Fligor — 115,288 65.6%
Kumar — 60,321 34.4%
Jan. 1, 1 a.m. — Neysa Fligor has sent out an email to supporters declaring victory in her race against Rishi Kumar for Santa Clara County Assessor. Fligor, a Los Altos city councilwoman, wrote in the email, “The voters sent a strong message that they want an assessor who will be ready to lead on day one, and I am excited to get to work doing exactly that.”
Meanwhile, Los Altos City Council put off its annual selection of mayor to see if Fligor would win and leave council. Council will meet Jan. 13 to select a mayor and vice mayor. Council will also have to decide how to replace Fligor, who had a year left in her term. Council’s choices are an appointment or a special election. If they make an appointment, that person will be able to run in the November election as an appointed incumbent.
Dec. 30, 8:10 p.m. — Neysa Fligor took a two-to-one lead after the first batch of ballots was counted tonight in the race for Santa Clara County Assessor against Rishi Kumar.
In the first batch of ballots, the vote was 106,685, or 66.2%, for Fligor to 54,530, or 33.8, for Kumar.%
Fligor, a Los Altos city councilwoman, was supported by Larry Stone, who was stepping down after 30 years in office, resulting in a special off-year election. Under the county charter, if no candidate wins the first election for the office by 50%, the two top vote-getters go to a runoff.
In the runoff, Fligor faced Kumar, a former Saratoga City Councilman who ran unsuccessfully for Congress for a number of times.
In the first race on Nov. 4, Fligor got 38% of the vote in a four-candidate field, and second was Kumar at 24%.
Kumar stumbled early by claiming he would exempt seniors from paying property taxes. However, the job doesn’t involve setting tax rates, so he wouldn’t be in the position of exempting anyone. The job of assessor is to identify all taxable property for assessment purposes and send a list of those properties to the tax collector.
When he was confronted with this fact, he pivoted to say he would work on a state proposition to eliminate property taxes for seniors. His claim about exempting seniors seemed to highlight his lack of knowledge about the office of assessor.
Fligor, an attorney, worked as counsel to the assessor in the mid-2000s. She rejoined the office as a special assistant last year, and after Stone’s retirement, assumed the role of assistant assessor.
The job pays about $300,000 a year. However, the winner will have to run in the November 2026 general election if they want to keep the position. There are no term limits on the office.
The November election is coming up. What will Kumar run for then?