Three young lives were cut short last week in South San Jose, gunned down by someone they knew.

The victims were not immediately identified when the suspect was arrested on Sept. 17, the day after the triple murder. On Sept. 19, court documents identified the victims as Tarrah Lynn Taylor, Jeannessa Lurie and Max Chavez Ryan, all in their 20s, all from San Jose.

Authorities and family as of Monday provided no information, except age,  residence, date of deaths, and cause of death. Additional information about the victims has come from friends, employers and social media.

Taylor, 26, Lurie, 24, and Ryan, 26, were killed by multiple gunshots shortly after midnight on Sept. 16.

Taylor, who police said was the primary target of the attacker, filled her social media posts with photos of herself with friends, dogs and cats.

She reposted content about National Parks and pro-environment causes. She had attended Foothill College.

Ryan had worked as an outreach worker with the San Jose Housing Department since February, assisting homeless people moving from Columbus Park campsites to more temporary housing.

He is survived by his parents, Joe and Carla Ryan, and two younger brothers.

Ryan graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2022 and in addition to his work helping the homeless, was a writer, musician and painter.

“He had helped hundreds of people move from the Columbus Park homeless encampment,” the housing department said in a statement. “Our heartfelt condolences go out to his friends, colleagues, and loved ones. Max served his community on our Homelessness Response Outreach Team. His commitment to the people of San José, and in particular the most vulnerable among us, exemplified the thoughtful, caring human he was. He will be remembered not only for his professional contributions, but also for his kindness, compassion, and spirit.”

Lurie, a graduate of Mid-Peninsula High School in Menlo Park who attended CSU Monterey Bay, was pursuing a career in animal behavior science. Lurie had begun work as a security dog trainer for Bite Club K9 in Monterey. In addition to her work as a dog trainer, she worked part-time at BluePearl Pet Hospital in Monterey.

She lived in San Jose at the house near Martial Cottle Park where the fatal attack occurred.

The three victims were reportedly at the house when Taylor was strangled and beaten by her ex-boyfriend last Sunday and again on Monday. The 24-year-old reported the attacks to San Jose police, which detectives said prompted an alleged return by the killer to silence Taylor and her friends.

Authorities said police were searching for the ex-boyfriend when the fatal attack occurred.

Shortly after midnight the next day, Sept. 17, police said in court documents filed Sept. 19, that Taylor’s 27-year-old ex-boyfriend, Joseph Vicencio, returned to the apartment and shot Taylor, Lurie and Ryan, then fled into the night.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen presented the charges against Vicencio at his Sept. 19 arraignment in Santa Clara County Superior Court: three counts of murder and three related felony weapons crimes.

The suspect remains in the Santa Clara County Main Jail, without bail. He is to return to court Oct. 24.

The weekend attacks on Taylor weren’t the only time Vicencio had appeared on the radar of San Jose detectives.

The district attorney’s frustration with one particular incident during his tenure as the county’s top prosecutor—when Vicencio was convicted in 2020 of 11 felony counts, based on a September 2019 incident in which he emptied an automatic pistol into the front window of the Martin Luther King Jr. library and never served time in prison—figured in Vicencio’s arraignment.

“We charged him with 11 felony counts and asked for him to be sent to prison for nine years. We recognized that he was a dangerous person,” Rosen told reporters. “The judge granted probation in that case over our extremely strong objection.”

The judge in 2020 placed Vicencio in mandatory confinement for mental health treatment, under the supervision of Santa Clara County’s Mental Health Treatment Court. He was later able to get the conviction completely expunged from his record.

Though his record was expunged, Vicencio was still legally prohibited from owning a firearm. Investigators reported they are still working to determine the origin of the suspected weapon, which police have declined to identify.

“Gun violence is a huge scourge in our community and our state and in our country. Just a few days ago, we put out a public service announcement about gun violence restraining orders, red flag laws,” Rosen told reporters. “We use these restraining orders more than any other county in the Bay Area, by far, and they save lives. We did not have an opportunity to get such a gun violence restraining order in this case.”

