Santa Clara voters have selected their new chief of police and city clerk, with early results showing Cory Morgan holding a significant lead in the race to replace Police Chief Pat Nikolai, who is retiring this year. As of 4:58 p.m. on Friday, Morgan is leading with 66.2% of the vote. He is trailed by...
Santa Clara votes new candidate in and familiar politician out
In the Mission City’s only open city council race, Albert Gonzalez appears to be leading a 3-way contest to replace Santa Clara Councilmember Kathy Watanabe who terms out in December. As of 4:58 p.m. on Friday, Gonzalez is leading with 43.3% of the vote. He is trailed by Satish Chandra who secured 34.9% of the...
49ers spend millions in Santa Clara council races
Special interest groups have sunk millions of dollars into November’s Santa Clara city elections to decide its future government. The San Francisco 49ers have spent the most money supporting who the team wants sitting on the City Council, burning $2.3 million so far. Other special interest groups include the Santa Clara Police Officers Association, Santa...
Fired Santa Clara officials can’t stay away from city politics
Santa Clara political observers worry that former officials are making moves to return to City Hall. The Santa Clara City Council fired City Manager Deanna Santana and City Attorney Brian Doyle in 2022, but they’re still sticking around. Santana recently donated about $100 to each of the four council candidates backed by Mayor Lisa Gillmor. The move...
Former Santa Clara official fined for violating campaign rules
A former Santa Clara official is being fined for multiple campaign violations years after losing a Santa Clara County supervisor race. Former Santa Clara Councilmember Dominic Caserta was slapped with a $22,500 fine from the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) over misuse of campaign funds in his 2018 bid for the District 4 Board of...
Meet the candidates for Santa Clara police chief and city clerk
Alongside filling City Council seats, Santa Clara voters will need to pick their next police chief and city clerk on the November ballot. Santa Clara voters resoundingly approved to keep electing both positions after two measures failed in the March primaries to change them to appointed positions. In March, 72.4% of voters said they wanted...
Santa Clara candidate linked to baseless Trump claims and misinformation
One candidate running for Santa Clara City Council is distancing himself from past social media posts spewing misinformation. Satish Chandra, a software engineer running against two others to replace Councilmember Kathy Watanabe in District 1, made several Facebook posts in 2020 perpetuating baseless claims made by former President Donald Trump about election fraud and COVID...
Santa Clara mayor’s push to win back power
In an effort to wrangle power and secure a favorable majority in her final term, Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor has handpicked two candidates to challenge her loudest critics on the City Council and is supporting two others — a move that could advance her political agenda and shape her legacy. This November, voters will decide...
UPDATE: Santa Clara official’s perjury trial delayed again
Santa Clara Councilmember Anthony Becker’s perjury trial has been delayed again, pending the court’s schedule. Becker was accused of perjury in April 2023 after allegedly lying about leaking a Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury report ahead of its publication. Attempts for a plea deal fell through in late August. Judge Panteha Saban put the...
Santa Clara City Council begrudgingly responds to grand jury
Tensions on the Santa Clara City Council flared over how to officially respond to reports calling it “dysfunctional” and suggesting the city did a poor job negotiating its Levi’s Stadium contracts. Councilmembers met on Tuesday and Wednesday to approve official responses to two reports from the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury. They disagreed on...