Salwan Holds Big Lead in Fremont Mayor’s Race

Raj Salwan, who has served on the Fremont City Council for a decade, is currently holding a strong lead in the four-person race to become the East Bay city’s next mayor.

Salwan had garnered nearly half of the votes counted in the race so far — about 13,000 — and was ahead of his closest opponent, former two-term City Councilmember Vinnie Bacon, by about 15 points in initial election results as of 1 a.m. Wednesday. The next update from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters is expected Thursday afternoon.

In a distant third and fourth place were Rohan Marfatia, a tech executive and political newcomer who moved to Fremont in 2017, and perennial school board candidate Hiu Ng, who this year threw his hat in the ring for mayor. Together, they have earned about a fifth of the votes thus far.

“It’s a significant gap,” Salwan said Wednesday of his lead, though he noted there are more votes to count. “I think it’s very likely that we should prevail.”

In 2020, a higher turnout election year, about 89,000 total votes were cast in Fremont’s mayoral race. The Alameda County Registrar of Voters reported on Wednesday that nearly 28,000 votes had been counted.

Salwan said he feels the support he earned shows that Fremont residents want a “problem solver” at the helm.

“We have so many issues now that people are concerned about, whether it’s homelessness or public safety or quality of life issues,” he said. “I think they’re looking for folks that are going to be on the ground, hands-on, solving problems. That’s what I see.”

Bacon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fremont is the fourth-largest city in the Bay Area, with about 230,000 residents. It has successfully positioned itself as a hub for biotech and as an outpost for many tech companies and advanced manufacturers.

But in recent years, the city has also grappled with a lack of affordable homes for low-income families, failing to get close to state housing goals while real estate prices have generally increased, worsening a region-wide affordability crisis. Fremont has also seen a steep increase in homelessness over the last several years. Coupled with leaner budgets, the next mayor of Fremont will have plenty of opportunities and challenges facing them.

Fremont has also experienced serious scandals in recent years, with the family of Fremont police Capt. Fred Bobbitt, who died by suicide while on the force, sued the city for wrongful death. In the suit, the family claimed former City Manager Mark Danaj pressured Bobbitt to leave the department and had helped derail his career aspirations. The city settled for $1.5 million earlier this year.

Danaj was charged with embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds in March 2022 on allegations he used a city credit card to make personal purchases. He later resigned while taking a more than $300,000 payout from the city. Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to a felony count of obtaining money under false pretenses and must repay the city his severance package value.

Salwan said he has “worked his way up” in Fremont politics, and he’s looking forward to taking on the task of leading the city.

“I really feel I can do a lot of good work. I think I’m meant to do this,” he said. “So hopefully, I can get everybody on the same page, and hopefully, we get the support of the community, and we can do a lot of good things. We can take Fremont to the next level.”