Liccardo kicks off bid for re-election
Incumbent mayor wants a second term to focus on affordable housing, opportunities for youth and safer neighborhoods
Mayor Sam Liccardo announced Thursday morning that he will run for re- election in 2018, saying that while proud of progress during his term, “we got a lot of work to do.”
Liccardo acknowledged that his announcement was not likely to surprise anyone, and although he hasn’t heard of any challengers so far, “I’m usually the last to know.”
But he said he wants a second term to tackle issues such as the critical lack of affordable housing in San Jose, create more opportunities for youth and make neighborhoods safer.
The primary election is sched- uled for June of next year, with a possible run- off in November if no candidate receives a majority of the vote.
In 2014 the mayoral race was a close match between business- backed Liccardo and labor-backed rival, Santa Clara Supervisor Dave Cortese. It started with a field of 10 vying to replace
termed-out Chuck Reed and ended with Liccardo besting Cortese by 2,750 votes out of nearly 181,000 cast — about 1.5 percentage points.
Mid-term elections with an incumbent are not nearly as popular for opponents. In 2010, Reed trounced his challengers, mustering nearly 77 percent of the votes in a field of four.
Liccardo said he spent his first term “working to rebuild public safety, improve fiscal resiliency, confront poverty, expand opportunity and make City Hall as innovative as the San Jose community.”
A press release accompanying his announcement outlined accomplishments in 16 bullet points, including settling pension reform battles; creating thousands of jobs for at-risk youth through San Jose Works; co-leading the successful Measure B transportation tax campaign; bringing in tech employers, revitalizing downtown; reducing veteran and chronic homelessness and converting decaying motels into lowcost apartments; and leading the rebuilding of floodwracked neighborhoods.
Liccardo said that the “world has changed dramatically” since he announced his first run four years ago.
“Our nation now daily endures a spate of frenzied rhetoric emphasizing all that divides us, while public civility and trust in our national institutions continues to deteriorate,” he said in a statement. “But here in San Jose, I’ve seen something different. While the rest of our nation has become more deeply divided, in the last two years San Jose has come together to tackle our biggest challenges.”
While nobody else has officially announced a run, Steve Brown — an unsuccessful candidate for City Council District 2 in 2016 — is considering entering the race. Brown, who owns a security firm, said he was being encouraged by Republicans, landlords upset with rent control provisions, and especially by business owners upset by the mayor’s support of new taxes.
“In 2016, businesses saw one of the largest tax-increase hits to their pockets in a long time,” Brown said. “Having it happen without first implementing tried and true austerity measures makes it a hard sell, and that’s going to resonate with voters.”
Liccardo said the growth of businesses investing in downtown shows “an incredible resurgence of investment and interest in San Jose.” But he said he expects to see challengers come forward with issues.
“This is a democracy and I welcome it,” he said. “This is an opportunity for me to hear directly from people how we can improve and the work we have ahead of us.”