Santa Clara County Elections & Politics Articles

Two men from different counties have pushed for a recount in a highly-scrutinized Silicon Valley congressional race — but Jonathan Padilla, a longtime supporter and ally of leading candidate and former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, has already put down …

A new bill would make it illegal for homeless residents to camp in certain places, such as near schools, throughout California. Its authors say such a ban has had great success in San Diego. But a closer look at that …

Evan Low says, Thanks but no thanks, to the recount, and accuses Liccardo of Trumpian tactics in engineering a recount plot to benefit from a two-man race.

Like the rest of the country, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo watched in awe as two candidates tied in a heated race to replace her, triggering a request from a Silicon Valley political operative to fund a six-figure recount.
The veteran lawmaker …

In an analysis of more than 1 million votes cast by current legislators since 2017, CalMatters Digital Democracy reporter Ryan Sabalow and CBS Sacramento reporter Julie Watts found that Democrats vote “no” less than 1% of the time on average.

Two recount requests are pending for the highly anticipated race to replace Rep. Anna Eshoo's Silicon Valley congressional seat — potentially changing who advances to the November runoff.
County election officials have confirmed Jonathan Padilla, a former finance director for …

Santa Clara Supervisor Joe Simitian and State Assemblymember Evan Low each received 30,249 votes for the runner-up spot for California's 16th Congressional District, ensuring that both will be on the November ballot, alongside frontronner Sam Liccardo, San Jose's former mayor.

This article was updated at 5:05pm April 3.

Some of California’s top lawmakers want to clear up, but also rein in, the “builder’s remedy.”

Progressive and labor-friendly politicians have enjoyed a majority on the San Jose City Council for the past two years, but the November elections may flip the balance.
Formidable business-backed candidates advanced in every council race during the March 5 primaries, …

The state is considering zeroing out funds for CalWORKS family stabilization and job subsidy programs to help balance the budget.

Santa Clara County is almost done counting primary election ballots, with advocates hoping a neck-and-neck congressional race and historic county contest will get voters to the polls in November.
Voter turnout as of Wednesday sits at 37.38% according to the …

The race to replace Congresswoman Anna Eshoo is about as tight as it can get, and it will likely be weeks until it's clear who's going to the runoff.
Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo is in first place — …

Ramona Giwargis, co-founder and CEO of San Jose Spotlight, traveled to Miami last week to participate in the Knight Media Forum, and brought back  an inspiring report.

The eventual winner of that race between Joe Simitian and Evan Low will be decided by how many of the 1,880 voters who mailed in unsigned ballots show up in the next two weeks to sign their ballots.

Former Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith has lost her appeal of a court case that barred her from public office in 2022.
Smith argued that by retiring prior to being found guilty of six corruption and willful misconduct charges …

Days after polls closed on March 5, former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo widened his lead over Santa Clara County supervisor Joe Simitian in the 16th Congressional District, as Simitian maintained his margin over state Assemblymember Evan Low.

As expected, Mayor Matt Mahan easily won re-election, avoiding a November runoff with 87.8% of the vote, as ballot counting continued through Thursday.

Incumbent members of Congress, Ro Khanna, Zoe Lofgren, Jimmy Panetta, win easily in a preview of the November vote.

While Proposition 1 is too close to call statewide, Santa Clara County voters are broadly in favor of the measure.
In Santa Clara County, roughly 55.22% of voters have approved it, according to the most recent election results. But statewide, …