Vicente Vera contributed to this report.

Two frontrunners in yesterday’s special election to fill San Jose’s District 3 City Council seat—Matthew Quevedo and Gabby Chavez-Lopez—raised nearly $424,000 for their brief campaigns, according to the latest reports filed with the San Jose City Clerk.

But that’s only part of the picture, in which campaign statements show nearly $1.5 million in campaign activity.

Political action committees—whose contributors are not bound by the $700 limit on direct individual contributions—that collected and spent money on behalf of these two candidates spent another $831,583. Nearly two-thirds of this PAC money—more than $535,000—was spent on behalf of Chavez-Lopez.

A third spendy candidate, city Planning Commission Chair Anthony Tordillos, chose a different source, putting up $130,000 of his own money for his $154,000 campaign.

Quevedo, deputy chief of staff for Mayor Matt Mahan, is the favorite of moderate, pro-business donors, and Chavez-Lopez as the beneficiary of organized labor contributions—with a few surprises. Since Tordillo’s campaign was basically self-funded, he emerged as an independent in the officially nonpartisan council campaign.

Labor Goes All In

The elephant in the room in this abbreviated council campaign has been organized labor. The powerful South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council allocated $431,912 of the money donated to its PAC by dozens of local labor unions to fund campaign activities for Chavez-Lopez.

In addition to the South Bay labor windfall, Chavez-Lopez, executive director of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley, attracted $104,000 in spending from two corporate PACs that support Latino political candidates across California.

The Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy PAC’s major contributors over the past eight years include PG&E, Chevron, AT&T, WalMart and Anheuser-Busch, as well as In-N-Out Burger and the California Association of Highwayway Patrolmen.

The LCCC Bi-Partisan Coalition of Municipal, County, Latino Appointed and Elected Leaders PAC bills itself as “a bi-partisan coalition of Latino leaders,” but it is actually funded by major employees in healthcare, retail and energy, as well as some law enforcement and other labor unions, including the American Beverage Association, PepsiCo, McDonald’s and Philip Morris as well as the California Correctional Peace Officers, California Police Chiefs and United Nurses associations.

The Sacramento-based LCCC PAC spent $74,000 and the Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy PAC, also in Sacramento, spent $30,000 on Chavez-Lopez campaign efforts.

These PACs funneled their support to a single PAC, Working Families in Support of Gabby Chavez-Lopez for City Council 2025, which decided how the money would be spent.

Jay Paul’s PAC Boost

As for Chavez-Lopez’s opponent, reports filed with the San Jose City Clerk also showed that a PAC that has supported the successful campaigns by Mahan and Rep. Sam Liccardo—Common Good Silicon Valley, Sponsored by Solutions Silicon Valley—predictably reported spending $75,485 on Quevedo’s campaign in just four months.

Common Good Silicon Valley PAC’s coffers got a boost early this year when the real estate development firm owned by billionaire Jay Paul—the primary developer of the CityView project in downtown San Jose—donated $50,000.

The total fundraising and PAC spending by Quevedo and Chavez-Lopez dwarfed the combined total of the five other candidates for the coveted downtown council seat left vacant when Omar Torres resigned last November after his arrest on sexual assault charges, to which he pled no contest this week. Retired downtown clean energy exec Carl Salas is representing the 3rd District on a temporary appointment.

Officials Donate

Nineteen local labor unions each gave the maximum $700 donation to the Chavez-Lopez campaign, in addition to their payment to the South Bay Labor Council PAC.

Local elected officials featured prominently among the Chavez-Lopez list of individual donors, including Councilmembers Pamela Campos and Domingo Candelas, county Supervisors Otto Lee and Susan Ellenberg, California Sen. Dave Cortese, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Assemblymember Gail Pellerin.

Former supervisor and two-time unsuccessful mayoral candidate Cindy Chavez, former Councilmember Raul Peralez and former mayor Ron Gonzales also weighed in with $700 donations.

