A veteran and seasoned sergeant is joining the race to unseat Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith. Last week, Christine Nagaye announced her candidacy for the 2022 election. A San Jose resident, Nagaye has worked at the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office for 19 years, including six as a supervising sergeant. She previously worked for Southwest...
Former opponent challenges embattled Santa Clara County sheriff
As Sheriff Laurie Smith battles investigations and demands for resignation, she must now also face a former opponent who wants her job. Kevin Jensen, a retired captain for the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, filed paperwork to run for sheriff in the 2022 election. Jensen squared off with Smith in 2014 and lost. But he believes...
Santa Clara County registrar ready for recall election
Anticipation surrounding a potential replacement for Gov. Gavin Newsom could contribute to high voter turnout for the upcoming Sept. 14 recall election. Shannon Bushey, registrar of voters for Santa Clara County, estimates a 50-60% voter turnout for the recall election. Part of the reason, Bushey said, is because residents have been expecting the recall election for...
Former San Jose assemblymember wants his seat back
After six years in Sacramento, former Assemblyman Kansen Chu took the riskiest gamble of his political career: Leaving the Capitol in 2020 to run for county supervisor. It didn’t pay off; he was trounced by his opponent last year. Now he wants his old seat back. Chu, 68, confirmed exclusively to San José Spotlight on...
Newsom urges South Bay residents to oppose recall
Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging local residents to vote no on the recall effort taking place in less than a month. “We thought the last election, we all said it: this is the most important election in our lifetime,” Newsom said at a Monday news conference in San Jose. “Well, we defeated Trump, we did not...
San Jose one step closer to moving mayoral elections
San Jose is one step closer to moving its mayoral elections to coincide with presidential election years. The city’s Charter Review Commission voted Monday to recommend moving mayoral elections to presidential election years starting in 2024. The mayor elected next year would have a chance to run for two additional terms in 2024 and 2028. The...
San Jose Councilmember Dev Davis kicks off mayoral campaign
San Jose Councilmember Dev Davis’ streak of rustic campaign events continued Wednesday as the District 6 lawmaker launched her mayoral campaign at Hapa’s Brewing Company near Willow Glen. “We have to tackle homelessness, we have to recover from the pandemic economically and frankly as a city. And we need to clean up our city,” Davis told San José Spotlight. Wednesday’s...
Exiled Santa Clara County deputy DA considers running for office
Prosecutor Daniel Chung has excoriated Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen in print, and now he wants to take his job. Chung, a deputy district attorney on paid administrative leave, is strongly considering entering the 2022 race for Santa Clara County District Attorney. He told San José Spotlight that he intends to make a...
Will San Jose move its mayoral election to 2024?
San Jose could soon change the date of its mayoral elections to coincide with presidential election years. Residents overwhelmingly spoke in favor of moving San Jose’s mayoral elections at the Charter Review Commission meeting last night. “The current system results in low voter turnout in mayoral elections and gives undue power to corporate special interests...
Former congressional candidate runs for San Jose council seat
Health care professional and political organizer Ivan Torres faced an uphill battle when he ran against Rep. Zoe Lofgren in 2020. This year, he’s setting his sights on a more local goal: winning a seat on San Jose City Council. He says the only way he knows how to deal with adversity is to confront it head-on. “In order...