Just more than four months after winning his District 3 San Jose City Council seat in a June special election, Anthony Tordillos is already launching his reelection campaign.
His Wednesday campaign announcement makes him the first candidate to enter the race for District 3, which covers San Joses’s downtown neighborhoods.
The announcement includes a long list of endorsements representing a cross section of South Bay elected leaders. Among those supporting his campaign are San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, Councilmembers David Cohen and Michael Mulcahy, along with a number of Santa Clara County supervisors, South Bay Assemblymembers and other local municipal officials.
“We have folks who you don’t always see on the same list of endorsers,” Tordillos told San José Spotlight. “I think that speaks to the fact that we’ve been able to, in our first couple months in office, build good working relationships with a broad range of people.”
So far, no other candidate has registered for the District 3 race in next year’s June 2 primary.
As with his election bid earlier this year, Tordillos is once again campaigning on a platform of boosting housing affordability, improving public safety and reining in San Jose’s homelessness crisis.
“I’ve learned on the dais that a lot of the people up there, a lot of my colleagues on council — we’re all trying to do the same things,” Tordillos said.
If he wins a full term during next year’s election, Tordillos said he will make the most of these points of political commonality.
“Really trying to lean into those areas where we’re all trying to work towards the same solutions, to build those big coalitions to deliver results for voters,” he said.
Tordillos, a former Google employee, served as chair of the San Jose Planning Commission up until he was sworn in to his current office in August. He is said to be the third openly gay member to serve on the city council in San Jose’s history.
Tordillos won his seat during a special election runoff in June, drawing 64% of the vote to defeat Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley Executive Director Gabby Chavez-Lopez.
The District 3 seat became vacant last November, following the resignation of former Councilmember Omar Torres, who left office amid an unfolding child sex abuse scandal. In April, Torres pleaded ‘no contest’ to child molestation charges and is now serving an 18-year prison sentence.
Tordillos will complete the remainder of Torres’ term in office. Victory in next year’s election will give him the chance to serve a full four-year term starting in 2027.
During an interview fresh off his campaign announcement, Tordillos claimed a number of early policy wins over his three-month tenure on council. Among those, he pointed to his work to advance the Gateway Tower project, a 15-story apartment building that will deliver 220 affordable apartments to the downtown SoFA district. At the urging of Tordillos and other city leaders, the developer behind the project has agreed to set aside 10 homes for local artists.
Separately, Tordillos also highlighted his work to cut down on home building costs by reforming San Jose’s building code, as well as his votes in favor of recent public safety measures. Those include a temporary ban on new tobacco shops as well as a measure to increase fines for the city’s blighted properties. 
Cohen also hailed Tordillos’ work on the council thus far, applauding the housing expertise he has brought to council discussions.
“I have been impressed by his thoughtfulness and intelligence on some of the key issues that we’re facing in the city,” Cohen told San José Spotlight. “I think he’s going to make a good member of the council and a good partner in the years ahead.”
Contact Keith Menconi at [email protected] or @KeithMenconi on X.