Financial analyst Irene Smith and retired sheriff’s lieutenant Adam Duran are using loans to boost campaign funds. Smith reported collecting $9,355 in donations, while obtaining a $10,000 personal loan. Duran loaned his campaign $30,000 and has reported $9,348 in donations.

Candidates Philip Dolan and Tyrone Wade reported no contributions or campaign donations.

Visit SanJoseInside.com for early totals on other Santa Clara County races.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo tonight staked out what could be an insurmountable lead over Assemblymember Evan Low, a fellow Democrat, in the first Election Day returns.

Preliminary, unofficial results in the first published returns at 11:45pm from Santa Clara and San Mateo counties showed Liccardo with 108,984 votes and Low with 73,299 votes, a nearly 60%-40% margin. The first returns represented approximately 50% of the anticipated final vote tally in the district.

The early returns did not include central San Jose, the heart of Liccardo’s support. To win, Low would have to win about 60% of the remaining ballots in those city precincts—which likely explains Liccardo’s celebratory mood late tonight.

Liccardo has been the top vote-getter in his bid for Silicon Valley’s 16th Congressional District since the March primary.

The two-term mayor and former prosecutor has been slugging it out with the openly gay former Campbell mayor in a bruising two-part campaign that began nearly 11 months ago: one three-month, 11-person free-for-all followed by a second six-month stretch run that couldn’t begin in earnest until after a contentious two-month recount decided the final pairing.

The intense primary drained campaign war chests and considerable campaign energy. From the start, it was a battle for endorsements and money, where candidates’ images and resumes—rather than policy statements or campaign promises—prevailed. This was true in the primary, and for the General Election face-off.

In the primary, Low had staked out the progressive left, while Liccardo maintained a solid stance in the party’s center. Low was endorsed by the Democratic Party, a range of Asian-American and LGPTQ groups and by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Liccardo benefited from a Silicon Valley PAC, a New Democratic Coalition endorsements and a $1.5 million boost from New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

The seat representing the sprawling 16th District, stretching from Pacifica in the northwest to Campbell and west San Jose on the south, opened up in December when Rep. Anna Eshoo announced she would not seek re-election, after more than 30 years in Congress. About 80% of the district residents live in Santa Clara County, and 20% in San Mateo County.

Before the March recount request by tech executive and former Liccardo staffer Jonathan Padilla, the 16th District was headed to a three-person November contest: Liccardo, Low and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian.

When the dust cleared May 1—after a roller-coaster recount of the March 5 primary votes that had been requested and funded by a former Liccardo staffer—Low had five more votes than Simitian. The two men had been tied with 30,249 votes apiece from both counties when official totals were certified April 12, five weeks after the primary, by the California Secretary of State—more than 8,000 votes behind Liccardo’s March total.

After Low was declared the victor in the recount, he and Liccardo didn’t waste any time beginning the General Election campaign for the coveted Silicon Valley congressional seat.

The day that the final recount was announced, the Liccardo campaign accused Low of trying “multiple times to undermine and stop the recount process.”

Liccardo consistently took the high road in the spring recount—distancing himself from the recount request and from what many observers said was a strategy that benefitted a frontrunner—standing by “the principle that every vote should be counted.”

“Despite the efforts of some to stop this recount, we should all celebrate that democracy prevailed,” Liccardo said after the May 1 announcement. “We can now re-focus on our work ahead, toward solutions to our region’s and nation’s great challenges, such as homelessness, the high cost of living, climate change, public safety, and protecting reproductive rights.”

Despite his flattery and wooing of Simitian—Liccardo praised Simitian’s “decades of public service” as “an inspiration to me”—the county supervisor steadfastly declined to endorse either Low or Liccardo in the congressional campaign.

Likewise, Eshoo, who had endorsed Simitian in the primary, also declined to endorse either of the two finalists who competed this month.

In the primary, Liccardo tallied just 21% of the total votes, compared to 17% for Low. In the summer campaign, the two men went after the more than 83,000 votes—and the money—that had gone to other candidates.

