With eight months until the March primary, San Jose City Council candidates are snatching early endorsements from powerful business and labor groups in an effort to stake out a path to victory. The two powerful and competing interests in San Jose politics — the silicon valley organization and South Bay Labor Council — are picking...
Dave Cortese announces big fundraising haul in Senate race
Candidates facing off in a tight state Senate race have eight months left before the primary election, setting off a full-blown dash for cash among the contenders — with Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese significantly outraising four other rivals. Cortese raised $650,000 in funds through June 30, kicking off July with more than $600,000...
San Jose: Green Party candidate to challenge Councilwoman Dev Davis
Green Party candidate Jake Tonkel has jumped into the San Jose City Council race in District 6, forcing incumbent Dev Davis to fend off two challengers in her re-election bid next fall. “I want to ensure our city is moving forward in a way that addresses income inequality,” Tonkel, 28, told San José Spotlight. “My...
Republican challenger emerges in San Jose council race
San Jose Councilmember Sergio Jimenez who handily beat a Republican challenger four years ago is about to face another one — and he’s a familiar name in political circles. Mechanical engineer Jonathan Fleming, who unsuccessfully ran against one-term Councilmember Tam Nguyen in 2016, just moved into Jimenez’s district. And now he’s challenging the longtime Democrat,...
Santa Clara mayor proposes 2020 bond measure in State of City address
Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor wants to put a bond measure on the November 2020 ballot that would generate funds to improve public facilities and infrastructure, she announced Thursday during a State of the City address. “While our community is thriving, we need to improve our parks, our libraries and our infrastructure to keep up...
It’s official: Milpitas Vice Mayor Karina Dominguez joins Assembly race
After serving six months as Milpitas’ vice mayor, Karina Dominguez says she’s ready “to make history” again. Dominguez announced exclusively to San José Spotlight that she’s running for Assembly District 25, a highly-contested seat vacated by Kansen Chu who told this news organization in May that he’s leaving Sacramento to run for county supervisor. Dominguez,...
San Jose: Trump supporters celebrate re-election announcement
Despite living in a liberal bastion, a small but mighty group of Silicon Valley residents are fighting to put President Donald Trump back in office in 2020. One of them on Tuesday flaunted her support for the 45th president in an unusual spot — her feet. Wearing shoes emblazoned with an American flag and “TRUMP”...
San Jose political advisor Alex Lee jumps into Assembly race
Another candidate on Monday entered the race to replace Silicon Valley Assemblyman Kansen Chu, setting the stage for one of the region’s most closely-watched races next year. Alex Lee, 23, a policy advisor and former field representative for Assemblyman Evan Low, announced he’s jumping into the fray. He joins a slew of other candidates, including...
Bob Wieckowski jumps from Congress to supervisorial race
Three weeks after declaring his candidacy for Congress to succeed presidential hopeful Rep. Eric Swalwell, Fremont state Sen. Bob Wieckowski is shifting gears. Now he wants to run for Alameda County Supervisor to replace Supervisor Scott Haggerty, a position that would afford him no term limits. Wieckowski, a bankruptcy attorney who sat on the Senate...
In split vote, San Jose lawmakers decide to study potential 2020 tax measure
Despite warnings from Councilmembers Johnny Khamis and Sergio Jimenez that San Jose residents are becoming overtaxed, a split City Council on Tuesday decided to move forward with researching a 2020 ballot measure to help build affordable housing and shelter the city’s homeless. Last month, San Jose administrators studied three potential tax measures – two of them were...