From five down to one: After a nine-hour marathon council meeting, San Jose has a new councilmember in District 8: Domingo Candelas. “I am feeling very emotional,” Candelas told San José Spotlight moments after winning the appointment. “Meeting with the community, setting up an office and making sure that we’re diverse, that we’re engaging, we’re...
Elections
Elections
San Jose residents support a special election. Will lawmakers change their minds?
A new poll obtained by San José Spotlight shows an overwhelming majority of residents support a special election to fill two vacancies on the San Jose City Council, more than a month after the council voted against it. And now there could be a new movement to ensure voters pick their next representatives. The poll,...
Silicon Valley mother-daughter duo committed to public service
It started with stuffing campaign envelopes together as a family. Decades later, mother Rosemary Kamei and daughter Ellen Kamei are both serving in local government. Rosemary, a likely pick for San Jose vice mayor, won the District 1 seat for City Council last June. District 1 is based in West San Jose and includes the Winchester...
A new year, a new San Jose council
The first San Jose City Council meeting of the year feels like the first day of school. New Mayor Matt Mahan and freshman Councilmembers Rosemary Kamei, Omar Torres, Peter Ortiz and Bien Doan took pictures with loved ones in front of the dais before being sworn into office on Tuesday. Councilmember Pam Foley, who ran for reelection...
Murali Srinivasan wins tiebreaker for Sunnyvale City Council
Nearly two months after election day, a winner has finally been named in the Sunnyvale District 3 City Council race. Until Tuesday morning, the race was locked in a tie between Murali Srinivasan and Justin Wang, following the election and two recounts. In a brief but tense public event on Tuesday, both candidates wrote their...
Here’s who could be appointed to the San Jose City Council
Nearly three dozen people have applied for two open seats on the San Jose City Council, some just hours before the Monday midnight deadline. As of Jan. 3, 24 people have applied for the District 10 seat, which became vacant after former Councilmember Matt Mahan won his race for San Jose mayor. Thirteen are eyeing...
Sunnyvale City Council race tied after second recount
After a nearly five-day recount and ballot review process, the extraordinary race for a Sunnyvale District 3 City Council seat is now tied. While initial election results and a recount showed candidate Murali Srinivasan holding a one-vote lead over opponent Justin Wang, another review validated three previously discounted ballots—swinging the race to a stalemate. “It seems like...
Sunnyvale City Council recount is one for the ages
The race for a Sunnyvale City Council seat, teetering on a one vote margin, isn’t over just yet. With Murali Srinivasan, 65, holding a one vote lead over Justin Wang in the District 3 race, Wang has asked the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters to count each ballot by hand once more, he said. “If...
Cupertino elects first gay councilmember
Cupertino is getting its first-ever LGBTQ councilmember, and advocates say it’s only the beginning. J.R. Fruen, an attorney and third-generation Cupertino resident, won a seat on the Cupertino City Council in a crowded race against seven other candidates. Fruen came in third, securing one of three council seats and receiving 15.9% of the vote, or...
Sunnyvale candidate wins election with a single vote
By a hair. By the skin of his teeth. By a nose. However you say it, Murali Srinivasan won the race for the open District 3 Sunnyvale City Council seat by the slimmest of margins: a single vote. Srinivasan received 2,813 out of 5,625 votes, while opponent Justin Wang received 2,812 votes, according to election...