San Jose City Councilmember Omar Torres was arrested today on child molestation charges, hours after submitting his resignation to city officials. He is being held without bail tonight, according to the Santa Clara County Department of Correction.

“Omar Torres has been arrested on suspicion of committing some of the most serious crimes imaginable,” said Mayor Matt Mahan in a statement this evening. “I’m horrified by the possibility that—far from his claim of outrageous fantasies—he may have in fact harmed children.”

The San Jose Police Department confirmed that “Omar Torres was taken into custody today as part of an ongoing investigation of crimes related to lewd acts with a child.”

Police released no further details, but said they will provide additional information at a press conference on Wednesday.

“I trust our police department and district attorney to ensure that justice is served through the due process afforded by our laws,” said the mayor. “ If you have any information related to this case or other cases involving harm to children, I would ask you to reach out to the San Jose Police Department.”

The arrest and resignation ended a month of controversy that rocked City Hall, but it remained unclear this evening whether the arrest was based on new revelations of sexual misconduct or on the sexually explicit emails and videos revealed in an Oct. 1 police affidavit.

Torres was booked into the Santa Clara County Jail today on suspicion of at least one count of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14, and is being held without bail.

The now-former first-term council member for District 3 in downtown San Jose has not attended any city meetings, and declined all comments since declaring his innocence when police served search warrants on the 43-year-old on Oct. 1 for his car, electronic devices and his residences.

Torres’ attorney, Nelson McElmurry did not immediately respond to requests for more information about the arrest or charges or resignation.

In September, Torres had invited police to investigate what he claimed was an extortion plot by a Chicago man.

The arrest and resignation followed multiple calls for his resignation after he admitted participating in the online exchanges, which his lawyer defended as “role play” and “fantasy.”

District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan said in statement that he was “pleased he has finally stepped down in the best interest of the people of District 3.”

“It is now crucial that District 3 has new leadership as quickly as possible,” Doan said. “The people of the district deserve to be fully represented, and we must move swiftly to ensure that their voice is heard in the council without further delay.”

Doan was the first council member to call for Torres to resign, followed nearly a week later by the mayor and the full council.

“This is a pivotal moment for our city,” he said in a statement today. “We must work together to restore trust in our city council and ensure that the actions of one individual do not overshadow the collective responsibility we have to our communities. The people of our city deserve leaders who are committed to transparency, integrity, and service.”

Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez has notified San Diego County’s Board of Supervisors that she is considering “potential litigation” against her Southern California counterparts because of the way she was treated as an applicant for that county’s chief administrative officer.

A letter sent via email on behalf of Chavez by a prominent San Francisco pro-labor law firm cited “numerous irregularities” in the CAO search process, including possibly unfair and discriminatory practices.

The letter asked San Diego supervisors board Chair Nora Vargas to preserve all records related to the CAO job search from January 2023 through the present.

The letter confirmed that San Diego County had made a “conditional offer of employment” to Chavez a year ago but then rescinded it last September. Chavez reapplied for the position in January when the county began a new search process in January, but the county told her last month she was “no longer being considered” for the CAO position, according to the May 14 letter, signed by lawyer B. J. Chisholm of the law firm Altshuler Berzon LLP.

“In light of these apparent irregularities, Ms. Chavez is currently considering her next steps, including potential litigation,” the law firm letter said.

Throughout the 16-month hiring process, Chavez has kept a low profile and ignored all requests for public comment. Her San Diego County supporters, including the county’s Democratic Party central committee, the San Diego and Imperial Counties AFL-CIO Labor Council and individual unions, including the SEIU Local 221, which represents more than half of all county employees, have become increasingly public and aggressive, mounting a vigorous campaign for her appointment, including outdoor rallies, attack mailers, disruption of public meetings and personal attacks on supervisors.

The county concluded an initial round of interviews with at least two finalists last Friday, and was expected to conclude its private interviews on May 22.

“We have received information indicating that Ms. Chavez’s race and ethnicity were subjects of discussion and question by at least one supervisor during the search process,” Chisholm wrote.

