GILROYAfter three weeks of ballot counting in a tight race against incumbent Mayor Marie Blankley, Greg Bozzo has declared victory in his bid to lead Gilroy.
The declaration comes after an exceedingly narrow race where Blankley initially led by a tight margin — at one time by as little as 12 votes — before Bozzo pulled ahead to a steady, if narrow, lead. Wednesday morning counts put his lead at 210 votes, with an estimated 2500 left to count in all of Santa Clara County.
“When you look at the collective experiences of the people of Gilroy, we are capable of finally fixing our problems that have dogged us for years, and I believe in that now more than ever,” said Bozzo.
The Gilroy mayoral race pitted incumbent Blankley, who ran on her six years of experience as a city councilmember and mayor and her know-how as an accountant, against landscape contractor Bozzo. Bozzo leveled criticisms at the current city government, arguing for more collaboration between officials and the populace.
Bozzo holds that the results are proof that Gilroy residents want change. Of the four incumbents running in Gilroy this year — Blankley and three city councilmembers — only one councilmember, Zach Hilton, held on to his seat, according to current results.
“Gilroy has so much more potential than it’s living up to right now, and that’s why (Gilroy residents) are voting for change,” said Bozzo.
Bozzo said his first priority upon entering office would be to improve customer service in City Hall and “review and renew” the goals of Gilroy in collaboration with citizens and the city council. He said he will also prioritize solutions for housing, economic development, and bringing back a “reimagined” Garlic Festival. While the Garlic Festival is not run by the city of Gilroy, Bozzo has argued that the city can play a role in easing its return.
Blankley did not immediately respond to request for comment.
In a conversation early this month, however, Blankley pointed to negative ad campaigns to explain the tight margin. She won her 2018 city council election by thousands of votes, and won her mayoral seat in 2020 with over twice as many votes as her opponent.
This election cycle has seen a flurry of negative ads and mailers, many of which were sponsored by Building Tomorrow, a committee connected to developer Ten South, which is currently suing the city over a Builder’s Remedy project. According to the most recent filings, Building Tomorrow spent $51,750 in opposition to Blankley and $11,500 in support of Bozzo.
With over 99% of total votes in the county counted as of Wednesday morning, according to a Mercury News analysis, the election will not officially be certified until early next month. Following certification, the mayor and city council will be sworn in on December 9.
