Tordillos trumps Quevedo for spot in San Jose District 3 City Council runoff

A recount by Santa Clara County balloting executives has affirmed Anthony Tordillos second-place finish in the San Jose City Council District special referendum advancing him to a runoff against leading vote-getter Gabby Chavez-Lopez on June Related Articles Is San Jose making progress on homelessness or are certain of its wins superficial San Jose District City Council special electoral contest will undergo recount San Jose seeks a way to win population buy-in for parks spending Where will the homeless in Columbus Park go when San Jose s largest encampment is cleared for revitalization project Tordillos slightly widens lead to enter runoff for San Jose City Council seat Although Chavez-Lopez maintained the top spot over the seven-person field vying to replace disgraced former City Councilmember Omar Torres since the polls closed she failed to receive the majority of votes needed to clinch an outright success turning the race into a showdown between Tordillos and Matthew Quevedo for the other spot in a runoff After switching places in the pecking order multiple times during the week following the voting Tordillos emerged with a slim six-vote advantage triggering an automatic recount which began last Thursday and authenticated the results While this has been a long process with a multitude of twists and turns I am very excited that our campaign will advance to the June th runoff balloting Tordillos declared I want to thank my organization donors and the helpers who all made this accomplishable As we prepare for the next chapter of this campaign I d also like to thank Matthew Quevedo Irene Smith Adam Duran Tyrone Wade and Phillip Dolan for all stepping up and volunteering to serve our public in this turbulent time Once the field for the referendum was set Chavez-Lopez the executive director of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley and Quevedo San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan s deputy chief of staff were considered by pundits as the frontrunners in the race to replace Torres who resigned last year on sex abuse charges that he later pleaded no contest to in April But Tordillos who leads a company of engineers at Google s YouTube and is chair of the city s planning commission hastily emerged as a dark-horse candidate earning the co-endorsement of the Santa Clara County Democratic Party along with Chavez-Lopez and also showing a strong ability to fundraise at the grassroots level In the end Chavez-Lopez received approximately of the vote followed by Tordillos with and Quevedo with Rounding out the rest of the leaderboard Smith the former challenger to Torres in the polling finished in fourth with of the vote followed by Duran Wade and Dolan County initiative mandated a recount because the margin of mastery was either less than of the ballots cast or fewer than votes Had Quevedo and Tordillos finished in a tie the city clerk would have written their names on slips of paper and then conducted a random drawing to determine which candidate would advance With the runoff set Tordillos and Chavez-Lopez will have a quick turnaround as the Registrar of Voters will send out the next round of ballots starting on the week of May Quevedo s loss could signify a expected setback for Mahan who struggled at times in his first two years to advance his procedures agenda due to the more progressive makeup of the City Council Both Quevedo and Mahan referenced the importance of the seat and the need to challenge establishment politics and the status quo during the campaign With Carl Salas at this moment representing the District seat in an interim limit and so far serving as a rubber stamp for the mayor s agenda Mahan has enough votes to push proposals forward however the agenda platforms of the remaining candidates could become an obstacle once a winner emerges in June Tordillos has identified homelessness affordable housing progress population safety and improving downtown vibrancy as his chief priorities Meanwhile Chavez-Lopez has targeted improving safety and cleanliness increasing housing density and streamlining rise ensuring small business success and creating a vibrant inclusive downtown core However while there is specific agreement on the city s biggest issues there are major disparities between the candidates and the mayor in their plans to drive results For example Mahan has supported a permanent strategy shift allowing greater flexibility for using Measure E funds the voter-approved ballot initiative for affordable housing homelessness prevention and sponsorship programs While the City Council has approved using the funds for interim housing solutions over the past minimal years both Chavez-Lopez and Tordillos have opposed a permanent shift noting that such a initiative would contradict the will of the voters and their belief that the city demands to increase its production of affordable housing Chavez-Lopez and Tordillos also opposed Mahan s contemporary Responsibility to Shelter proposal which called for changes to the municipal code that would allow trespassing charges against homeless residents who refused offers of available shelter three times over months Mahan has argued that the guidelines proposal would create a layer of accountability for homeless residents to come indoors and an avenue for the city to petition behavioral healthcare courts to get them into restoration in cases when drug or mental medical afflictions are causing people to be service-resistant With Mahan s preferred candidate out of the race he explained he plans to meet with the other candidates before deciding whether he will get involved in the upcoming ballot My plan is to meet with the two advancing candidates to discuss the challenges facing our city and our respective views on the right solutions and see who I am aligned with Mahan declared I have not decided yet whether or not I ll weigh in on this race but I m eager to advocacy candidates who are independent data-driven and relentlessly focused on outcomes over ideology