Advanced to runoff Eliminated in first round Incumbent mayor Janet Gray Hayes campaigned almost exclusively on her support for controlling growth by placing restrictions on both the amount and location of new units of housing in the city.

[4] Her runoff opponent, Alfredo Garza Jr., had been on the opposite side of the issue both as a mayoral candidate and as a city council member, supporting more rapid growth in the city, being considered a member of the council's "let's-grow-faster" bloc.

[7] The election was seen as giving a strong mandate to controlling the rate of growth.

Hayes, staking out this position, won an overwhelming victory in the runoff over an opponent with the opposing stance.

[8] Neither the city, nor any other major Californian city, had had a Latino mayor since California obtained statehood in 1850, and this would remain the case until Ron Gonzales was elected mayor of San Jose in 1998.