With just weeks before the November election, campaigns have become ugly with local races in the bull’s-eye of unfounded accusations. District 8 San Jose Councilmember Domingo Candelas is being compared to former President Donald Trump. Mailers are defining San Jose City Council District 2 candidates Joe Lopez and Pamela Campos as political radicals, and in...
Cupertino candidates talk housing, budget before election
The next iteration of the Cupertino City Council is slated to make significant decisions about housing and the budget. Candidates recently shared their perspectives. Cupertino voters attended a candidate forum last Wednesday hosted by San José Spotlight, where six of the seven city council candidates fielded questions about public safety and The Rise, the city’s largest...
San Jose school board candidate threatened ‘revenge’ on trustees
Threatening emails from an individual seeking a trustee seat in San Jose’s largest school district has the community on edge. Rami Gideoni, a parent of a child in the San Jose Unified School District, started sending menacing emails last year to the board of trustees after its decision to end the Middle College program. The...
Santa Clara County botches Vietnamese election billboard
Santa Clara County elections officials have taken down a Vietnamese language billboard in San Jose’s Little Saigon neighborhood, after passing drivers noticed it advertised the wrong election date. Until this month, the billboard on Story Road read “Bầu cử sơ bộ (Primary election)” and “Ngày 5 tháng Ba, 2024 (March 5, 2024).” It should say “Bầu cử tổng...
Ex-San Jose mayor leads in funding over congressional opponent
With 20 days left before the November general election, two candidates racing to represent Silicon Valley in Congress each have more than $1 million in hand — and a wide gap between them. Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo has extended his funding lead over opponent Assemblymember Evan Low, raking in $1.1 million since the...
Sparks fly when Silicon Valley congressional candidates face off
Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and California Assemblymember Evan Low traded razor-sharp rebukes of each others’ records on climate, public safety and housing in a tense one-hour debate for Silicon Valley’s hottest congressional race. The candidates for Congressional District 16 were initially all smiles at NBC Bay Area’s San Jose studio on Friday. But...
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...
Money flows into Cupertino City Council race
One mid-sized West Valley city’s council race is raking in cash, in what some residents are dubbing a high-stakes election with divisive housing issues on the table. The Cupertino City Council race has brought in about $222,000 among seven candidates vying for two seats in a city of about 60,000 residents, according to election data...
Meet the candidates running for Sunnyvale City Council
Sunnyvale could have a new City Council and mayor next year, with multiple seats up for election come November. Four seats on the Sunnyvale City Council will be on the ballot — the mayor and council districts 2, 4 and 6. District 4 Councilmember Russ Melton is terming out and challenging Mayor Larry Klein for...
San Jose candidate temporarily decertified as a police officer
A San Jose police sergeant and City Council candidate has had his officer certification temporarily suspended by the state police board amid allegations of mortgage fraud. The state’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training temporarily decertified Tam Troung on Sept. 18 due to his pending criminal proceedings. The state board decertifies officers when they...