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Pleasanton Mayor Jack Balch holds an early lead in his bid for reelection, according to preliminary election night results from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.
Balch, who was first elected to the council at-large in 2020 before winning the mayor’s seat in 2024, had 69.62% (11,044) of the vote as of about 12:30 a.m. Nov. 4, outpacing his challenger, termed-out City Councilmember Julie Testa, who was at 30.38% (4,820 votes).
Voter turnout in the county was at about 31% as of early Wednesday morning, with 306,475 ballots cast. That number is expected to rise significantly as in-person votes and mail-in ballots are tallied in the coming days.
City Council District 1
Former City Councilmember Kathy Narum is poised to return to the dais following a three-year stint on the Zone 7 Water Agency Board of Directors, according to initial vote counts.
Narum, who previously served as an at-large representative on the council from 2013 to 2022, had 61.14% (1,723) of the vote early Wednesday morning, while challenger Vin Kruttiventi, a longtime business executive and former congressional candidate, had 38.86% (1,095). The winner will replace Jeff Nibert, who decided not to run for reelection.
City Council District 3
Former Pleasanton school board trustee Jamie Yee holds a considerable lead in the City Council District 3 race. Yee had 62.78% (2,550) of the vote as of 12:30 a.m. Nov. 4, while her opponent, Pleasanton resident, business advocate and first-time candidate Reena Gupta, was at 37.22% (1,512). The winner will replace Testa, who termed out this year.
Pleasanton Unified School District Area 5
Livermore High School teacher and Pleasanton resident Karen Fletcher has a considerable lead in the Pleasanton Unified School District Area 5 trustee race.
Early ballot counts showed Fletcher with 53.28% (1,606) of the vote. Thomas Choi, a parent of two district students, a licensed attorney and an electrical engineer, trailed with 36.93% (1,113) of the vote.
Pleasanton resident Brett Martinez, who has run a relatively limited campaign over the past few months, was in third place with 9.79% (295) of the vote.
The seat was left open after incumbent Justin Brown chose not to run for reelection.
Measure HH
Pleasanton voters appear to be backing Measure HH, which seeks to raise the city’s hotel tax rate from 8% to 12% by 2028. About 60.88% (10,057) of voters had voted in favor of the measure as of early Wednesday morning, with 39.12% (6,463) voting no.
The phased increase, which will see the tax rise to 10% starting next July, is expected to generate up to $2.8 million annually. The money would be used to fund general municipal services, including police and fire protection, park and street maintenance, recreation programs and other “general government uses,” according to the ballot measure.
Sunol Glen Unified School District board
Newcomers Karen Newcomb and René Turnbull are leading in the race for two open seats on the three-member Sunol Glen Unified School District board, which oversees the single-campus TK-8 district.
Turnbull has 35.08% (174) of the vote, while Newcomb has received 33.87% (168). Turnbull is a retired Diablo Valley College professor and former dean of STEM at Contra Costa College in San Pablo. Newcomb is a retired investment strategist who spent 34 years working at a Fortune 10 company; both political newcomers are longtime Sunol residents.
Restaurateur Jennifer Kavouniaris is in third place with 16.53% (82) of the vote, with Gagan Bassi, a Sunol resident who works in cybersecurity and physical security, at 14.52% (72).
The winners will replace Peter “Ted” Romo and Chris Bobertz, who both chose not to run for reelection.
Measure K
A $6.1 million general obligation bond for the Sunol Glen district hovered right under the threshold needed for approval as of 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Measure K’s approval was at 54.7%, with 163 yes votes; it needs a 55% majority to pass.
If passed, Measure K would be just the third bond measure in Sunol Glen School’s 100-year history. Funds would be used to help pay for additional infrastructure improvements identified during the construction and implementation of Measure J funds, a $10.9 million bond approved by voters in 2022.
