The field appears to be set for several Santa Clara elections. According to the unofficial list released by the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters on Aug. 12, Santa Clara voters have a lot of decisions to make on Nov. 5.
The deadline to submit papers for all of the races was Aug. 9, which means the following should be the list of people that will appear on the ballot.
Three Candidates Vie for District 1
Since Council Member Kathy Watanabe has reached her term limit for serving on the Santa Clara City Council, the seat is open to someone new. Three people have submitted papers to run for the seat.
Harbir K. Bhatia opposed Watanabe in the 2020 race. Bhatia lost with 46.48% to Watanabe’s 53.52%.
Satish “Sunny” Chandra is also running. He was appointed by Watanabe to the 2023 Charter Review Committee. He has already received her endorsement.
Albert Gonzalez spent several years representing the area on the Santa Clara Unified School District’s Board of Trustees. He looks to join Santa Clara’s City Council this year.
District 4 Race Offers Déjà Vu
In District 4, it’s a repeat of the 2020 bout that saw then incumbent Teresa O’Neill face off against Kevin Park. This time, the roles are reversed and it’s Park who currently holds the seat.
Park beat O’Neill 57.24% to 42.76% in the 2020 race.
O’Neill was previously elected to the council when the city was under an at-large voting system in which the whole city voted for the representatives on the council.
District 5 a Two-Way Race
In District 5, it went from a three-way race to a two-way race.
Deborah M. Cordova had filed papers to run for the District 5 seat. She is currently listed on the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters’ list, but the City of Santa Clara’s website says Cordova withdrew from the race on Aug. 9.
That means incumbent Suds Jain will face a challenge from David Kertes.
District 6’s Three Candidates
In District 6, two people appear to challenge incumbent Anthony Becker for his seat on the council. Becker is currently on trial for perjury and accused of lying to the civil grand jury about leaking the draft of a civil grand jury report centered around the council.
George Guerra is one of the two people challenging Becker for his seat. Guerra is a former member of the Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Commission.
Kelly G. Cox is also running for District 6’s City Council seat. She is an assistant dean at Santa Clara University.
Four Vie to Fill City Clerk Role
With incumbent City Clerk Hosam Haggag choosing not to run for re-election, there is a handful of people looking to take over the City Clerk post.
Bob O’Keefe, who ran against Suds Jain in the District 5 election in 2020, is one of the candidates.
Steve Kelly is a former member of the Santa Clara Planning Commission and owner of Silicon Valley Properties.
Poornima Gopi, a local engineer, has also tossed her hat into the ring, so to speak.
Paul Tacci, the owner of a local telecommunications company and the Global Technology Director of the Global AI Council, which promotes AI in education and community empowerment, is the fourth candidate.
Two Candidates for Santa Clara Police Chief
There are two people running to be chief of police in Santa Clara.
Cory B. Morgan is a lieutenant with the Santa Clara Police Department.
Mario Brasil is a lieutenant with the San Jose Police Department.
