Mountain View, Menlo Park, and Peninsula Cities Tally 2026 Elections

MOUNTAIN VIEW, MENLO PARK & PORTOLA VALLEY, Calif. — Voters across the Midpeninsula and northern Santa Clara County reshaped city councils, approved hotel and charter tax updates, instituted healthcare board term limits, and weighed contested school and water district races in preliminary 2026 midterm election returns released Tuesday night, November 3.

Mountain View City Council, Measures E and F, El Camino Measure S & Valley Water Area 7

In Mountain View, where all 3 incumbents (Alison Hicks, Ellen Kamei, and Lucas Ramirez) were termed out—giving the city its first new councilmembers in 8 years (3 election cycles) to join Emily Ann Ramos, Chris Clark, John McAlister, and Pat Showalter amid debates over Senate Bill 79 (SB 79) transit housing and a February oversized-vehicle settlement expiration ahead of Dec. 11 state certification—Mountain View Voice reported that Parks and Recreation Commissioner IdaRose Sylvester led the 8-candidate race at 8:48 p.m. with 18.99% (4,528 votes), followed by Los Altos High School teacher Silja Paymer with 15.66% (3,732 votes), Rental Housing Committee member Robert Cox with 15.41% (3,674 votes), Human Relations Committee member Erik Poicon with 14.55% (3,468 votes, backed by nearly $20,000 from the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council), Environmental Planning Commissioner Paul Donahue with 13.03% (3,107 votes, with the National Association of Realtors spending nearly $80,000 and the California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses PAC spending roughly $17,300 each on Cox and Donahue), Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee member James Kuszmaul with 11.07% (2,638 votes), Alex Amoroso with 7.83% (1,867 votes), and Sam Ali with 3.46% (825 votes).

Mountain View and regional voters also backed three governance measures and a water board challenger:

• Measure F Hotel Tax (79.55% Yes — 7,898 Votes): As reported by Mountain View Voice at 9:22 p.m., voters authorized raising the city’s transient occupancy tax (last raised from 8% to 10% in 1991, exempting stays over 30 days) from 10% to as high as 15%, generating an additional $5.2 million annually for the general fund.
• Measure E Charter Update (71.53% Yes — 6,981 Votes): As reported by Mountain View Voice, voters approved technical updates to the charter (last updated in 2016), extending the council vacancy timeline from 30 to 60 days ahead of broader 2028 proposals (with $12,500 raised for Measures E and F).
• El Camino Healthcare District Measure S (91.87% Yes — 25,929 Votes): As reported by Mountain View Voice at 8:45 p.m., voters approved a lifetime limit of 4 (four) full 4-year terms (16 years total) for El Camino Hospital district directors (supported by board member Julia Miller) for terms starting after December 1, 2026 (Dec. 1, 2026).
• Santa Clara Valley Water District Area 7: As reported by Mountain View Voice at 9:22 p.m., Los Altos Councilmember and 2022/2025 Water Commission chair Pete Dailey led incumbent Rebecca Eisenberg (who faced a February 2024 investigation into 25 complaints with 9 substantiated and a board censure and lawsuit over a 2,000-page report) by 57.56% (22,258 votes) to 42.43% (16,407 votes) in Area 7 (alongside Areas 1, 4, and 6 on the 7-territory board).

Menlo Park Council Districts 1, 2 & 4, Downtown Parking Measure P, Portola Valley & Woodside

In Menlo Park (where winners across the 5 districts will be sworn in December 8 [Dec. 8] as vote-by-mail ballots received after Nov. 1 are counted from Nov. 5 through Nov. 10):