East Bay Regional Park District Ward 5
East Bay Regional Park District Ward 5 Incumbent Olivia Sanwong has a sizeable lead over newcomer Bruce Henry. As of early Wednesday morning, Sanwong had 74.28% (48,727) of the vote compared to 25.72% (16,873) for Henry.
The seat is one of four up for election on the park district’s board of directors; Ward 5 represents Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, Fremont and Newark.
Assembly District 16
Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) has received 67.24% (26,823) of the early vote, putting her on track to defeat real estate appraiser Joe Rubay (R-Alamo) for the fourth time in six years.
According to the registrar of the voter’s office, Rubay has received 32.76% (13,067) of the vote.
The seat represents Pleasanton, Livermore, Danville, San Ramon, Alamo and Dublin, along with Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda, and Walnut Creek.
Assembly District 20
State Assembly District 20 representative Liz Ortega holds a significant lead over her opponent, Dublin resident and real estate appraiser Patricia Mugatook. Ortega had received 75.33% (62,092) of the vote as of 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, with Muga at 24.67% (20,334).
The seat represents residents in western portions of Pleasanton and Dublin as well as those living in Hayward, San Leandro, Union City and unincorporated Castro Valley, Ashland, Cherryland, Fairview and San Lorenzo.
Dublin mayor
Incumbent Sherry Hu leads by more than 2,500 votes in the three-person race for Dublin mayor. Hu currently has 58.72% (5,925) of the vote. City Councilmember Michael McCorriston is in second place with 33.96% (3,379) of the vote, and author Kiran Mohammad stands at 7.19% (724).
Dublin City Council
Principal scientist Richard Thornbury holds a lead of about 130 votes over second-place candidate Steve Lorey in the four-way race for Dublin City Council District 2, with none of the candidates surpassing the 1,000-vote threshold.
Thornbury had 36.94% (775) of the vote early Wednesday morning, followed by intelligence analyst Lorey at 30.73% (648), researcher Daniel Hor at 23% (485) and investor Tejpreet Singh at 9.34% (197).
In the race for the District 4 seat on the council, incumbent Kashef Qaadri leads business owner Shivraj Singh by about 300 votes. Qaadri sits at 56.39% (1,337) and Singh at 43.61% (1,034).
The winner of the race will represent east Dublin, generally bound on the west by Tassajara Road and on the south by Gleason Drive and Fallon Road.
Dublin Unified School District board
Energy compliance inspector Tanner Frye has a lead of about 150 votes over energy sustainability manager Shalini Bhandari in the two-person race for Dublin school board Area 3.
Preliminary tallies showed Frye had 54.52% (905) of the vote, with Bhandari at 45.48% (755). The winner will assume the seat representing south central Dublin for a two-year term into 2028 to succeed board member Carolina Martinez, who received a two-year provisional appointment but did not run for election this year.
Area 5 incumbent Dan Cherrier is on track to retain his seat. He was at 64% (1,241) of the vote while his challenger, community volunteer Seema Badar, was at 35.39% (672) at press time.
The winner will serve a four-year term representing central-eastern Dublin, bound generally by Tassajara and Fallon roads to the north and Central Parkway to the south.
Measure I
Measure I, a nine-year parcel tax increase and renewal for the Dublin Unified School District, is hovering just under the two-thirds approval threshold needed to pass.
As of about 12:30 a.m. Nov. 4, the ballot measure had received 64.44% support.
The proposed measure would raise the existing $96 parcel tax by 50%, to $144 per year beginning July 1, 2027. The tax would run through June 30, 2036, and the rate would be adjusted each year to account for inflation. The increase and renewal would generate about $2.9 million annually for the district.
Coverage of Livermore races can be found on the Livermore Vine website.
Congradulations Mayor Balch! An overwhelming victory.
Dear Pleasanton Weekly- If you want to have readers come to you as “The Local Source” for breaking news, a timely update on local elections is appreciated. This story was posted 12 hours ago. It’s now 10.30 am Wednesday, November 4, 2026.