The deadline for entering the race to replace former San Jose District 3 Councilmember Omar Torres, who resigned following criminal charges, has passed. Seven candidates – some of them former contenders – will vie in a special election on April 8, and, if one candidate doesn’t gain a majority, there’ll be a runoff on June 24.
Some of the hopefuls include San Jose Planning Commission Chair Anthony Tordillos, Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley Executive Director Gabby Chavez-Lopez, and mayoral aide Matthew Quevedo. Each will have unique priorities on homelessness, public safety, and downtown revitalization issues.
Tordillos is a YouTube software engineer in particularity focused on affordable housing and housing policies. Chavez-Lopez focuses on street cleanliness and mixed-use housing and is endorsed notably by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. Quevedo, endorsed by Mayor Matt Mahan, focuses on homelessness, blight, and public safety issues.
Other applicants are financial analyst Irene Smith, retired counselor Tyrone Wade, former sheriff’s lieutenant Adam Duran, and Philip Dolan, a salesman of knife sharpener. Smith lost to Torres in 2022; he promised to make downtown businesses thrive with fiscal accountability and incentives. He ran on the ticket when he first ran in a long-shot mayoral effort. Sustainable housing, he advocated, and economic empowerment.
Meanwhile, the city council will elect an interim officer not to let the reins go slack waiting for elections to determine who Torres’ replacement would be, a race stressing issues in the core of San Jose and the concern for responsible stewardship.
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