Milpitas mayor leads in close race to keep her seat

Milpitas Mayor Carmen Montano is leading the 2024 race by just three points over her closest opponent Councilmember Hon Lien.

Montano was first elected Milpitas mayor in 2022 after serving as vice mayor — making her the first woman mayor in the city’s history. With Milpitas mayors serving two years per term, the 2024 campaign started almost immediately. Montano faced candidates who included Councilmembers Lien and Anthony Phan, as well as community advocate Voltaire Soriben Montemayor who is running for the fifth time as a mayoral candidate. Montano is leading with 35.9% of the vote, Lien in second place with 33.2% of the vote, Phan with 21.2% and Soriben Montemayor with 9.5% as of Friday afternoon.

A Milpitas native, Montano oversaw the 70th anniversary of the city’s incorporation earlier this year, highlighting its history of agriculture and industry, as well as recent investments in affordable housing, public safety, transportation and economic development.

Montano did not respond to a request for comment.

She previously told San José Spotlight that Milpitas is like every other city: “It’s growing, it’s part of progress, but it has to be smart progress.”

Lien announced her run for Milpitas mayor during her first term on the city council. Before joining the council, she served two terms as a trustee on the Milpitas Unified School District board and became involved in community service after retiring from her seafood wholesale business, Sunnyvale Seafood, in 2007.

She said she remains optimistic that the final election results will show her as the winning candidate, and she will wait until all votes are counted.

If elected mayor, Lien said her goals would be to improve the city’s public safety, increase affordable housing and support the city’s unhoused residents.

“I’m going to stay positive. We walked up and down the neighborhood, knocked on doors and phone banked up until the day of the election,” Lien told San José Spotlight. “Hopefully those who voted late voted for me.”

Montano’s priorities for 2025 include increasing the affordable housing stock, bolstering funding for police and fire and fiscal responsibility with taxpayer dollars. Montano wants to launch an audit to ensure public dollars are being spent appropriately.

But her tenure has been marked by an escalating feud with ousted City Manager Steve McHarris, who accused Montano and the city council of wrongful termination and intimidation — claims which Montano and councilmembers have denied. City officials recently filed a protective order to stop McHarris from disparaging the city by releasing information gained during his lawsuit against the city.

Contact Vicente Vera at [email protected] or follow @VicenteJVera on X, formerly known as Twitter.