Written by Cory Wolbach, Civic Leadership Program Manager
The June primary is finally behind us. Let’s look at some of the races that mattered for Santa Clara County. Any opinions or errors below are my own, not those of the SV@Home Action Fund.
Governor
Xavier Bacerra, as the only Democrat moving to the general election for Governor in November, is very likely to be California’s next governor. Out of a crowded field of candidates, he had one of the best housing platforms. We could have ended up with many worse options and ended up with a really good one.
Senate District 10
In the race for Aisha Wahab’s State Senate seat, Democrat Scott Sakakihara will face Republican Linda Price in the runoff. Given the partisan split of voters of the region, Sakakihara is the strong favorite. While he is less known in Santa Clara County than some other candidates, he has a good housing platform.
County Board of Supervisors
- D1: In the only contested supervisorial race, incumbent Sylvia Arenas easily won with over 63% of the vote.
- D4: Incumbent Susan Ellenberg was uncontested.
San Jose
- D1: Incumbent Rosemary Kamei was uncontested.
- D3: Incumbent Anthony Tordillos was uncontested. Tordillos graduated from our Civic Leadership Program in late 2023 and won a very competitive special election in 2025.
- D5: Incumbent Peter Ortiz has been a strong voice for housing justice, focused on protecting residents in his district from displacement. He faces Nora Campos in a runoff.
- D7: Incumbent Bien Doan, who has been a vocal supporter of City funding for homelessness prevention, faces Van Le in a runoff.
- D9: In the only San Jose City Council race where an incumbent (Pam Foley) is terming out, Genny Altwer and Gordon Chester made the runoff in November. Chester has worked for the city, so he knows the reality of what things are like inside the city bureaucracy. He has also written repeatedly in the past about housing policy, and seems to have a good grasp on the issue.