Hayward Mayor Barbara Halliday is a winner again. She continued a personal electoral winning streak Tuesday night spanning more than a decade, by registering a resounding re-election victory over Councilmember Mark Salinas.
Halliday’s second term as mayor will include Councilmember Sara Lamnin, who also won re-election Tuesday night, along with a new colleague–Aisha Wahab, the winner of the second at-large seat. Wahab’s success at the polls denied a third term for Councilmember Marvin Peixoto.
Change is also coming to the Hayward school board, as two incumbents were voted out of office. Meanwhile, Hayward voters were also in a giving mood, approving two tax-generating ballot measures.
The result in the mayor’s race represents a second consecutive setback for Salinas, who also lost the 2014 contest to Halliday. The outcome this time around was never in doubt.
Halliday received 56 percent of the vote to Salinas’ 43 percent with 100 precincts reporting, although ballots remain to be counted, through Wednesday afternoon.
Four years ago, in a four-way race, Halliday captured 38 percent of the vote to Salinas’ 32 percent. She has won every race since first being elected to the City Council in 2004.
On the council side, Lamnin and newcomer Wahab each received roughly one-quarter of the vote. Exactly who finishes as the top vote-getter may not be immediately known. As of Wednesday afternoon, Lamnin won 6,612 votes (25.48 percent). Wahab, 6,532 (25.18 percent).
Wahab’s arrival on the council marks two notable facts: She is believed to be the first Afghan American elected public official in the Bay Area. In addition, her election gives the Hayward City Council a female-majority.
Peixoto, whose tenure on the council started in 2010, was the odd-person out Tuesday. His almost perennially underfunded campaign effort turned out to be the victim of Wahab’s splashy entrance on the fundraising front.
Wahab’s $42,000 campaign finance report last July significantly raised her profile and proved her upstart campaign was viable. The campaign cash and superior voter outreach strategy appeared to be the difference at the polls. Peixoto received 19 percent of the vote Tuesday night.
The rest of the field posted respectable numbers for also-rans. Tom Ferreira won 10 percent of the vote, followed by Joe Ramos at 8.58 percent; Didacus Ramos at 6.86 percent; and Mekia Michelle Fields with 4.25 percent.
At the Hayward school board, voters dismissed incumbent trustees Lisa Brunner and William McGee. Instead, voters registered clear preferences for newcomer April Oquenda (24.95 percent) and retired Mt. Eden music teacher Ken Rawdon (22.57 percent) for the two open seats. Brunner finished a distant third with 17 percent, followed by McGee at 13.43 percent.
Measure T, the ballot initiative to raise the city’s Real Property Transfer Tax, escaped a well-funded opposition of real estate interests, to win passage. Voters approved the one-time-only tax increase with 58 percent of the vote. A simple majority was needed for passage.
Measure H, the school district’s $382 million construction bond measure, which needed 55 percent approval to pass, easily surpassed the threshold. Voter approved the measure with 70 percent support.
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