The letter requests that Vargas ensure that San Diego County preserve all official records “relating to the search and hiring process for the CAO, from January 2023 to the present,” and official records for individual supervisors and staff for the same time period.

Altshuler Berzon is an influential public interest, pro-union San Francisco law firm that is a prominent member of the AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Alliance. The alliance is a national membership organization of over 2,100 “union-side” lawyers in more than 500 firms and union legal departments around the country.

According to its website, the alliance “facilitates the exchange of information and strategies, mobilizes union-side lawyers in labor movement programs, provides legal education and networking opportunities, and assists ULA members in recruiting and retaining new lawyers and lawyers of color.”

“As a woman of color, Ms. Chavez is familiar with harmful stereotypes that undermine and disparage the qualifications of women of color in leadership roles, and she takes extremely seriously any attempt to undermine her experience, to question her race or ethnicity, or to judge her qualifications on anything other than their merits,” the Altshuler Berzon lawyer wrote in the letter sent to San Diego supervisors.

“We are extremely concerned that information regarding the search and hiring process, including confidential information about the candidates and about the anticipated timing of board action, appears to have been shared by a supervisor or others privy to the information with individuals external to the official process,” Chisholm wrote. “It has also been reported that one Supervisor, who had previously voted to offer Ms. Chavez the CAO position, stated to an individual external to the official process the view that Ms. Chavez was not qualified for the position.”

The lawyer’s letter said “Ms. Chavez is committed to making sure that the community’s interests in a fair and transparent process are protected, and that all candidates for public employment are treated fairly and with the dignity they deserve.”

San Diego County politics had been dominated by conservative, pro-business Republicans for decades, until shifting demographics led to a first-ever Democrat 3-2 majority in 2020.

Chavez had reportedly been the favorite of the Democratic majority of the board last spring. Her appointment was scuttled at the last minute, when a sexual harassment scandal forced the resignation of Supervisor Nathan Fletcher—husband of Chavez friend and political ally, state labor leader Lorena Gonzales Fletcher—and the postponement of the CAO search until after the November election. When another Democrat was elected to fill Fletcher’s seat, supervisors re-advertised the position.

Evan Low was ahead of Joe Simitian by two votes Tuesday evening, one day after Simitian had led by 12 votes. The eventual winner of the race will be decided by how many of the 1,800 voters who mailed in unsigned ballots show up in the next two weeks to sign their ballots.

Of the more than 180,000 votes cast in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties for candidates for the 16th Congressional District, about 1% were mailed ballots that were missing signatures.

Those ballots now hold the key to the final outcome of the 16th District race.

Nearly two weeks after the March 5 primary election, former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo held a comfortable nearly 8,000-vote lead for the top spot on the November ballot.

As of March 19, the contest for the ballot’s second spot continued its seesaw path.

With 99% of the ballots counted as of March 19, State Assemblymember Evan Low led by just two votes over Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, two days after Simitian had led Low by 12 votes.

The eventual winner of the race for the runnerup spot will be decided by how many of the 1,800 voters who mailed in unsigned ballots show up in the next two weeks to sign their ballots.

California is one of 30 states that require election officials to contact voters who have sent in an unsigned ballot and give them a chance to correct signature errors through a process called “ballot curing.” Once election officials match valid identification with the signature, the ballot gets counted.

That process is underway in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. As of March 18, Simitian held a 1,306-vote lead in San Mateo County, and Lowe held a 1,294 lead in Santa Clara County. Overall, more than 80% of 16th District votes came from Santa Clara County.

Liccardo, Low and Simitian had separated themselves from the rest of the 11-person field from the start of the ballot-counting process.

Simitian had led throughout the first week after the March 5 Primary Election by as many as 1,500 votes, but by the end of the first week Low’s total surged past Simitian by 63 votes. Then two days later Simitian was back in the lead, by 44 votes, a margin that dwindled as the ballot counting continued over the weekend.

