In San Jos Council Runoff, Candidates (D v D) Aim to Heal City's Political Divides

After months of political acrimony in a scandal-rocked district, City Council candidates Gabby Chavez-Lopez and Anthony Tordillos are pledging to heal civic divides and rebuild political trust in District 3 ahead of a June 24 runoff election.

They are vying to fill the seat formerly held by disgraced Councilmember Omar Torres, and the candidates are pitching unique bridge-building strengths. Chavez-Lopez’s ties to Santa Clara County officials could help repair a fractured city-county relationship that threatens to impede progress on reducing homelessness.

Tordillos, meanwhile, is the rare San José candidate with support from both sides of the city’s business-labor political divide.

The election could scramble the political alignment at City Hall. A win by Chavez-Lopez, the executive director of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley, could weaken Mayor Matt Mahan’s moderate governing majority. Tordillos, chair of the San José Planning Commission, is endorsed by the mayor but is seen as more progressive than interim District 3 Councilmember Carl Salas, a Mahan ally.




https://www.kqed.org/news/12044929/in-san-jose-council-runoff-candidates-aim-to-heal-citys-political-divides