Only two Santa Clara County races are competitive

Several top Santa Clara County officials are running for reelection unchallenged this year — but two incumbents will have to fight for their county-level seats.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen and District 1 Supervisor Sylvia Arenas — whose district covers Morgan Hill, Gilroy, unincorporated San Martin and portions of South San Jose — will have to fend off opponents, according to an official list of qualified candidates in Santa Clara County.

Sheriff Bob Jonsen, Assessor Neysa Fligor and District 4 Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, who represents parts of the West Valley, are set to coast toward reelection unchallenged in the June 2 primary.

“More choice is always better for voters. I don’t think it’s great to have uncontested races,” Garrick Percival, chair of the political science department at San Jose State University, told San José Spotlight. “It’s often difficult to lose as an incumbent, so that dissuades a lot of people because they don’t feel they have a good chance and don’t love the scrutiny of running for public office — especially with social media and online vitriol.”

Meanwhile, 28 governor-appointed superior court judges who shape public safety, substance use, family law and criminal justice outcomes across the region are all but assured their reelection in the face of zero challengers this June. That includes Superior Court Judge Amber Rosen, who is DA Rosen’s spouse.

District Attorney

Rosen is not as lucky as his spouse this year, as he faces a challenge from one of his employees, Deputy District Attorney Daniel Chung.

The two originally squared off after Chung wrote a 2021 opinion article critical of Rosen’s progressive criminal justice reforms following racist violence toward Asian Americans. Rosen suspended Chung for a week on the charge that he used his county-issued work laptop and email address to submit the article, and his official title, without permission. Rosen reassigned him from criminal cases to cases dealing with mental health and juveniles.

Chung then wrote several more opinion articles critical of the DA’s office, including one claiming Rosen “chose to swiftly and furiously retaliate” against him.

Rosen placed Chung on paid administrative leave in May 2021, and issued “be on the lookout” alerts and security notices barring Chung from county property. Chung has been barred from coming to the office despite continuing to make $200,000 in annual gross pay. He unsuccessfully ran against Rosen in 2022.

“I love being a prosecutor — it’s the best job I’ve ever had,” Chung told San José Spotlight. “I feel that after 16 years, it’s really time for a change, and we need someone who will fight harder for victims.”

Rosen said he’s excited to continue representing the county and its residents.

“During my time as district attorney, we’ve made real progress — keeping our communities safe while building a justice system that’s more fair and community-centered,” Rosen told San José Spotlight. “From reducing gun violence and retail theft to solving cold cases and speeding up rape kit testing, I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and confident voters will reward me with their vote once again.”

Board of Supervisors District 1 

Arenas, who in 2022 became the first Democrat to represent the rural and more conservative District 1 seat in 25 years, will square off against Morgan Hill Unified School District Trustee Rebecca Munson.

The South County resident said her goal is to improve her region’s representation in Board of Supervisors policymaking.

“My vision is a stronger, more balanced Santa Clara County where we responsibly balance the budget to protect essential services, make our public hospitals more self-sustaining through greater efficiency and smart revenue strategies and partner closely with city councilmembers and mayors to tackle homelessness, mental health supports and preventative programs,” Munson told San José Spotlight.

Arenas’ win four years ago shifted the board of supervisors’ political tilt, solidifying a progressive bloc. The former San Jose councilmember’s win aligned with the redrawing of District 1’s boundaries the prior year, which expanded the district into several San Jose neighborhoods. In the process, the district lost the conservative stronghold areas of Almaden Valley and Los Gatos.

As supervisor, Arenas has been vocal about fixing county child welfare issues that led to the scandalous, 2023 drug overdose death of 3-month-old Baby Phoenix in San Jose. She has also championed efforts to study systemic health threats facing the county’s Latino communities and build farmworker housing in South County.

Arenas said she’s brought a “laser focus” on improving the lives of working people in Santa Clara County, and that it will be a feature of her campaign.

“Too many families are struggling with the high cost of living, and it’s just getting more expensive because of tariffs and wars,” Arenas told San José Spotlight. “With the support of our community, I’ll keep focusing on solutions and positive outcomes: building housing people can afford, protecting health care and standing up to federal policies that hurt our economy and rip families apart.”

Board of Supervisors District 4

Ellenberg was first elected in 2019, defeating six other candidates to replace termed-out Supervisor Ken Yeager. Voters reelected her in 2022. Before that, Ellenberg served as board president for the San Jose Unified School District from 2014 to 2018, and also spent six years as a social responsibility and social justice teacher at Yavneh Day School in San Jose.

The supervisor — whose district spans the cities of Santa Clara, Campbell, much of West San Jose and the unincorporated Cambrian and Burbank districts — has spent most of her time in office championing progressive causes. She has also been a vocal critic of deploying Tasers in the county’s jails, automated license plate readers along the county’s roadways and has focused on alternatives to the construction of a new county jail.

“I love this work and if I had a challenger, it frankly would have offered more opportunities to talk about the county’s work in public settings where people otherwise don’t necessarily focus on what’s happening in their government,” Ellenberg told San José Spotlight. “But I’m not disappointed, and I’m happy I don’t have to spend my time fundraising.”

Sheriff

Jonsen counts himself lucky to be running unopposed, saying it will allow him to focus on his job to protect the safety of the county’s residents.

“It gives me more time to stay committed to the objectives that we have and I think it’s an indication, in my particular race, that things are moving in the right direction and the public has confidence in the way it’s going,” Jonsen told San José Spotlight.

The county’s top cop said his main priority, throughout his next term, is to get the jails out of two federal consent decrees, which are court-ordered performance improvement plans demanding his office fix unconstitutional conditions in the county’s carceral settings. A record high in jail deaths, lagging deputy misconduct probes and in-custody violence have tested federal monitors’ patience with Santa Clara County’s slow progress improving jail conditions, with one monitor requesting the county be held in contempt of court last year.

“There’s parts we can’t control, but for the parts we can I feel we have the right momentum and I think we’ll have success in these next few years,” Jonsen said.

Assessor

County Assessor Neysa Fligor also faces no challenger this year, a blessing for the newly-elected chief property taxer who just took the seat. Fligor won a special election last year to fill the remainder of the term of her 30-year predecessor Larry Stone, who resigned abruptly in June.

If a challenger emerged, Fligor would have been forced to run back-to-back campaigns while balancing her duty to fairly assess property values in an ultra-wealthy tech region — where funding for public services has been threatened.

“I have already launched initiatives to better serve residents including extending the period for the assessor’s free informal assessment review process and hosting a community engagement with seniors in April to share how they can save money,” Fligor told San José Spotlight. “Because I don’t have a challenger in this upcoming election, I am able to direct my energy and focus on the three priorities in the office: closing the assessment roll, implementing the new modern technology solution and resolving assessment appeals.”

Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.