Karen Hardy leads Santa Clara mayoral race in early results

Initial results on election night are showing Councilmember Karen Hardy leading by a slim margin. As of 8:45 p.m. on Election Day, Hardy appears to be ahead with 23.8% of the vote, or 2,919 votes. In second place is Kathy Watanabe with 21.5% of the vote or 2,634 votes. David Kertes is in third has 18.6% of the vote. Kevin Park is in fourth has 16.9% of the vote. Armando Gary Ferarris is in fifth with just more than 12% of the vote and Mike Wiltberger is in sixth with 6.8% of the vote. I m encouraged, Hardy told San José Spotlight after the first results came in. I do know it s early, and it s a six-way race. As my husband put it, he said, If you win, you re mayor. If you lose, I get my wife back.' Hardy has served on the Santa Clara City Council since 2018 and was vice mayor in 2020. Before entering politics, she taught mathematics and computer science at Wilcox High School, where she helped launch the district’s computer science program and an after-school robotics program with