{"id":317836,"date":"2026-05-15T21:44:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T21:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/317836\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T21:44:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T21:44:27","slug":"no-san-jose-district-7-incumbent-has-won-reelection-in-16-years-can-bien-doan-break-the-streak-the-mercury-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/317836\/","title":{"rendered":"No San Jose District 7 incumbent has won reelection in 16 years. Can Bien Doan break the streak? \u2013 The Mercury News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A win is far from guaranteed for San Jose District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan in the June 2 primary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since 2010, no incumbent has secured a second term representing a district where the Vietnamese American presence is felt everywhere, from the bustling Story Road strip malls to the Buddhist temples, and where Latinos make up 45% of the population.<\/p>\n

Doan, 61, a retired firefighter, faces harsh criticism from two other Vietnamese-American challengers: Hanh-Giao \u201cHG\u201d Nguyen, a staffer for District 5 Councilmember Peter Ortiz; and Van Le, 67, a business owner and East Side Union High School District trustee. Both describe Doan as ineffective and divisive<\/a> in a district that serves as the epicenter of the largest Vietnamese diaspora outside of Vietnam, where historical trauma and personal conflict have often overshadowed pressing city issues.<\/p>\n

While conflicts in the community are not new, they persist as the next City Council must navigate a $50 million budget deficit<\/a> and a rising cost of living that threatens the stability of the district\u2019s largely working-class population.<\/p>\n

Positioning himself as a \u201cnon-politician\u201d above the personal clashes is Rafael Garcia, 55, a career electrician and union leader who serves as vice president of the Seven Trees Neighborhood Association and is the only first-time candidate for City Council in the field.<\/p>\n

For Doan to keep his seat outright, he must capture more than half of the vote. If no one secures a majority, the top two will advance to a November runoff.<\/p>\n

Doan touted pushing for pre-engineered modular housing as a homelessness solution and park restoration, including the Japanese Friendship Garden, as among his achievements. In his next term, he said he would prioritize increasing police staffing, streamlining housing permitting and cutting red tape to stimulate business growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to accomplish everything I want to accomplish, I need the next four years,\u201d Doan said. \u201cI care about our city and specifically District 7, you know, which have been underserved for so many years and rightly so that they need a strong voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raising over $100,000, Doan\u2019s reelection remains a test of his record. Madison Nguyen, the last incumbent to win a second term in 2010, and the first Vietnamese American elected to the council, believes delivering results is the only way to buck the 16-year trend.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because you\u2019re an incumbent doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re going to get another four years,\u201d said Nguyen, who represented District 7 from 2005 to 2014. Now the interim economic development director for the city of Milpitas, Nguyen remains the only person to successfully defend the seat since then.<\/p>\n

The focus on results, however, has been complicated by Doan\u2019s friction with the two candidates that has spilled into the public eye.<\/p>\n

The conflict between Doan and Hanh-Giao Nguyen escalated in April 2025 during a City Council meeting where Doan introduced a proclamation designating the month as \u201cDisplaced Vietnamese American Heritage Month.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nguyen, who declined to disclose her age, took issue with the word \u201cdisplaced,\u201d telling this news organization\u2019s editorial board the term is inaccurate for a community that \u201cfled the communist regime.\u201d She also objected to framing the proclamation as a celebration. During the meeting, Nguyen yelled from the audience, \u201cWe do not celebrate that\u201d and \u201cYou are insulting us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the outburst, Doan requested that she be disciplined or fired from her position in Ortiz\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

To outsiders, these are just words. But for the 150,000 Vietnamese residents who fled to San Josen following the 1975 fall of Saigon, the divisions of their motherland remain. Madison Nguyen knows those tensions well.<\/p>\n

In 2008, her support for the \u201cSaigon Business District\u201d title over \u201cLittle Saigon\u201d<\/a> was viewed by many as a dismissal of their anti-communist roots. The disagreement escalated into a 28-day hunger strike and a recall attempt \u2013 a period Nguyen reflects on as those same divisions persist nearly two decades later.<\/p>\n

Nguyen said because many residents fled the communist regime, terminology regarding the war\u2019s aftermath requires caution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWords have meanings, but how you interpret those meanings can create a lot of friction,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But pressure from within the community is not an impossible obstacle. Nguyen entered the political scene through a special election after her predecessor Terry Gregory resigned following a corruption scandal, yet she not only survived a recall attempt but also won a second term.<\/p>\n

