San Mateo’s District 3 City Council seat is on the ballot Tuesday, Nov. 3, with incumbent Rob Newsom Jr. facing challenger Seema Patel in a two-candidate race.
Election results are pending. This article will be updated as election officials release vote totals.
It is one of three council districts up for election. Districts 1 and 5 are also choosing representatives, according to the city’s election page. Ballot drop boxes close at 8 p.m. Pacific time on Election Day, according to San Mateo County’s voting information. Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by county election offices by Nov. 10, according to the county’s election calendar.
The first batch of results is scheduled for release at 8:10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the San Mateo County elections office. That initial count will include vote-by-mail ballots received through Sunday, Nov. 1, and vote-by-mail ballots returned at vote centers and drop boxes through the same date. Additional updates will follow hourly starting at 9 p.m. until all vote center ballots are reported.
Results will initially be unofficial. The county schedules certification for Dec. 3.
The candidates
The city’s candidate page lists Newsom and Patel for District 3. Only voters in that district choose its representative.
Newsom is the incumbent. His campaign website says he grew up in San Mateo and has served on the council for four years. His stated priorities include pedestrian safety near schools, disaster preparedness, affordability and improvements to community infrastructure.
Patel, a former Google employee and former robotics company CEO, has served on the San Mateo Planning Commission since 2021, including stints as vice chair and chair, according to her campaign biography. She said in a Patch candidate questionnaire that street safety is a top priority, citing pedestrian deaths on city streets. She also listed housing affordability and what she described as an $18 million structural budget deficit as top concerns.
Patel said in the questionnaire she would establish a dedicated funding source for quick-build street safety projects, paid for by a share of the transportation impact fee collected from new development.
What else is on the ballot
All San Mateo voters will also decide two citywide measures, according to the city’s election page.
Measure H would raise the city’s transactions and use tax from 0.25% to 0.50%, adding 25 cents per $100 in taxable purchases. The increase is estimated to generate about $7 million in additional revenue a year for city services, according to the city attorney’s impartial analysis. It needs a simple majority to pass.
Measure F would update the city charter to formally recognize the district-based election system, extend the window to fill council vacancies from 30 to 60 days, change rules on councilmember absences and revise the council meeting schedule, among other changes. It also needs a simple majority, according to the city attorney’s impartial analysis.
How to track results
San Mateo County had 449,447 registered voters as of Oct. 19, according to the county elections office. As of 5 p.m. Nov. 1, the county reported receiving about 136,573 mail ballots and 4,769 vote center ballots. Those ballot figures are raw estimates subject to change, according to the county’s election information.
Residents can track results starting at 8:10 p.m. Tuesday at the county’s results portal. Post-election updates are scheduled before 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5; Friday, Nov. 6; Monday, Nov. 9; Friday, Nov. 13; and Monday, Nov. 16. The Thursday, Nov. 12, update is scheduled before 9:30 a.m. All times are Pacific.
