Hayward Mayor Mark Salinas was ahead in his bid for reelection against local businessman Tom Wong based on early returns from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters Office on Tuesday night.
Salinas had captured about 76% of the vote compared to 24% for Wong based on numbers posted to the registrar’s website.
“It feels great to see that the work we’ve been doing over the past four years, people acknowledge it and to see that almost 75% of the city landing on me, I think is affirming of the work we’ve been doing on the council,” Salinas said after the initial results were announced.
Salinas, the city’s first Latino mayor, was elected in 2022 and before that served three terms as a member of the Hayward City Council.
He is an instructor of ethnic studies and sociology at Chabot College in Hayward and Las Positas College in Livermore.
Salinas said he’s working with the City Council to tackle a projected $20 million to $25 million structural budget deficit by, in part, negotiating concessions with the city’s unions, tightening controls on overtime and other operational costs and ensuring department heads submit “realistic budgets.”
On Tuesday, he lauded the fiscal work being done by the council and said he was thankful that voters appear to have also reelected councilmembers George Syrop and Julie Roche.
“The fact that those two were re-elected, it shows clearly that the city believes in the path we are taking and they trust us,” Salinas said.
Touting a drop in crime
Salinas says crime has decreased during his tenure and that he’ll continue to focus on public safety, affordable housing, economic development, education and transportation.
He is endorsed by all the members of the City Council, all Alameda County supervisors, Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez, the Alameda County Democratic Party and dozens of other Bay Area elected officials.
The only other mayoral candidate on the ballot is Wong, a businessman who has “founded and run companies in private security and tactical training,” according to an emailed statement he provided.
Wong says he’s running on a “Hayward First” platform, which includes opposition to new data centers, eliminating property taxes for seniors, streamlining housing development approvals and investing “in more detectives and a homelessness policy built on structure and care, not just spending,” among other things.
“Hayward is one of the most diverse cities in the country, and it’s time City Hall reflected that,” Wong said. “Being the first Asian mayor of Hayward would mean a great deal to me personally, but what matters most is bringing real change on the issues families here care about most.”
Wong, who has run for various offices in the past but never won an election, says he’s been endorsed by the California Rifle and Pistol Association Political Action Committee.
