The Morgan Hill mayor’s seat and two City Council districts are at stake this November, with all three incumbents seeking reelection in their respective posts. With the Nov. 3 election less than a month away, Mayor Mark Turner is seeking his third term in office — and first four-year term since the mayoral seat changed...
49ers-backed PAC supports Santa Clara candidate, opposes another
The San Francisco 49ers want to tilt the scales in the team’s favor on the Santa Clara City Council by pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the District 2 race. Recent campaign finance filings show a political action committee — Affordable Santa Clara Supporting Williams and Opposing Inciarte for City Council 2026, sponsored by...
San Jose candidates’ campaign dollars grow as election nears
San Jose’s three competitive City Council races have seen a surge in campaign donations since the June primary election, as six candidates battle it out ahead of November, according to the latest round of campaign filings. The roughly $240,000 in direct contributions raised between July 1 and Sept. 19 — which represents nearly a third of...
How will South Bay transit change if tax increase fails?
Santa Clara County transportation projects could be hurt if a regional tax measure to fund public transit is rejected by voters on Nov. 3, but the impact would be less than other parts of the Bay Area — and the details of service reductions are unclear. Senate Bill 63, also known as the Regional Transit Measure,...
Santa Clara County residents urged to mail back ballots early
Residents across Santa Clara County are receiving their mail-in ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election, and local election officials are urging them to vote early. Vote by mail packets are going out to more than 1 million active registered voters in Santa Clara County this week. To ensure all votes are counted, officials with...
Santa Clara candidate faces complaint for exceeding donation limits
A Santa Clara official wants the city attorney to review mayoral candidate Kathy Watanabe’s campaign donations, alleging violations of the city’s donor limits. Councilmember Suds Jain’s Oct. 5 complaint said Watanabe’s July campaign filings reported $500 contributions each from Paul Larson and Michael McWalter, but the contribution limits per person are $380. The filing shows...
San Francisco 49ers spending big on Santa Clara mayoral race
Special interest groups are pouring money into Santa Clara’s mayoral race, with the San Francisco 49ers funding a political action committee that’s backing one candidate and opposing two others. Recent campaign finance filings show the PAC — Affordable Santa Clara Supporting Ferraris and Opposing Watanabe and Kertes for Mayor 2026, Sponsored by Forty Niners Football...
Santa Clara mayoral candidates share positions on key issues
Six candidates vying to become Santa Clara’s next mayor laid out competing visions for the city at an election forum that discussed council dysfunction, data center growth, budget stability, Great America and the San Francisco 49ers’ role in local politics. Candidates include former city maintenance worker and labor representative Armando “Gary” Ferraris, David Kertes, director...
Santa Clara candidate failed to disclose AI images, complaint says
A Santa Clara mayoral candidate is facing a state-level complaint over his campaign’s undisclosed use of AI-generated images. Diana Torres, a freelance political consultant, filed the complaint against candidate Gary Ferraris to the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) on Sept. 24. The complaint alleges Ferraris’ campaign website used images created with artificial intelligence without...
State Prop. 43 aims to raise tax measure threshold
A proposition going before California voters in November could make it more difficult for local governments and agencies to get funding from tax measures by raising the approval threshold. Proposition 43 would require a two-thirds majority vote for citizen initiatives pertaining to sale taxes — such as real estate, utilities and transit — which under...