The election year has barely started — but a handful of Silicon Valley races are shaping up. San Jose Councilmember David Cohen announced his run for California Senate District 10, which represents parts of Santa Clara and Alameda counties. The district’s current seat holder, Aisha Wahab, is running for Congressional District 14 held by Eric...
Follow the money in San Jose’s City Council races
A political newcomer is leading the fundraising pack in the race for this year’s sole open seat on the San Jose City Council, as incumbents in other districts raise funds to fend off rivals. The first round of campaign filings for the 2026 election cycle, submitted ahead of a Monday deadline, show candidates have raised...
Silicon Valley lawmaker could seek East Bay congressional seat
A state lawmaker representing parts of Santa Clara and Alameda counties might be angling for a congressional seat in the East Bay. Her candidacy would leave her own seat in the California Legislature up for grabs — if she decides to jump into the race. A new federal candidate filing suggests 10th District state Sen....
San Jose lawmaker eyes state attorney general run
State Sen. Dave Cortese plans to run for California Attorney General if Rob Bonta decides to enter the governor’s race. It could boost the odds of the next top state prosecutor coming from Santa Clara County. Cortese represents District 15, which covers portions of San Jose, Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin. He previously served...
2026 marks another busy election year for San Jose
With five of San Jose’s 11 City Council seats up for grabs in 2026, the city is gearing up for another busy election year. As the looming contests begin to come into focus, San José Spotlight has asked several local political observers to discuss the races and election storylines they’ll be following most closely. They...
Santa Clara County committee says ranked choice voting saves money
Santa Clara County’s special assessor race this year has cost the county tens of millions of dollars. A county advisory board said ranked choice voting would have avoided that. Amid winter storms and holiday festivities, county voters were asked to cast their ballot by Dec. 30 — raising concerns about low voter turnout deciding the...
Fligor has large lead in Santa Clara County assessor race
Early results show Los Altos Vice Mayor Neysa Fligor leading by a large margin in Tuesday’s runoff election to decide Santa Clara County’s next chief property taxer. As of 9:22 p.m. Tuesday, Fligor has 65.7% of the vote with 108,556 votes, while former Saratoga Councilmember Rishi Kumar has 34.2% with 56,617 votes. Voter turnout in...
Early voting begins for Santa Clara County assessor’s race
Santa Clara County voters can walk into 19 different vote centers and select their next chief property taxer starting Saturday. A total of 38 centers will be available throughout the county for the Dec. 30 county assessor runoff election between Los Altos Vice Mayor Neysa Fligor and former Saratoga Councilmember Rishi Kumar. The remaining 19...
San Jose employee enters District 9 City Council race
Lifelong District 9 resident Gordon Chester says he’s observed San Jose stagnate or even backslide on a number of fronts over his 39-year life — from road safety to public services and housing affordability. Now, the longtime city employee is stepping into the crowded race to represent his home district on the San Jose City Council,...
County assessor candidate earns support of San Jose mayor
As the race to become Santa Clara County assessor enters its last lap, leaders of Northern California’s largest city are all in on candidate Neysa Fligor. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and the City Council have endorsed Fligor in the race to succeed former longtime Assessor Larry Stone, who resigned in July and kicked off...