Santa Clara County Assessor race: Neysa Fligor leads in early returns

In a race that will decide Santa Clara County’s first new assessor in more than three decades — taking the reins from the long-tenured and recently retired Larry Stone — Los Altos Vice Mayor Neysa Fligor had a sizable lead over former Saratoga Councilmember Rishi Kumar, according to early returns on election night.

The special election held on the penultimate day of 2025 was triggered by Stone’s decision to vacate his seat earlier this year. The 84-year-old was first elected in 1994, beating out former Rep. Ernie Konnyu who had recently lost his seat in Congress, and was subsequently reelected every four years since. Stone’s replacement will finish out the rest of his term, which ends in December 2026, meaning that voters will cast a ballot for county assessor again in November.

While the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors appointed Assistant Assessor Greg Monteverde to serve as interim amid Stone’s retirement, the county charter required the Board to call an election to fill the position permanently.

The county held an election to select the next assessor last month, with four candidates in the running. Fligor placed first but was unable to cross over the 50% threshold needed to win the election outright, sending her and Kumar to a runoff election that was required to be held within 56 days.

The two candidates who were knocked out, Councilmember Yan Zhao and East Side Union High School District Trustee Bryan Do, both endorsed Fligor in today’s race. Stone also anointed Fligor as his chosen successor early on.

The county assessor plays a crucial role, setting the fair market value for more than 500,000 properties within the county to help determine property taxes owed, but does not set tax rates or collect taxes. Property taxes are critical funding streams for schools and cities with more than 50% of local property tax revenue in the county going to fund public education, according to the Assessor’s Office. The 2025 assessment roll, which was released in July, totaled $725.7 billion.

Fligor, who was elected to the Los Altos City Council in 2018, currently serves as the assistant assessor. She oversees the day-to-day operations of the office and was promoted to that role from special assistant to the assessor upon Stone’s retirement.

Fligor’s platform centered around its main legal duty — ensuring that the assessor’s office closes the assessment roll by the state-mandated June 30 deadline. She also campaigned on modernizing the office’s technology, noting she has already started doing in her current role.

Kumar cast himself as the “proven tax fighter” in the race. He was elected to the Saratoga City Council in 2014 and re-elected in 2018. Most recently, Kumar served as the chair of the No on Measure A campaign — a Santa Clara County sales tax increase that voters approved last month.

While the county assessor does not have the power to exempt anyone from property taxes, Kumar anchored his campaign on the premise of supporting property tax exemptions for seniors. He recently submitted a statewide ballot initiative for next year to exempt those 60 and older from paying property taxes.