Top image: A VTA light rail train at Downtown Mountain View station. Measure RTM’s Santa Clara County share goes mostly to VTA, with about a tenth to Caltrain. Photo: Pi.1415926535 / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Five days after the Nov. 3 election, the biggest local question has an answer: Measure RTM, the 14-year regional sales tax for transit, has passed. Many smaller ones do not yet. Santa Clara County’s registrar estimated 224,400 ballots were still unprocessed as of 5 p.m. Saturday, so several close South Bay contests could still move. This update follows the Chronicle’s Election Day guide.
Measure RTM: a regional win, a narrower South Bay margin
Across Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, RTM had 805,292 yes votes to 488,480 no, or 62.2%, in the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Nov. 6 tally. The measure needed a simple majority. Santa Clara County was the weakest of the five. The county’s latest results, as compiled by NBC Bay Area, showed 54.1% yes, 224,688 to 190,374. San Mateo County was at 60.0%, according to NBC Bay Area’s San Mateo County results. The tax is scheduled to begin April 1, 2027.
VTA, the largest recipient in Santa Clara County, declared victory on Nov. 4. “Voters have made a powerful statement about the importance of public transportation to our region’s future,” General Manager Carolyn Gonot said in a statement. Board Chair Sergio Lopez said the work now “begins for the Board of Directors to take this mandate and invest in innovation, accountability, and our people.” The South Bay margin is a signal for those accountability promises: nearly half of county voters who have been counted said no.
The count is not over
The registrar’s estimate breaks down the 224,400 uncounted ballots: 196,000 mail ballots received by Election Day, 15,500 that arrived later, 6,500 same-day registration ballots, 400 provisional ballots and 6,000 with signature problems. State law counts mail ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrive within seven days. Voters whose signatures were challenged have until 22 days after the election to fix them.
Santa Clara County city measures
Palo Alto’s Measure J, a half-cent sales tax tied to the city’s plan to buy part of the Cubberley site, is the closest. It led 50.99% to 49.01% in the latest count compiled by NBC Bay Area, down from 51.43% in the count the Palo Alto Daily Post reported Friday. The Post has reported an estimated $15.6 million a year from the tax.
Other measures were more decisive, according to NBC Bay Area’s results:
- Mountain View’s Measure F hotel tax had 79.1%, and Measure E had 70.8%.
- Cupertino’s Measure L had 87.6%, and Milpitas’ Measure K had 72.3%.
- Gilroy’s Measure B hotel tax had 65.4%.
- Santa Clara’s Measure C charter amendment had 74.7%.
- Sunnyvale’s Measures G, H and I had 76.8%, 70.9% and 63.0%.
- Los Altos’ Measure D was failing with 60.0% no, and Morgan Hill’s Measure A, to make the treasurer appointed, was failing with 52.3% no.
San Jose runoffs and mayors’ races
NBC Bay Area’s results show clear leaders in all three San Jose council runoffs. In District 5, incumbent Peter Ortiz led Nora Campos 54.2% to 45.8%. In District 7, incumbent Bien Doan led Van Le 61.1% to 38.9%. San José Spotlight reported that he would be the district’s first incumbent to win a second term since 2010. In District 9, Genny Altwer led Gordon Chester 53.9% to 46.1% for the open seat.
Two mayor’s races are less settled. In Milpitas, Mayor Carmen Montano led Hon Lien 41.2% to 40.7%, a gap of 58 votes. In Santa Clara’s six-way race, Karen Hardy led with 23.1%, ahead of Kathy Watanabe at 21.0% and David Kertes at 19.5%. In Morgan Hill, Mark Turner had 50.6%.
San Mateo County and Prop. 45
On the Peninsula, NBC Bay Area’s results show Redwood City’s Measure E rent-control proposal failing with 56.1% no. San Bruno’s Measure S had 63.6%, but its Measure DD fireworks ban was failing. San Mateo’s Measure H sales tax had 59.5%, and Burlingame’s Measure D hotel tax had 78.4%. The countywide Measure U redistricting commission had 81.1%. Half Moon Bay’s Measure Q was failing by a narrow 51.3% no, and Menlo Park’s Measure P and Belmont’s Measure Y were also failing.
Statewide, the Associated Press called Proposition 45 as defeated late Saturday, ABC10 reported, with 55.73% no to 44.27% yes. The measure would have created an optional fast track for environmental review of housing, clean energy and other projects. The Chronicle explained what it would have changed for South Bay projects.
The long view
RTM settles transit funding through 2041, but the South Bay vote shows that support was conditional. With 224,400 ballots still out, the margins in Palo Alto and Milpitas could still change. For local governments, the bigger picture is how many cities raised hotel, sales or parcel taxes at once. Voters approved most of those requests, which gives city halls new revenue and new obligations to show results. The RTM rollout in April 2027 will be the first big test of whether the promises made in this campaign are kept.
Sources
- Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Public Transit Revenue Measure District results (Nov. 6, 2026)
- VTA, “Voters Approve Regional Transit Measure” (Nov. 4, 2026)
- Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, unprocessed ballot estimates (Nov. 7, 2026, 5 p.m.)
- NBC Bay Area, Santa Clara County and San Mateo County results pages
- Palo Alto Daily Post on Measure J (Nov. 6, 2026)
- San José Spotlight on District 7
- ABC10, “Proposition 45 fails” (Nov. 7, 2026)
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