Attack ad row escalates in San Jose’s District 7 race

With less than two weeks until Election Day, the challenger in San Jose’s District 7 City Council race is accusing incumbent Bien Doan of an all-out effort to stifle her voice in the campaign.

Community advocate Van Le, a trustee for the East Side Union High School District, held a Thursday news conference to draw attention to her accusations, which center on two recent dust ups between the rival campaigns. Both incidents are part of the fallout from an attack ad issued by Le’s campaign last month that resurfaced two misdemeanor theft convictions Doan faced 40 years ago in his early 20s. Doan accused Le of misrepresenting his record and threatened to file a defamation lawsuit.

In the most recent incident, Le is accusing Doan of bullying tactics after he sent a cease and desist letter to local Vietnamese-language AM radio station KVVN over a comment made during a paid segment promoting her campaign that broadcast on Oct. 17. Doan said the comment, which reportedly suggested his theft convictions resulted in jail time, are false and defamatory.

Le also objects to an incident last month during which representatives from Doan’s campaign hand delivered a letter to her home demanding she retract the attack ad.

Le described the unexpected home visit that took place amid a highly charged campaign as a jarring experience, and reported it to the San Jose Police Department. She did not allege any specific crime or point to any threatening behavior that took place during the encounter.

An SJPD spokesperson confirmed officers received a report related to the incident, and determined no crime had taken place.

Following Doan’s letter to KVVN, the station instructed Le to cease “all personal attacks” and to no longer make any references to Doan, according to emails obtained by San José Spotlight.

“That instruction restricted my ability to discuss a public official during an election,” Le said during her news conference. “Combined with the legal demands and home visit, it raises serious concerns about pressure on political speech.”

Doan has dismissed the allegations of intimidation, instead framing his response as a legitimate attempt to correct false claims leveled against him.

“Van Le has spent this campaign manufacturing controversy instead of offering solutions for District 7,” Doan told San José Spotlight. “An officer’s time should go to real emergencies and keeping our neighborhoods safe, not to what I believe was a desperate campaign stunt.”

The comment at the heart of the latest controversy was made by a Le supporter about 20 minutes into her hour-long radio broadcast. Her campaign purchased the air time from KVVN.

“Bien Doan is a criminal who has been arrested and imprisoned,” the speaker said in a recorded clip played during the segment, according to Doan’s letter to the station. The comment appears to stem from Le’s attack ad, which included jail time figures related to Doan’s two convictions.

Doan has repeatedly denied ever serving time in jail. The underlying court records from his misdemeanor cases, both of which took place in the mid-80s, have largely been purged, making it difficult to piece together the precise outcome of the decades-old trials.

However, while not conclusive, the remaining court documents seem to back up Doan’s claim that he served community service in lieu of the jail terms, according to a criminal law expert who reviewed the filings.

“My letter addressed a specific, false allegation that Van has consistently made, requesting a review of the broadcast and an opportunity to correct the record before Election Day,” Doan said. “Van Le already possessed the facts, yet continued to intentionally publish these false and malicious statements to defame me.”

J. R. Arbona, a spokesperson for Pham Radio Communication, the owner of KVVN, said the station initiated an investigation after it was informed of a possible “personal attack” made on air.

“The policy of Pham Radio Communication … conforms to the FCC regulations regarding (personal attacks),” Arbona told San José Spotlight.

As Doan and Le have campaigned for the District 7 seat — which encompasses portions of central and East San Jose and is home to a sizable Vietnamese population — they have sought to position themselves as the best choice to unify a fractious district that has been shaken by waves of controversy and division in recent years.

While the bitter rivals have sniped at each other in mailers and campaign statements, the candidates have not squared off in a public forum since a debate that took place before the June primary. A debate and a radio program that would have featured the candidates were canceled in recent weeks after Doan pulled out of the events.

“My right to speak does not depend on your permission,” Le said. “Neither does the public’s right to question you.”

Contact Keith Menconi at [email protected] or @KeithMenconi on X.