On March 18, the California Secretary of State reported Simitian’s total was 30,204, and Low’s total was 30,192.

The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters reported March 18 that it held 50 Unprocessed Provisional Ballots, 150 Conditional Voter Registration Ballots and 1,200 Challenged (unsigned) Ballots.

The San Mateo County Elections Division reported 20 Conditional Voter Registration Ballots, and 680 Challenged (unsigned) Ballots.

These totals represent all votes cast for all candidates.

Math and geography last week tilted in Simitian’s favor as the ballot counting advanced. As of March 20, multiple variables were competing to confound the odds makers.

Of the more than 180,000 ballots cast for 16th District candidates, Low tallied 17.4% of the votes in Santa Clara County, and 13.5% of the votes in San Mateo County. Simitian tallied 16.6% of the Santa Clara County votes and more than 17% of the San Mateo totals.

When these percentages are applied to the remaining unsigned ballots in each county, the Simitian-Low race becomes a virtual dead heat. The actual rate of the “curing” and the neighborhoods of these ballots could swing the final count in either direction.

The deadline for ballot counting is April 4.

This story was updated at 8:20 am on March 20.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors censured elected board member Rebecca Eisenberg last week for a pattern of abusive conduct toward water district employees, including racist and sexist comments.

Following an often tense four-and-a-half hour public hearing, the board also stripped Eisenberg of all internal and external committee assignments, limited her interaction with district employees for at least a year and required her to enroll in anti-discrimination and anti-bullying training.

The board action followed hours of public comments that included calls for her resignation and a tearful apology from Eisenberg.

The embattled director’s contrite and apologetic demeanor contrasted sharply with months of combative and confrontational behavior that led to an investigative report substantiating numerous allegations of abusive conduct, as well as commentaries on her Medium pages sharply critical of district policies and the district’s treatment of her.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen decided not to charge Eisenberg for theft charges that had been sought by Valley Water CEO Rick Callender. Eisenberg in January walked out of the district office carrying a copy of a 2,000-page report that accused her of the abusive conduct.

In response to an inquiry from San Jose Inside, the District Attorney’s Office released a statement confirming that decision.

“We did not charge Director [Rebecca] Eisenberg with a crime for taking the investigative report printout because there was insufficient evidence of the criminal intent necessary for a theft charge,” the DA statement said. “This decision does not condone Director Eisenberg’s conduct, nor does it affect the Water District’s civil or internal proceedings related to this matter.”

Eisenberg also was censured by the board for “mishandling confidential information”—taking the report home, even though she assured the board that she shared the document with no one, not even her lawyer.

Board Chair Nai Hsueh formally asked Eisenberg to return her copy of the report, which identified district employees and managers who had been targets of months of criticism from Eisenberg.

The censured director refused, claiming that she no longer had the report. She said she turned the report and all of her water district files over to federal officials, who she hoped would open an investigation of what she said were corrupt and fraudulent actions by Valley Water in the district’s applications for federal aid for water conservation and flood control projects, including the controversial Pacheco Dam project. She has declined to offer any details of the allegations.

Speakers at the hearing included several representatives from the NAACP and others who called for Eisenberg’s immediate resignation because of the allegations of racist comments to staff and fellow board members.

Other speakers from Valley Water’s District 7 warned that curtailing Eisenberg’s activities in committee and staff work could effectively disenfranchise residents of the northern section of the sprawling water district.

Director Tony Estramera gave the following examples of Eisenberg’s behavior in 2023 that an independent investigation had substantiated:

• Sexist – “Men love to build things.”
• Racist – “English isn’t your first language” to Hsueh.
• Ageist – “I’m the only non-Boomer on the board.”

The report substantiated seven allegations from Callender, but could not substantiate another 18. The report specifically did not determine that Eisenberg’s numerous run-ins with the Valley Water CEO were based on his sex or the fact that he is Black, as he alleged.

In response to Eisenberg’s apologies, Estramera said, “You’ll have an opportunity to show us whether you definitely have changed.”