• District 1: As reported by The Almanac at 8:10 p.m. (380 votes counted out of 3,297 registered voters, with 177 vote-center ballots outstanding at 3:40 p.m.), Finance and Audit Commissioner Wonman Lee led James Rohr (endorsed by outgoing Councilmember Cecilia Taylor) by 75.5% (287 votes) to 24.5% (93 votes).
• District 2: As reported by The Almanac, 8-year incumbent Drew Combs, 49 (elected in 2018 over Kirsten Keith), led Vamsi Velagapudi, 47, by 15 votes—50.7% to 49.3%—amid debate over affordable housing on 3 of 8 downtown parking lots and the 80 Willow Road (Sunset Magazine) proposal.
• District 4: As reported by The Almanac (1,186 votes counted out of 4,505 registered voters, with 196 vote-center ballots outstanding at 5:40 p.m.), Laura Melahn (who proposed subsidizing housing at the SRI International and U.S. Geological Survey sites) led Charlotte Reed (who backed the downtown parking-lot plan opposed by 150+ businesses) by 63.49% (753 votes) to 36.51% to succeed Mayor Betsy Nash.
• Measure P (Downtown Parking Lots): As reported by The Almanac at 9 p.m., Save Downtown Menlo’s Measure P (backed by Alex Beltramo and opposed by Karen Grove) requiring voter approval to repurpose 8 downtown parking lots trailed 52% "No" (2,886 votes; 52.1%) to 48% "Yes" (2,668 votes; 47.9%), a margin of 232 votes (following past development initiative losses on 2022’s Measure V at 38.17% and 2014’s Measure M at 38.70% since 1995, and 2010’s Measure L pension win at 71.33%).

In Portola Valley, The Almanac and The Almanac reported that Mayor Craig Taylor and Councilmembers Mary Hufty and Judith Hasko (elected in 2022, working with Town Manager Darcy Smith) won uncontested 4-year terms while Measure N—making Portola Valley a charter town and enacting a $10-per-$1,000 real property transfer tax to address a $700,000 annual deficit—led with 64% of the vote at 8:10 p.m. In Woodside, The Almanac reported that Planning Commissioner Lyle Weaver (District 2, succeeding 8-year councilmember and Mayor Brian Dombkowski on the 5-district council) and Circulation Committee member Dan Druker (District 3, succeeding Dick Brown, prioritizing speed cameras on Highways 35 and 84 and building on a $2.5 million Woodside Road beautification gift after a 14-page report by former manager Jason Ledbetter) won unopposed 4-year terms in an election held by Interim Town Manager Pam Antil (following Chris Shaw’s 2015 write-in win).

Midpeninsula & Mountain View School Board Returns (MVWSD, MVLA, LASD, MPCSD & Sequoia)

Across 5 Peninsula school districts:

• Mountain View Whisman School District (2 Seats): As reported by Mountain View Voice at 9:22 p.m., incumbents Devon Conley (elected 2018) with 35.06% (4,577 votes) and Bill Lambert (board member 2012–2016 and 2022) with 28.82% (3,763 votes) led Sundar Subbarayan by 8 percentage points (20.74%, 2,708 votes) and Quintin Riis (15.36%, 2,005 votes) to join Ana Reed, Lisa Henry, and Charles DiFazio on the 5-member board as it weighs $8 million in budget cuts by January on top of $7.4 million earlier this year.
• Mountain View Los Altos High School District Area 3: As reported by Mountain View Voice at 8:48 p.m., incumbent Thida Cornes led with 56.69% (1,365 votes) over former trustee Sanjay Dave (2016–2024, 23.01%, 554 votes) and incumbent Catherine Vonnegut (elected 2018, 20.31%, 489 votes), joining unopposed Nir Paz (Area 1), Ellen Kamei (Area 2), Vadim Katz, and Alex Levich.
• Los Altos School District (3 Seats): As reported by Mountain View Voice at 11:21 p.m., 10-year incumbent Bryan Johnson (28.53%, 5,872 votes) and Vaishali "Shali" Sirkay (elected 2018, 25.94%, 5,340 votes) led while appointed trustee Brandon Stroy (22.77%, 4,687 votes, appointed in March for Vladimir Ivanovic) led newcomer David Poll (22.74%, 4,680 votes) by 7 (seven) votes to join Jim Malone and Stella Kam on the 5-member board overseeing the San Antonio campus and Bullis Charter School talks.
• Menlo Park City School District (3 Seats): As reported by The Almanac at 11 p.m., newcomer Maya Herstein (29.8%, 3,244 votes) and incumbents Sherwin Chen (20-year resident elected in 2018 seeking a 3rd term, 27.1%, 2,942 votes) and Jed Scolnick (24.9%, 2,709 votes) led Measure U bond oversight chair Andrew Barnes (18.2%, 1,977 votes).
• Sequoia Union High School District Areas A and D: As reported by The Almanac, Area A incumbent Amy Koo (elected 2022) led Alon Shiran 66.2% (4,902 votes) to 33.8% (2,506 votes), while in Area D Michael Dekshenieks (restoring 9th-grade honors courses) received 90.3% (4,994 votes) to 9.7% (536 votes) for Sathvik Nori, who withdrew and endorsed Dekshenieks in August.