Silicon Valley voters this November will cast ballots in one of the region’s most consequential elections: From deciding who to send to Washington to a historic county supervisorial election, there is no shortage of major decisions up and down the ballot.
Alum Rock Union School District candidates face off in new forum
East San Jose parents on Tuesday heard from three candidates vying for two seats on the Alum Rock Union School District. The half-hour long virtual forum, hosted by neighborhood group District 5 United, came three days after another Alum Rock candidate forum hosted by SOMOS Mayfair was canceled because only one candidate — Corina Herrera-Loera...
Exclusive Q&A: U.S. House District 18 candidate Rishi Kumar
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democrat Rishi Kumar is attempting to replace Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, in November. Kumar is serving his second term on the Saratoga City Council and serves as an executive board member for the California Democratic Party. Kumar and Eshoo recently were given the opportunity to answer the same 10 questions from...
Harbir Bhatia aims to expand diversity on Santa Clara council
When Harbir Bhatia first came to the United States, she never envisioned drafting policy and working in government as part of the American dream. But now, Bhatia is vying for the District 1 Santa Clara City Council seat against incumbent Councilmember Kathy Watanabe as the city is embroiled in a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit, tensions with...
Kathy Watanabe fights for four more years in Santa Clara
Kathy Watanabe has spent much of her first four years on the Santa Clara City Council battling the 49ers, and she does not plan to stop if voters return her to the council for another four-year term representing District 1. The 49ers and the city have clashed over a variety of issues since 2010, including...
East San Jose candidates skip on school board forum
Alum Rock Union School District organizers scheduled a virtual forum with five board of trustees candidates Saturday morning – but when around 20 parents tuned in over Zoom, there was no candidate in sight. “Unfortunately we are not hosting the candidate forum today,” said Andrea Portillo of the East San Jose organization SOMOS Mayfair. “We...
Rally in San Jose draws attention to effort to restore affirmative action
Ever since Californians became the first state to outlaw affirmative action through a 1996 ballot measure, student action groups in San Jose have fought to get the issue back on the ballot. “Some of these students are working, some have two or three jobs and they’ve been organizing and I want to make sure we’re...
From policy wonk to politician, Ann Ravel eyes state Senate
Ann Ravel is not a politician. And, although she’s running her first campaign for elected office, she’s not a novice either. Ravel has served as an appointed government official at every level. She was Santa Clara County counsel for nearly a decade and worked in that office for years prior to her appointment by the...
Exclusive Q&A: U.S. House District 17 candidate Rep. Ro Khanna
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, is running for re-election against Republican challenger Ritesh Tandon. Khanna was elected to Congress in 2016. He is a member of the House Budget Committee, the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Khanna and Tandon recently were given the opportunity to answer...
After 30 years in Santa Clara County politics, Dave Cortese aims for state Senate
California politics is in Dave Cortese’s blood. His maternal grandfather was a Santa Clara councilman. His father was Santa Clara County supervisor and a state assemblyman. For nearly 30 years he’s been serving as an elected official in San Jose. Now he’s hoping to put that experience to work as a senator representing California’s 15th district. Cortese...
San Jose police union unleashes $100K to target council candidate it says hates cops
Following the death of George Floyd, Jake Tonkel attended rallies and live streamed videos on his Facebook showing protesters demanding police departments be defunded. Some protesters held signs calling cops bastards. In response, the San Jose Police Officers’ Association spent close to $100,000 on ads and messaging to defeat Tonkel, and sent an email to...