San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo appeared set to skate to victory in his attempt to be re-elected mayor of the nation’s 10th largest city Tuesday night.

Early election returns showed Liccardo pulling in some three-quarters of the vote, with challenger Steve Brown a distant second.

Across the city, incumbents in races for the five City Council seats up for votes also were faring well. Current council members Chappie Jones and Raul Peralez — both unchallenged — in Districts 1 and 3, respectively, were predictably coasting to victory.

Peralez, who represents the downtown area, which has seen a burst of development in recent years, said Tuesday night he plans to focus on affordable housing and addressing homelessness in his second term on the council, particularly as major companies like Google flock to San Jose. The tech giant plans to build a campus near Diridon Station that could support up to 20,000 jobs in the coming years, but housing advocates have voiced concerns about gentrification pushing long-time residents out of the area.

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“These are long-term projects that are going to change the face of our city forever,” Peralez said Tuesday night at an election watch party downtown.

Early returns also showed District 5 incumbent Magdalena Carrasco ahead of her two challengers, Jennifer Imhoff and Danny Garza, with Imhoff just ahead of Garza.

And despite fierce competition from six challengers in District 7, Councilman Tam Nguyen appeared likely to keep his council seat. In a possible repeat of the 2014 race, challenger Maya Esparza was in second place, with Van Le in third. Esparza lost in 2014 by only around 200 votes. (In a somewhat awkward turn of events, Nguyen and Le, who have had a contentious relationship, scheduled election night parties directly adjacent to each other on Tully Road near Highway 101.

“Despite the 15 point lead in early results, I realized that I must work harder to earn the trust of all voters,” Nguyen said in a text message late Tuesday. “I’m deeply grateful for the continued opportunity to make our city safe and clean, with more housing for people to afford.”

In District 9 — the only open seat, with outgoing Councilman Don Rocha terming out — early returns showed business-backed Pam Foley, who runs a real estate mortgage business and sits on the board of the San Jose Unified School District, ahead. Foley and Shay Franco-Clausen, director of development at the nonprofit Silicon Valley FACES and a former Ash Kalra staffer, had garnered the most big-name support and were widely expected to make the runoff.

But in a twist, relative newcomer Kalen Gallagher, a member of the Campbell Union High School District board who grew up in San Jose and helped launch the education technology company ClassDojo, was ahead of Franco-Clausen.

“I’m thrilled to be number one,” Foley said late Tuesday night. “It’s really exciting.”

“It looks like the hard work paid off,” Gallagher said of the early returns pointing toward a second-place finish. The numbers, he said, showed that people are willing to support a candidate who takes the time to knock on doors and “build coalitions.”

In a phone interview Tuesday night, Liccardo demurred when asked how the Council might be reshaped next year.

“Too early to tell,” Liccardo said. “I look forward to rolling up my sleeves with whoever prevails in November.”

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Regardless of who ultimately wins, Peralez said, “the council is bound to make a shift. Everybody does bring in their own individual experiences.”

The mayor was much more animated when it came to Measure C, his attempt to prevent developers from building a series of single-family homes for seniors along the Evergreen foothills. Early returns showed voters backing Measure C.

Out-of-town developers had successfully put Measure B on the ballot in an attempt to force the city to allow the Evergreen development, arguing the city has made it difficult for builders to construct homes in an area that badly needs housing.

But Liccardo, with backing from both the local Republican and Democratic parties and environmental groups, had countered with Measure C, saying the developers were trying to circumvent important policy and fees. (Measure B would, among other things, exempt the developers from paying traffic impact fees that are required under the current system.)

Measure B, Liccardo said Tuesday evening as early returns rolled in, “would provide a blueprint for trampling on community planning in cities for the next decade.”

In the weeks ahead of the election, the developers had outspent the Measure B campaign by some 10 to one, but Liccardo credited the community for pushing Measure C forward.

“We had an incredibly passionate core of volunteers and staff who worked around the clock to get the word out and lift the veil on the lies,” Liccardo said.

“I’ve said all along, San Jose voters are smart,” said Rose Herrera, who served on the San Jose City Council from 2009 until 2016. “I’m really thrilled.”

“This is a victory for environment, for community engagement, and for our next generation,” Liccardo said.