A sales tax increase in Santa Clara County appeared headed for victory on Tuesday, signaling a willingness among South Bay voters to help backfill federal cuts to food and health care safety net programs.
Measure A was leading 57% to 43% in early returns on Tuesday.
“We’re calling it!” Supervisors Betty Duong and Susan Ellenberg said after results flashed across a flatscreen TV at a Yes on Measure A party in San José’s Willow Glen neighborhood.
The measure would increase the county sales tax by five-eighths of a cent for every one dollar spent, raising roughly $330 million annually. County leaders placed it on the ballot after President Donald Trump approved cuts to Medicaid and SNAP that will reduce county revenues by $1 billion a year by the end of the decade.
Home to four public hospitals, Santa Clara County was uniquely vulnerable to the historic cuts to Medicaid, the nation’s health care program for low-income residents and people with disabilities. Supporters of Measure A billed the measure as an opportunity for residents of the liberal county to push back against Republicans in Washington. The campaign closely aligned its messaging with the successful measure to redraw the state’s congressional lines to help Democrats win control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“This is affirmation that the people of Santa Clara County are going to determine their own future, and they’ve decided that we will not allow for our health care system to go down,” Duong told KQED. “Had we not had the results we had tonight, had Measure A gone the other way, we would be looking at which hospital to close right now.”
Backers of Measure A acknowledged the new revenue would not fully make up for the loss of federal funding. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Trump signed this summer is expected to reduce the number of people eligible for Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California. As a result, the county will receive fewer direct payments and reimbursements for services, and county leaders said cuts to county health services are likely.
“The road ahead of us is daunting,” said Santa Clara County Executive James Williams. “We are facing hundreds of millions in cuts even with the passage of Measure A, but this gives us the fight.”
Still, Measure A supporters argued the sales tax would allow the county to keep all four of its public hospitals open. In recent years, the county expanded its health system beyond Valley Medical Center to acquire struggling hospitals in the region: O’Connor Hospital and Regional Medical Center in San José and St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy.
Politicians from across the South Bay’s political spectrum endorsed Measure A, including Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens, Rep. Ro Khanna, San José Mayor Matt Mahan and the entire Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.
Opponents of Measure A included Cupertino Mayor Liang-Fang Chao and a handful of former mayors and city council members, including Rishi Kumar of Saratoga and Lydia Kou of Palo Alto.
They noted that because Measure A is a general tax, the revenue can technically be spent on any county service. They also argued a sales tax would fall disproportionately on lower-income residents.
Opponents also questioned the long-term viability of the county’s health system after the Medicaid cuts. The three hospital acquisitions have ballooned county health care spending, they said, and the sales tax increase was a Band-Aid solution that sidestepped a more serious reevaluation of county health spending.
Those messages were largely drowned out by a well-funded campaign in support of Measure A. The main campaign committee raised over $2.6 million through Oct. 31, including $525,000 from the Valley Health Foundation, a nonprofit supporting the county health system.
The campaign against Measure A reported virtually no fundraising beyond a $357 loan.
In the closing weeks of the campaign, opponents accused county leaders of improperly advocating for the sales tax hike.
Kumar criticized a taxpayer-funded mailer from the county that warned residents of looming health cuts in language closely mirroring the pro-Measure A arguments. The No on Measure A also filed a complaint last week with campaign finance regulators, accusing Sheriff Bob Jonsen of improperly campaigning for the measure while wearing his uniform.
“The people have spoken and I hope the county will spend the money judiciously,” Kumar said in a statement after Tuesday’s results.
The Yes on Measure A campaign sought to project unity with the popular redistricting measure, Proposition 50.
A mailer in the final days of the campaign showed a shield inscribed with Measure A and Proposition 50 fending off an arrow labeled “Trump’s Agenda.”
“One Election, Two Ballot Measures to Protect California,” the mailer read.
KQED’s Joseph Geha contributed to this report.
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