Early returns in Alameda's City Council race show product manager Thushan Amarasiriwardena out front with 27.1% of counted votes, followed by tech professional Tyler Savage at 17.6%, as six candidates compete for two at-large seats on the council. Amos White at 15.9%, Marcie Johnson at 15.5%, and Maria Bondonno at 15.3% were closely grouped, while Steve Slauson was further back at 8.7%.
The preliminary results, reported by SFGATE, show Amarasiriwardena and Savage leading the pack as the city works through its ballot count. Alameda's City Council is made up of the mayor and four councilmembers, all elected at large, and the two candidates who ultimately receive the most votes will claim the open seats. The county's own results portal listed an update timestamp of Tuesday night.
A Crowded Field Vying for Two Open Seats
All six candidates — Amarasiriwardena, Savage, White, Johnson, Bondonno, and Slauson — appeared on the ballot for the two open council seats, according to Local News Matters. Those seats came open after incumbents Tony Daysog and Tracy Jensen both ran to succeed outgoing Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft in the mayoral race instead of seeking reelection to the council. Daysog had already served two consecutive terms on the council and would have been termed out of his seat regardless of whether he entered the mayoral contest, the outlet reported.
The six-person field includes a notably varied set of résumés. Local News Matters describes the candidates as nonprofit founder White, social worker Johnson, product manager Amarasiriwardena, tech professional Savage, business owner Slauson, and attorney Bondonno. Bondonno told the Alameda Post that she has called Alameda home for more than 20 years, having bought her house in the city back in 2006.
Front-Runners' Backgrounds and Priorities
Amarasiriwardena has served as president of the Alameda Free Library Board and previously worked at Google and at the U.S. Digital Service, a federal agency within the Executive Office of the President, per the same outlet's reporting. His stated priorities include building more housing, making downtown more vibrant, and investing in infrastructure such as seawalls to address sea-level rise.
Savage, who has spent 15 years in technology work, mostly in business operations and strategy roles, according to his profile with the Alameda Post, has also spent four years on the board of the Alameda County Mosquito Abatement District, where he helped promote public health and environmental protection initiatives. He has said making the city's streets safer is critical, alongside improving levees, storm drains, and other infrastructure that protects against rising seas. A search-result snippet attributed to his campaign website also lists investing in local businesses and developing Alameda Point among his priorities.
The vote tallies reported so far represent counted ballots rather than a certified final count, and the evidence available does not establish how many ballots have been processed or whether additional results remain outstanding. No outlet in the available reporting has declared winners in the race. White, Johnson and Bondonno were within 0.6 percentage points of one another; Slauson was 6.6 points behind the next candidate, and the gap between second and sixth place was 8.9 percentage points.
