Newcomers to local politics are pulling away in the races for Menlo Park City Council and the Los Altos School District.
Vamsi Velagapudi, 47, had a 153-vote lead over Councilman Drew Combs tonight (Nov. 9).
The vote stands at 1,276 (53.2%) for Velagapudi and 1,123 (46.8%) for Combs.
Combs, 49, had a 16-vote lead on election night, but Velagapudi’s lead has grown in every update since then.
They’re running in District 2, which includes the Willows, Flood Triangle and Lorelei Manor neighborhoods.
The deadline for counties to certify the election results is Dec. 3.
Combs, 49, who works for Meta, is running for a third term and is often sole dissenting vote on council.
Velagapudi, 47, grew up in London and moved to Menlo Park eight years ago, and has lived in District 2 for about a year. He wants to bring more consensus to council.
In Los Altos, parent David Poll is leading attorney Brandon Stroy for the third spot by 257 votes.
Stroy led Poll by 243 votes on election night.
Incumbents Bryan Johnson and Vaishali Sirkay are in the lead.
Stroy was appointed to the board in March. During the campaign, Poll criticized his opponents for not listening to teachers and families.
Combs has never voted to pass a single housing element while on council; he doesn’t believe in it. We’d be in even worse trouble if he was a leader that could rally a couple more votes. Fortunately, he was only the sole dissenting vote while on council.