Races to watch<\/p>\n
The next 10 months will see races in the city\u2019s odd numbered council districts \u2014 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9. In four of those districts, the incumbents \u2014\u00a0Rosemary Kamei<\/a>,\u00a0Anthony Tordillos<\/a>,\u00a0Peter Ortiz<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Bien Doan<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 are running for reelection.<\/p>\n Tordillos won his seat in a June special election after his predecessor, Omar Torres, resigned amid a\u00a0child sex abuse scandal<\/a>. Victory in this year\u2019s election would secure for Tordillos his first full term in office.<\/p>\n That leaves District 9 as the only open contest in the city this year, with\u00a0Vice Mayor Pam Foley<\/a>\u00a0terming out. Four candidates have already thrown their hats in the ring to replace her, including\u00a0Scott Hughes<\/a>, Foley\u2019s chief of staff,\u00a0Gordon Chester<\/a>, a longtime city employee,\u00a0Genny Altwer<\/a>, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and local entrepreneur\u00a0Mike Hennessy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, candidates have stepped forward to challenge incumbents in two districts.<\/p>\n In District 7,\u00a0Doan is set to square off against two bitter rivals<\/a>, East Side Union High School District trustee Van Le and Hanh-Giao Nguyen, a City Hall staffer. The District 5 race appears like it will offer a chance for a rematch between Ortiz and\u00a0Nora Campos<\/a>, a former councilmember and state lawmaker who lost to Ortiz in the district\u2019s 2022 election. Local education leader Karen Martinez has also filed paperwork to run for the seat.<\/p>\n The major political organizations queried by San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight said they haven\u2019t made any firm endorsements yet.<\/p>\n The stakes<\/p>\n Foley has had strong backing from business-aligned groups over her two terms in office. If a labor-backed candidate manages to win her seat, the reversal could throw into question the business-friendly council majority that has helped Mayor Matt Mahan advance his policy agenda, including his plans to reduce street homelessness by\u00a0expanding the city\u2019s shelter capacity<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0cracking down on vagrancy<\/a>.<\/p>\n But some remain skeptical that\u00a0a major political upheaval<\/a>\u00a0is in the cards this year.<\/p>\n \u201c(Mahan) has managed to pull a working majority together, and I suspect he\u2019ll be able to sustain that,\u201d Terry Christensen, San Jose State University political science professor emeritus, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThe coming election might help with that in the following year, but he\u2019s got to\u00a0get through this budget year successfully<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n When the council approved the city\u2019s budget in June, officials projected the deficit would balloon to $52.9 million in the coming year. Such a deep shortfall has once again raised the specter of significant budget cuts, setting the stage for what could be contentious budget talks in the coming months.<\/p>\n Voters\u2019 top issues<\/p>\n San Jose\u2019s homelessness crisis continues to dominate the concerns of residents, according to a\u00a0public opinion survey released in August<\/a>. The city-backed poll found 25% of respondents chose the issue as the one they would most like to see City Hall address. Concerns about affordability, public safety and street conditions also loomed large in residents\u2019 minds, the poll found.<\/p>\n For the past five years the city\u2019s annual survey has turned up roughly the same results, with homelessness always topping the list. The coming year could see a reshuffling of voter priorities, however. A number of political watchers said they expect\u00a0affordability concerns to gain ground<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0San Jose\u2019s political conversation<\/a>, as\u00a0worries over the cost of living continue to deepen<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMost working families in Silicon Valley are under real economic strain, whether that\u2019s housing costs and groceries or just the ongoing rising expenses that families are having to manage,\u201d Jean Cohen, executive officer\u00a0of the South Bay Labor Council, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cI think (this) year\u2019s elections will be an opportunity for San Jose residents to reflect on whether or not our current leadership is helping to alleviate the crisis that families are struggling with.\u201d<\/p>\n What business leaders want<\/p>\n Affordability concerns, particularly when it comes to housing, also factor into the political thinking for Victor Gomez,\u00a0who leads the Silicon Valley Business PAC<\/a>. Gomez said as his organization considers how to direct the roughly $500,000 it plans to raise for this year\u2019s races, he\u2019ll be searching first and foremost for \u201cdevelopment-friendly candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to do better to make it easier to build housing in San Jose,\u201d Gomez told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n With interest rates expected to decline in the coming year, he said San Jose has a golden opportunity to advance housing projects \u2014 and spur the local economy \u2014 by lightening the regulatory load for builders.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re having trouble getting these high-rises out of the ground, and the only way you could do that is by having a city who is willing to work with you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Energized Democrats<\/p>\n Following demoralizing 2024 election losses, South Bay Democratic leaders said they are hopeful 2026 will bring a reinvigorated party base.<\/p>\n Bill James, chair of the Santa Clara County Democratic Party, pointed to the higher-than-expected turnout in\u00a0the Nov. 4 special election<\/a>, which featured Proposition 50 \u2014 a\u00a0ballot measure<\/a>\u00a0intended to check President Donald Trump\u2019s hold on Congress.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that (turnout) shows an activist community \u2026 that\u2019s really eager to do something proactive and constructive to respond to Trump,\u201d James told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n James said he expects voter enthusiasm to carry over into the coming year of Democratic grassroots campaigning.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what we\u2019re going to see is a lot of precinct walking and trips out to the Central Valley and beyond in 2026,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Contact Keith Menconi at\u00a0keith@sanjosespotlight.com\u00a0or @KeithMenconi on X.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768196059_222_LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg\")
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