The national election news was downright depressing for many in the Bay Area, but there was a lot of cause for celebration among local candidates Tuesday night. At a handful of election night parties, they thanked volunteers, smiled for the cameras and were careful to be grateful and optimistic — whether they were ahead or behind.
While the official vote tabulating is still happening, we can report the most important results already: Namely, which parties had the best food, decor, crowd and drinks. Of course, this is purely subjective — and based entirely on where I was able to make it over a few hours Thursday night.
The hotspot of the night was Suspiro at Santana Row, where former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo was celebrating his win over Assemblymember Evan Low in the U.S. House’s 16th district. The swanky nightspot — right on the edge of Liccardo’s new district — was packed to the brim with Liccardo supporters and a phalanx of media cameras. The wine was good, if a bit pricey at $23 a glass, and what food there was went quickly — but nobody seemed to mind much.
There was a bit more breathing room at Hapa’s Brewing Co. on Lincoln Avenue, where Michael Mulcahy celebrated an early but substantial lead over Olivia Navarro to succeed Dev Davis on the San Jose City Council. Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of cross-pollination between the Liccardo and Mulcahy crowds — but the Willow Glen party gets the prize for having the best beer of the night (and the supporters there included Gordon Biersch co-founder Dan Gordon, who knows a thing or two about beer).
The South Bay Labor Council party at the IBEW Hall on Canoas Garden Avenue was the first stop for many labor-backed Dems, including eventual winners like state Sen. Dave Cortese, Assemblymembers Ash Kalra and Gail Pellerin, as well as Assembly candidate Patrick Ahrens and Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors candidate Betty Duong. And while the news wasn’t good for everyone, the party featured a couple of trays from King Eggroll — a San Jose staple that gets the nod for appetizer of the night.
Duong, who pulled out to an early lead over former San Jose City Councilmember Madison Nguyen to succeed Cindy Chavez, arrived at her campaign headquarters on South Fifth Street to a shower of confetti. Her party took the cake for most fun with a bounce house, a piñata and an actual sheet cake with Duong’s photo on it — and everything was colored hot pink (including Duong’s outfit).
HOT HOLIDAY TICKET: People haven’t even started buying their Thanksgiving turkeys yet, but you can bet they’ll be snapping up tickets soon for the 26th annual Fantasy of Lights drive-through at Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos.
Tickets went on sale Thursday for the illuminated tradition, a 1.5-mile crawl through the park with thousands of twinkling lights creating tunnels, elves, snowflakes, a basketball-tossing Santa, pirate ships and even dinosaurs. It opens Dec. 7-8 with two nights of walk-throughs and opens for cars Dec. 10-Jan. 5 (excluding Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day).
Admission for the walk-through is $8-$17 (with kids 3 and under free) and the drive-through costs $30 for most vehicles. Remember that you must purchase reservations in advance. It would be a real bummer to get turned away at the gate after waiting in line. Get more information at the Santa Clara County Parks Department website, parkhere.org.
MINETA MOVING ON: David Mineta announced last week that he’ll be stepping away from Momentum for Health next June after nearly a decade as the nonprofit’s president and CEO. In a note to the organization’s supporters, he said it wasn’t an easy decision but he looks forward to bringing in new leadership to expand Momentum’s reach.
Chair Kathryn Williams expressed the board of directors’ gratitude for Mineta’s leadership through “significant challenges and successes” and is beginning the search for a successor.
