Far-left Dems sweep SJ D3 primary
SJ's Labor–Left candidates nabbed the top two spots in this April's D3 special election primary, as candidates backed by center-left Mayor Matt Mahan and local independents failed to make the runoff. Bay Area Reporter examines the results, excerpted below.
A recount in the contest for a San Jose City Council seat confirmed that gay San Jose Planning Commission chair Anthony Tordillos took second place by six votes. He will now face off against first-place finisher Gabriela "Gabby" Chavez-Lopez in a summer runoff race.
The result is the second ballot defeat this month for Mahan, who had solely endorsed {third-place finisher with 22% Matthew} Quevedo in his race and had also backed Oakland mayoral candidate Loren Taylor who came up short in his own April 15 special election. {Editor's note: Independent candidate Irene Smith, who came in second to Omar Torres in 2022, gathered 17% of the D3 vote.}
The District 3 seat covers much of downtown San Jose and its Qmunity LGBTQ district. The special election is to serve out a council term that expires at the end of 2026.
A candidate needed to capture more than 50% of the vote to win the seat outright earlier this month. While LGBTQ political groups had endorsed Tordillos in the race, the Santa Clara County Democratic Party split its support between him and Chavez-Lopez, who attracted strong support from local unions.
Read the whole Bay Area Reporter story here.
{Editor's note: Also, here's the dual endorsement notice from the SCC Dem Party (which generally supports far-left candidates and opposes more moderate center-left Democrat candidates).}
We're proud to dual endorse Gabby Chavez-Lopez @gabby4d3 and Anthony Tordillos @anthonyforsanjose for San José City Council, District 3, serving downtown San José and surrounding neighborhoods. Voters in D3 are encouraged to vote for one of these great Democrats, whose values, experience, and qualifications make them the best candidates for D3 in the upcoming special primary election.
Read the whole SCC Dems Facebook post here.
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