To pull it off, Nguyen said an incumbent must \u201cshow them that you\u2019re able to do the work and continue to do the work in the most effective way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond personal issues with the incumbent, Hanh-Giao Nguyen, who previously ran for the District 5 seat in 2022 and has raised at least $19,000 so far, said she would focus on strengthening community policing with more foot patrols along business corridors and expanding mental health crisis response as well as gang intervention programs. She drew on her own experience with homelessness as an immigrant and being \u201ccountryless\u201d to address the homeless population.<\/p>\n

District 7 is home to the last major homeless encampment in San Jose at Coyote Creek<\/a>, which the city started dismantling last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing to America, I was the homeless and countryless,\u201d Nguyen said. \u201cI went down there and talked to them, to make sure they understand they have options.\u201d<\/p>\n

Le, now in her third run for the District 7 seat, hopes to be the one to disrupt Doan\u2019s bid for reelection. She said she would leverage her experience as a longtime school official to address budget issues by cutting police overtime costs while improving recruitment and retention. She also advocates for youth outreach to address root causes of crime, such as focusing on at-risk youth and homelessness.<\/p>\n

Le noted that more than half of District 7 residents are renters and wants to strengthen tenant protections while increasing housing supply. As a small business owner, she also wants to cut red tape and offer tax incentives to tech companies that locate and create jobs in San Jose.<\/p>\n

She has raised $85,000, the second-highest amount in the race. Her bid for the council seat has been shadowed by her own grievance with the incumbent. Le claimed Doan defamed her<\/a> when his office sent an email to the East Side Union High School District last year, accusing her of using school property as a platform to hold fundraising events for allies and shame detractors.<\/p>\n

Le said Doan \u201cdivides the community so much\u201d and that, given her record of public service, she could do a \u201cbetter job.\u201d Doan told this news organization the lawsuits and accusations against him are frivolous and politically motivated.<\/p>\n

Doan attributed the tension to the community\u2019s \u201cunique\u201d dynamics, claiming that those who refuse certain demands face intense pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will do everything to oppress you,\u201d Doan said, \u201cincluding calling me communist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia, meanwhile, said that he\u2019s no political insider and remains untouched by the district\u2019s personal conflicts and contrasts his background with his opponents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a politician, I\u2019m an electrician,\u201d he told this news organization. \u201cThe other candidates have tried for office before and haven\u2019t succeeded at this level. I know they have a different perspective than I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among Garcia\u2019s top priorities are youth and community support. He wants to subsidize childcare for working families so two parents can earn a living as costs increase. He also wants to address pervasive speeding issues and build stronger trust between residents and police to improve public safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey claim that we\u2019re the safest city, but that\u2019s because no one comes out,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cSo to me, a safe city is having people come out, enjoy the walks in the afternoons, be out and about at the community centers.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Garcia has raised the least in the field at $8,000, he is not concerned.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoney isn\u2019t everything,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cTo me, it\u2019s more important meeting people. I\u2019ve met close to a thousand people in the last two months. I am blessed with that aspect and have the opportunity to meet people, and that\u2019s what will carry me through.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A win is far from guaranteed for San Jose District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan in the June 2…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[132825,25055,132831,132832,132153,132824,132820,101172,132823,132822,132828,127879,132821,88,132818,132817,132826,90,89,132829,132833,132827,83645,69638,132830,132819,61676,31669],"class_list":["post-317836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-anti-communism","tag-bien-doan","tag-chua-duc-vien-temple","tag-district-7-incumbent-streak","tag-east-san-jose-politics","tag-fall-of-saigon-history","tag-hg-nguyen","tag-homelessness-policy","tag-little-saigon-san-jose","tag-madison-nguyen","tag-measure-e-san-jose","tag-public-safety-san-jose","tag-rafael-garcia","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-city-council-election-2026","tag-san-jose-district-7","tag-san-jose-district-7-candidates","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-san-jose-police-staffing","tag-san-jose-primary-june-2026","tag-silicon-valley-biz-pac","tag-south-bay-labor-council","tag-story-road","tag-tully-road","tag-van-le","tag-vietnamese-american-community","tag-vietnamese-refugees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}