Dave Cortese Concedes To Sam Liccardo In San Jose's Mayoral Race
SAN JOSE (KCBS)— After a hard fought campaign and race, Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese confirmed that he called his opponent Monday evening to concede in his bid for Mayor of San Jose.
San Jose City Councilman Sam Liccardo became the mayor elect six days after polls closed on Election Day.
"Supervisor Cortese called me and was very gracious and indicated they'd be moving on. Obviously we have a lot of work to do," Liccardo told KCBS in an interview moments after the phone call took place.
Liccardo said safety and working with the police officer's union were at the top of his agenda. "Hiring [police] will be critical for the city and that will be my first order of business."
"I'm incredibly grateful for the hundreds of volunteers and community leaders and everyone who worked so hard to get me to this point," Liccardo said, calling Cortese a "formidable opponent".
The police officer's union had opposed Liccardo since he had backed a voter-approved pension-reform measure that required city workers to pay more into their pensions.
Liccardo said he'd work on mending fences with those that opposed him, especially the police union. He said he spoke with the current president and vice president of the union over the phone.
"They're undergoing a transition now in electing a new president and I expect that we'll sit down as soon as that election's final," Liccardo said.
Cortese said he had talked to Liccardo the day after the election, but that at that time there was still tens of thousands of votes to be counted.
"We wanted to make sure we let the process run its course. We were able to confirm today that as of last night all of the drop-off mail ballots had been counted, which was the last big batch of ballots," said Cortese.
He added that it was time to let his supporters know that it was time to congratulate his opponent and to work on bringing the City of San Jose together.
Cortese said he was looking forward to a more inclusive local government that what's been seen over the last few years.
"After talking with Councilmember Liccardo, I'm pretty confident that that's his goal as well," Cortese said.
Cortese plans to continue on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. He's currently the board's vice president and said he's likely to become the president in January.
