Santa Clara Vice Mayor Anthony Becker, who is expected to go to trial soon for allegedly leaking a confidential civil grand jury report and lying about it, trailed far behind after election night in his quest for reelection against political newcomer Kelly Cox.

Meanwhile, Councilmembers Suds Jain and Kevin Park and Santa Clara Unified School District trustee Albert Gonzalez held leads over their opponents.

It’s the first election in Santa Clara since a Santa Clara County civil grand jury chastised the council for being unable to “work together as a cohesive group.” Four seats are on the ballot, and 10 candidates are in the running — including three incumbents.

The San Francisco 49ers again have spent heavily on the race, shelling out more than $2.3 million as of Election Day. The team’s involvement in Santa Clara politics has become a dividing issue among residents and city officials in recent years.

Despite the $391,059 the 49ers spent on ads attacking Cox in the District 6 race — the most the NFL team spent on any candidate — the Santa Clara University assistant dean was still able to capture more than 50% of the vote by early Wednesday morning. Both former Parks and Recreation Commissioner George Guerra, whom the team opted to support this election cycle, and Becker trailed far behind.

Cox and Becker could not be reached for comment.

The 49ers spent heavily backing Becker’s failed mayoral bid in 2022, but opted not to support him in this year’s election. Becker was indicted last April for allegedly leaking a confidential Santa Clara County civil grand jury report to the niners and then lying about it. His trial is expected to start in the coming weeks, and if convicted, he faces up to four years in county jail.

Cox, who ran on a platform of restoring trust in Santa Clara’s government, could be a loyal ally of Mayor Lisa Gillmor, who is losing Councilmember Kathy Watanabe’s support in District 1 to term limits.

In the race to replace her, Gonzalez had a nearly 10 percentage point lead over Satish Chandra, a member of the recent Charter Review Committee and the Watanabe-backed candidate early Wednesday. Silicon Valley Central Chamber of Commerce CEO Harbir Bhatia trailed in third. The 49ers spent $312,737 supporting Gonzalez and $247,694 opposing Chandra.

Gonzalez could not be reached for comment, but Chandra said in a statement that “it’s too early to predict the outcome.”

“I am confident that I can exceed very well in the last rounds,” he said.

In District 4, Park was leading former Councilmember Teresa O’Neill by more than 15 percentage points, and in District 5, Jain had a 5 percentage point lead over businessman David Kertes.

Santa Clara’s Measure I — a $400 million infrastructure bond — appeared to be heading toward victory with more than 69% of the vote swinging yes as of Wednesday morning. The measure needs 66.67% to pass and is the first infrastructure bond the city has placed on the ballot in 65 years.