Update: Two incumbents and a newcomer win seats on Rancho Cordova City Council
With ballots still being counted in Sacramento County, the race for three seats on the Rancho Cordova City Council has two incumbents in the lead, along with a challenger hoping to offer a different perspective.
Mayor David Sander, so far, has garnered 21% of the vote and fellow Councilman Donald Terry had 19% in a race that featured six candidates. Siri Pulipati, a mother and an engineer, was in the third spot also with 19% of the vote in her first run for City Council.
After a Friday afternoon update, Terry and Pulipati were only separated by 150 votes. The top three candidates will be elected to the council.
Pulipati, the only woman candidate in this year’s race, said she would be the first Indian American member of the City Council. Rancho Cordova incorporated as a city in 2003.
“(The voters) saw a need for diverse representation on the city council,” Pulipati told The Sacramento Bee on Thursday. “I bring a new voice and a fresh perspective.”
County elections officials were still processing additional late-arriving mail-in ballots and provisional ballots. The county’s Registrar of Voters will certify results by Dec. 1.
Pulipati said she still has her “fingers crossed,” hoping she’s able to remain one of top three as more ballots are counted. Pulipati has been a longtime community volunteer since moving to Rancho Cordova 20 years ago, she said, promoting S.T.E.M, or science, technology, engineering, and math, education in schools.
She also has served on the city’s government regulations board and supported local nonprofit groups. She said she was motivated to run for city council after learning how much the city has to offer “that isn’t being trickled down to the residents.”
As of Friday, Pulipati maintained a narrow lead on incumbent Councilman Robert McGarvey, one of the first members of the council with a well-established legacy in Rancho Cordova. McGarvey has received 16% of the vote.
“I thought I could offer some stability the way this year has been going,” McGarvey told The Bee Thursday. “But (the voters) were looking for somebody new, at least that’s way it looks like now.”
McGarvey, who was one of the key figures who pushed for the city to be incorporated, has been heavily involved in civic leadership in Rancho Cordova since the late 1970s. They named a school after him in Rancho Cordova; McGarvey Elementary School was established in 2017.
Sander, who also was one of the first members on the City Council, said McGarvey has had a “remarkable impact on the community.” But Sander also said he has always been impressed by Pulipati’s work in the community.
The mayor, who is in his sixth campaign for the at-large City Council contest, said this year’s race was different as the threat of COVID-19 kept him from knocking on doors and speaking to many voters in person. But it allowed his campaign to make more connections with voters on social media, such as Facebook, Nextdoor and YouTube.
“It’s amazing — you can’t knock on that many doors,” Sander told The Bee.
He said the city’s successful efforts to cleanup areas of blight, while improving roads and code enforcement are what resonated with voters this year. In his candidate statement, Sander said his work as a virologist, a scientist who studies viruses, gives him a deep understanding of what should or should not be done to combat the coronavirus.
Terry, who is in his third campaign for city council, said Rancho Cordova’s efforts to increase affordable housing for veterans and free community college tuition for high school graduates and veterans led to his position in this year’s race.
Terry said this year provided a strong list of candidates, which made it competitive. If the election results hold up, this would be the first time an incumbent on this City Council has lost a re-election bid. Challengers Jack Zwald with 14% of the vote and Donald Childs with 8% trailed the other candidates.
Terry said he would look forward to working with Pulipati as a new council member.
“This was the very most active campaign in terms of challengers,” Terry told The Bee. “Everyone can bring a different perspective to the council, you just have to figure out how to work with people.”
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