Eisenberg said last year that the investigation had been in retaliation for her raising concerns of rampant sexism at the water district and for criticizing the Pacheco Dam project.

At last week’s hearing, she was conciliatory and contrite. “I have chosen not to continue this battle,” Eisenberg told the board. “I have chosen not to fight with you—there has been too much distraction.”

“I am grateful for this investigation,” she said. “I take very seriously that I have offended others and hurt the feelings of others, and I take responsibility for those actions.”

Walter Wilson, one of dozens of speakers at the hearing, discounted the value of Eisenberg’s apologies. “Racism and sexism has no place in Silicon Valley,” he said. “I’m shocked that this board, that none of you guys stood up and defended those people [from Eisenberg’s alleged abusive conduct].”

Mike Kasperzak, a former Mountain View mayor and council member, pleaded with the water board: “We deserve a fully operational director. Removing her from committees…hurts the people of the district—you are affecting their rights as customers and citizens.”

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.

If the rankings hold, November will see two moderate Democrats facing off against one another. One is a former mayor of Palo Alto, the other of Silicon Valley’s largest city.

As of Sunday, the three local political heavyweights continued to solidify their positions at the top of a stack of 11 candidates—nine Democrats and two Republicans—seeking to represent about half of the City of San Jose, its western suburbs and the heart of Silicon Valley.

Liccardo, with 27,371 votes (21.8%), held a 4% lead over second place contender Simitian, with 21,880 votes (17.7%). Low recorded 20,509 votes, 1,371 behind Simitian with 80% of ballots cast (16%). The numbers include votes cast in sections of southern San Mateo County and northern and western Santa Clara counties.

San Mateo voters helped Simitian move closer to clinching the all-important runner-up finish—and a spot with Liccardo on the November ballot. In the “top-two” open primary, voters of any or no party affiliation could vote for any candidate.

Totals are incomplete, partial and unofficial from Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters and California Secretary of State.

The 16th District seat was left without an incumbent with the November announcement by Rep. Anna Eshoo that she would not seek re-election after 30 years in the House.

In the “top-two” open primary, voters of any or no party affiliation could vote for any candidate.

County election officials will be counting votes of ballots received through the March 12 deadline for ballots mailed and postmarked by the March 5 deadline. More than 90% of votes were cast by mail over the past month. The county will post updates each day at 5pm.

The county Registrar of Voters office in San Jose reported what is expected to emerge as a low turnout, with an estimated 37% of registered voters casting ballots.

Liccardo, 53, served two terms as San Jose mayor and two-terms as a council member following a stint as a prosecutor in the county District Attorney’s Office. The Georgetown and Harvard Law School grad grew up in Saratoga, and in San Jose near his grandfather’s grocery store. Considered a moderate with strong ties to Silicon Valley tech and real estate firms, he led the city during its growth as a tech center, championed a high-speed rail link and BART extension into San Jose and gained national recognition for the city’s attempt to require gun owners to have liability insurance.

Simitian, 71, is in the final year of his third term as a Santa Clara County supervisor. The former Palo Alto council member served in the California legislature as an Assembly member and state senator. He led efforts in the county and state to build affordable housing, increase environmental protections and boost mental health services. He led early with endorsements from many local elected officials—highlighted by a cherished endorsement from Eshoo—and was considered a moderate Democrat.

Low, 40, an openly gay progressive with strong organized labor support, has served in the Assembly since his first election in 2014. He is a former mayor and council member in Campbell, and is considered a rising next-generation star in the Democratic Party. He also is chair of the California Asian American & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus and a Member of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus.

While Primary Day was not a strong day for incumbent San Jose City Council members, unofficial results with about half the ballots counted revealed one outright winner, plus the likely pairings for November in all but one district.

The margins were wide enough to guarantee an outright victory for David Cohen in District 4, plus the likely General Election opponents in three other city council races: Michael Mulcahy v. Olivia Navarro in District 6, incumbent Domingo Candelas v. Tam Truong in District 8 and incumbent Arjun Batra v George Casey in District 10. In District 4, incumbent David Cohen and Kansen Chu were the only primary election candidates.

