Silicon Valley’s high housing costs are personal for certified public accountant Andrew Crockett. He’s running for county assessor to help fix it. “One of my Masonic brothers lives in a two-car garage and he considers himself lucky to have a non-insulated, two-car garage to call his home,” Crockett, a member of San Jose Masonic Lodge No....
Elections
Elections
Old campaign debt trails San Jose councilmember
An old debt to a campaign consultant is raising questions about why a San Jose councilmember hasn’t paid it off. District 5 Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco owes $25,719 to a consultant through her committee, Friends of Magdalena Carrasco for East Side Union High School Board of Trustees 2012, according to a campaign statement filed in February this...
Special interests lining up to sway San Jose’s 2022 elections
Elections in Silicon Valley might be a year away, but special interest groups are already lining up to spend big bucks on their favored candidates. In 2022, many major offices are at stake. San Jose will have a new mayor, and two San Jose City Council colleagues are already jockeying for it. San Jose will...
Meet the man looking to oust Santa Clara County’s district attorney
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen has coasted to reelection in all of his races. But progressive public defender Sajid Khan—after months of speculation and criticizing Rosen’s approach to prosecution—will be Rosen’s first challenger. Khan, 38, announced Sunday he’s running for district attorney, marking Rosen’s first opponent since elected in 2010. “The time for transformation...
Another candidate joins Silicon Valley Senate race
Jaime Raul Zepeda doesn’t have the political experience like his opponents. He says he doesn’t want it. “If candidates are funded by the exact same special interests who have funded everyone else before you, it’s going to be the same conversation,” Zepeda, 38, told San José Spotlight. “I don’t want to start my campaign by...
Former congressional candidate running for San Jose mayor
A progressive young newcomer believes he’s got what it takes to be the next mayor of America’s 10th largest city. Former congressional candidate Jonathan Royce Esteban, 26, made his political debut last year when he ran for Nevada’s 4th Congressional District as the Libertarian nominee. Esteban is now running as a Democrat in Silicon Valley...
San Jose prepares to redraw council districts
San Jose is getting ready to redraw its 10 City Council districts—and will decide whether some populations should be grouped together based on common interests. “How do (you) articulate whether some are more important than others, and what are the criteria?” asked Angelo Ancheta, director of the Community Law Center at Santa Clara University, at...
Aisha Wahab looks to break barriers in Sacramento
Senate hopeful Aisha Wahab grew up in the foster care system and, if elected, would become the only renter in the state Legislature. Wahab, a Hayward councilmember, is running for State Senate District 10. The district encompasses parts of Alameda and Santa Clara counties, including Hayward, Fremont, Milpitas and North San Jose. The state Senate...
Education leader announces bid for East San Jose council seat
Peter Ortiz spends his days walking down the Alum Rock business corridor, talking to small business owners. Next year, he hopes to walk the top floor of San Jose City Hall. Ortiz, who serves as a Santa Clara County Board of Education trustee, announced Thursday he is running for the San Jose City Council District 5 seat,...
Can San Jose have publicly-financed elections?
The promise to get money out of politics has propelled several San Jose politicos to office. Actually implementing corporate-free elections is tougher. Councilmembers and local activists are pushing for a way to level the playing field for contributions through publicly-financed elections. In that system, the local government provides each registered voter with a voucher to spend...