in 2008 * Forrest Williams, former San Jose City Councilman and candidate for Santa Clara County Supervisor in 2010

Primary election

The primary election saw a total of ten candidates on the ballot, including Dave Cortese, a Santa Clara County Supervisor and former San Jose City Councilmember, as well as four sitting San Jose City Councilmembers: Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen, Sam Liccardo, Pierluigi Oliverio, and Rose Herrera. The political climate of the race was influenced by an ongoing dispute between representatives of the City's labor force and Mayor Chuck Reed, stemming from a 2012 ballot initiative championed by Reed to restructure San Jose City employee pensions. Dave Cortese received the full endorsement and support of the politically powerful

South Bay Labor Council The South Bay Labor Council, AFL–CIO (SBLC), is the labor council of Santa Clara and San Benito counties in California's Bay Area. The SBLC is affiliated with the AFL–CIO, one of the national labor confederations of the United States. The ...

, while the four sitting Councilmembers, having supported Mayor Reed's pension reform initiative, were described as "Reed loyalists." This ideological polarization was present not just in San Jose's mayoral election, but in a number of City Council races as well. As part of his campaign, Councilmember Liccardo authored a book in which he assessed the issues facing San Jose and offered his own vision for the City. On May 2, the Editorial Board of the San Jose Mercury News endorsed Liccardo for Mayor, citing the book as well as his record on the Council.

Polling

Results

Runoff election

Polling

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:San Jose mayoral election, 2014 2014 California elections 2014 United States mayoral elections June 2014 events in the United States

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...