In District 2, Joe Lopez held a comfortable position over four other candidates, but Pamela Campos, Babu Prasad and Vanessa Sandoval were in a tight battle for the second ballot position, less than 200 votes apart, as of March 8.

As expected, Mayor Matt Mahan easily won re-election, avoiding a November runoff with more than 87% of the ballots.

Candelas, who was appointed to the post last year, led Truong by fewer than 600 votes in District 8. Another city council appointee, Batra in District 10, trailed Casey by more than 360 votes at the vote-counting’s halfway mark.

Here are the details of the March 5 vote, with more votes being counted through March 12:

Mayor

• *Matt Mahan     98,237
• Tyrone Wade    13,900

Council District 2

• Joe Lopez     2,995
• Pamela Campos  2,316
• Babu Prasad    2,126
• Vanessa Sandoval   1,849

Council District 4

• *David Cohen  5,687
• Kansen Chu    4,002

Council District 6

• Michael Mulcahy   6,055
• Olivia Navarro   4,441
• Alex Shoor    2,405
• Angelo Pasciuti 1,859

Council District 8

• *Domingo Candelas  5,545
• Tam Truong     4,855
• Sukhdev Bainiwal   3,697
• Surinder Dhaliwal    290

Council District 10

• George Casey  5,865
• *Arjun Batra     5,525
• Lenka Wright   3,737

* Incumbent

The union representing 3,750 Santa Clara nurses in the county health system is increasing pressure on county negotiators, voting to authorize a strike at Valley Medical Center, the region’s largest hospital.

In a statement, the Registered Nurses Professional Association said 97% of its members—whose contract expired Oct. 29—voted to authorize a strike if no agreement is reached on union demands for better working conditions, pay raises and improved benefits.

The county, the union says, is bargaining “in bad faith.”

A failure by the county to address those issues and others led to county nurses authorizing a strike, if necessary, in the coming weeks.

At a rally last week, union leaders said problems caused by poor staffing decisions and poor management continue to plague the county’s healthcare system since the integration of St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy and O’Connor Hospital in San Jose into the system five years ago.

The nurses union said issues of short staffing and below-standard nurse-to-patient ratios have been discussed in the months of negotiations.

The union said there have been “dramatic increases” in workplace violence, “along with troubling rates of nurses dealing with mental health concerns, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Patient care and safety is our top priority,” the county said in a statement Monday. “The safety and well-being of our nurses, and our entire workforce, is essential for the county Health System to deliver high quality and safe care to our patients. The county will continue to work towards a fair and competitive contract that will allow us to maintain essential health care services for our community.”

“The County of Santa Clara has been bargaining in good faith with the RNPA since Aug.17, 2023,” the county said in a statement.

“The county continues to provide competitive wages and benefits to RNPA-represented nurses, including when compared with wages and benefits provided by both public and private hospitals throughout the Bay Area,” the county said in a statement. 

Since 2020, the county said it has provided nearly 30% in total compounded wage increases for clinical nurses and assistant nurse managers, and nearly 42% in total compounded wage increases for per diem clinical nurses.

The county said a recent salary survey showed that the county’s clinical nurse III compensation ranks second highest out of the regional hospitals surveyed.

The staffing issues, along with pay and benefit packages that nurses say are out of step with the local job market, make it difficult for Santa Clara County to recruit and retain nurses, according to the union. The nurses union said the county has:

• Failed to make investments in basic resources to keep nurses, other health care professionals, and patients safe;
• Ignored unsafe staffing ratios, which lead to dangerous conditions for patients and nurses;
• Not followed through on its agreement to enforce staffing standards;
• Refused to offer pay and benefit improvements that close the wide gap in compensation between county nurses and nurses at local private hospitals or in neighboring counties, despite recently giving big salary increases to county leaders.

The union also said that county proposals to schedule nurses at different hospitals across the county can add hours of commute time each week and place nurses in unfamiliar environments.