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| Turnout | 47.22% (first round) 59.51% (runoff) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1974 San Jose mayoral election was held to elect themayor ofSan Jose,California. It saw an initial election held on June 4, 1974, followed by arunoff election on November 5, 1974, after no candidate managed to obtain a majority in the initial election. The runoff was won byJanet Gray Hayes, who became thefirst female mayor of the city, making San Jose the first United States city of more than 500,000 residents to elect a female mayor.[3][4][5]
Whileincumbent mayorNorman Mineta had been eligible to seek reelection to a second term, he instead opted to run for theUnited States House of Representatives.[6]
Advanced to runoff
Eliminated in first-round
San Jose was considered to be the fastest growing city in California at the time the election took place.[6]
The runoff campaign was regarded as very contentious and negative.[6]
Collins initially accused Hayes of being sacred to debate him face-to-face. However, when theLeague of Women Voters attempted to organize televiseddebates between the two candidates during the runoff campaign, Collins refused to participate in any debate which featured ablack orMexican-American panelist. When he was accused ofracism for this, Collins denied it, giving the excuse that he only did not one to do so because he believed questions that would be "prejudiced " against him might be asked by such a panelist, since claimed that he had once arrested a community leader of one of those two ethnic groups.[6]
During the campaign, Collins alleged that Hayes had voted in favor of a developer's project after receiving a $500 campaign contribution the developer, accusing her of having had aconflict of interest.[6] Despite him trying to tie her to developers, local developers were reported to actually have unfavorable opinions of both Hayes and Collins. Developers reportedly felt that Collins did not have a grasp on the concerns developers had about strict city controls over development. Developers also were unhappy with the position that Hayes had staked out in favor of controlled growth in the city.[6]
Collins had served 38 years on the city's police force, and his only previous experience in politics was an unsuccessful effort he had made, in partnership with downtown businessmen and real estate interests, to pressure the San Jose City Council to appoint him the city's police chief after Ray Blackmore retired.[6]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Janet Gray Hayes | 35,901 | 36.93 | |
| Nonpartisan | Barton L. Collins | 33,216 | 34.17 | |
| Nonpartisan | Alfredo Garza Jr. | 13,852 | 14.25 | |
| Nonpartisan | Peter B. Venuto | 7,744 | 7.97 | |
| Nonpartisan | Paul K. Colvard | 2,598 | 2.67 | |
| Nonpartisan | Paul Moore | 2,466 | 2.54 | |
| Nonpartisan | G. A. "Robbie" Robertson | 1,429 | 1.47 | |
| Total votes | 97,206 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Janet Gray Hayes | 65,929 | 50.64 | |
| Nonpartisan | Barton L. Collins | 64,251 | 49.36 | |
| Total votes | 130,180 | 100.00 | ||
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