If you first don’t succeed, try again. After losing the race for San Leandro’s District 2 council seat four years ago, Bryan Azevedo’s rematch with Councilmember Ed Hernandez had a different result.

Azevedo received 53.58 percent of the vote, as of Tuesday night, good for an eight-point advantage over Hernandez.

Just 38 percent of the ballots countywide have been counted, but Hernandez conceded the election to Azevedo on Wednesday morning, he said on social media.

Early Wednesday morning, Azevedo declared victory. “I am humbled to be your choice for the next San Leandro District 2 councilmember,” he wrote on Facebook. “Thank you for putting your trust in me to be your voice.”

Azevedo’s victory represents the second straight San Leandro election in which an incumbent councilmember had succumbed to a challenger backed by anti-housing developer sentiment.

Councilmember Victor Aguilar beat the then-incumbent Lee Thomas in 2018 with the same script. In fact, the controversial 1388 Bancroft Apartments housing project was the same issue in both cases.

In the open District 4 council seat being vacated by termed out Councilmember Benny Lee, Oro Loma Sanitary District Board Director Fred Simon posted a dominating victory over Chris Bammer.

Simon received 70 percent of the vote to Bammer’s 29 percent, as of Tuesday night.

In a quirky twist, Simon and Lee will basically trade seats. Lee won one of two seats on Oro Loma Sanitary District board on Tuesday night.

District 6 Councilmember Pete Ballew also won re-election in an uncontested race. In another oddity. Ballew has never faced a challenger in his two campaigns for the seat. He also ran unopposed for the open seat four years ago.

San Leandro’s Measure VV, the Real Property Transfer Tax increase, is within reach of likely passage, as of Tuesday night. With a simple majority needed for passage, Measure VV has 53.98 percent support.

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