Preliminary results from Tuesday’s election showed that Thushan Amarasiriwardena and Tyler Savage were leading in the race for two Alameda City Council seats, ahead of four other candidates.
Amos White, Marcie Johnson, Maria Bondonno and Steve Slauson are the four other candidates running in the election.
Amarasiriwardena had secured 27.1% of counted votes, while Savage was in second place with 17.6% of the vote. White was close behind Savage with 15.9% of the vote, followed by Johnson at 15.5%, Bondonno at 15.3% and Slauson at 8.7%.
Alameda’s City Council consists of the mayor and four councilmembers, all elected at-large. In this election, incumbent Councilmembers Tony Daysog and Tracy Jensen’s seats were up for grabs as both were running to succeed outgoing Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft in the mayoral race. Daysog has already served two consecutive terms and would be termed out even if he did not run for mayor.
Because the councilmembers are elected at-large, all six candidates appeared on the same ballot, and the two candidates receiving the most votes will be elected to the City Council.
Amarasiriwardena has served as the president of the Alameda Free Library Board and previously worked at Google and at the U.S. Digital Service — a federal agency that is a part of the Executive Office of the President — under Joe Biden.
According to his campaign website, Amarasiriwardena wishes to build more housing, make downtown more vibrant, and invest in infrastructure to fight sea-level rise, like seawalls.
For technology professional Savage, investing in local businesses and the development of Alameda Point are priorities, according to his campaign website. He also believes that making the city’s streets safer is critical, as is improving levees, storm drains, and other infrastructure that protects from rising sea levels.
Savage has served four years on the board of the Alameda County Mosquito Abatement District, where he helped promote public health and environmental protection initiatives, according to his campaign website.