San José District 3 Special Election: Who’s Running and How to Vote

Voting is underway in the April 8 special election to fill the District 3 seat on the San José City Council. The election was called after former Councilmember Omar Torres resigned in November amid multiple criminal charges of child sex abuse.

In January, engineering executive Carl Salas was appointed to temporarily represent the district, which includes the city’s downtown and Japantown neighborhoods. Seven candidates are vying to represent the seat through 2026. If a candidate receives over 50% of the vote, they win the special election and take office before the end of April. If no candidate claims a majority, the top two finishers will compete in a runoff election on June 24.

Here’s a guide to who is running and how to cast your ballot:

The candidates 

Gabby Chavez-Lopez

• Executive Director, Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley
• Key Supporters: State Sen. Dave Cortese, South Bay Labor Council, Santa Clara County Democratic Party

Philip Dolan

• Knife sharpener salesman
• Key Supporters: N/A

Adam Duran 

• Retired lieutenant, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office
• Key Supporters: Former Santa Clara County Undersheriff Ken Binder, former Santa Clara County Department of Corrections Deputy Director Bob Conroy, former Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Kevin Jensen.

Matthew Quevedo

• Deputy Chief of Staff, San José Mayor’s Office
• Key Supporters: San José Mayor Matt Mahan, Rep. Sam Liccardo, former San José Mayor Tom McEnery.

Irene Smith 

• Financial analyst
• Key Supporters: Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility. Families & Homes SJ.

Anthony Tordillos

• Chair, San José Planning Commission
• Key Supporters: Former Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager, Santa Clara County Democratic Party, South Bay YIMBY.

Tyrone Wade 

• Retired family counselor
• Key Supporters: N/A

Positions on key issues 

San José faces a modest budget shortfall of $45.7 million in the upcoming fiscal year and deficits in future years. What is your plan to balance the city budget for the long haul? 

Chavez-Lopez supports the conversion of office buildings to apartments to bring more people downtown. “Once you make a destination desirable to visitors and really center that experience, it makes for a better quality of life for those that live here,” Chavez-Lopez said. “Because people who live here want to come downstairs out of their condos or their apartments.”

Dolan faulted the city for “giving essential services away.” He questioned how San José is “going to be able to take care of the homeless when we have to close that gap,” adding, “I don’t think government should be there to give essential services away unless it’s a time of need and a time of war or there’s an economic depression.”

Duran pointed to his experience managing large teams of sergeants and deputies in the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. “That was a lot of money to be managing because a lieutenant really is a manager position,” he said. Looking at the city budget, Duran said, “Before we get to cuts, let’s get more revenue,” which he believes will come if the city focuses police enforcement downtown and cuts business regulation.

Quevedo said long-term fiscal health will come by focusing spending on a few core issues: building interim housing for people experiencing homelessness, hiring police officers, funding housing construction and suspending taxes for small businesses for the first three years of the business. “Anything else, we have to really have an open and honest conversation on whether or not the city can provide those services,” he said.

Smith touted her experience as a financial analyst with IBM and proposed implementing zero-based budgeting for one city department each year, requiring all expenses to be reapproved rather than using the previous budget as a baseline. Right now, she argued, “We don’t have that feedback loop that tells us what’s being successful and what’s not being successful.”

Tordillos called for more housing development to bolster the city’s property tax base. And he supported exploring changes to the city’s businesses tax to potentially bring in more dollars from the largest companies. “San José’s business tax is much more regressive than what we see in some other cities throughout the Bay Area,” Tordillos said. “And it brings in a lot less revenue than other cities in the Bay Area.”

Wade said the council should “revisit the budget and examine how we’re spending all that and make sure that we’re not doing anything wasteful.” He called for an initiative to encourage small businesses downtown to hire recent graduates from San José State University. “Have them work with the small business mom-and-pop businesses to increase their revenue and their marketing so that they can get past the first five years of development or incorporation.”

San José Mayor Matt Mahan has proposed permanently shifting Measure E tax dollars to fund interim housing and shelter instead of permanent housing. Do you agree with his plan? How would you spend city dollars to reduce homelessness? 

Chavez-Lopez opposed Mahan’s plan and said “permanent supportive [housing] should be prioritized” in city spending. Chavez-Lopez recalled her experience campaigning for the Measure E real estate transfer tax in 2020. “We were telling [voters] that it was for permanent supportive housing and prevention,” she said. “So, for me, in a time when trust is at an all-time low, why are we going back on that commitment to voters?”

Dolan criticized spending on both interim and permanent housing and said his focus would be on prioritizing city dollars for families with children who are experiencing homelessness.“If you’re a single man, you’re kind of out of luck. You need to go get a job. If it’s drugs, you need to really pick yourself up. We can’t take care of everybody,” he said.

Duran said his top priority for city dollars would be to open mental health and drug treatment facilities, in coordination with the state and county government, instead of providing housing first. “Providing a home for them while leaving them in their addiction to me is the opposite of compassion,” Duran said.

Quevedo supported Mahan’s plan and said, “Interim [housing] should definitely be the priority.” He also voiced support for rental assistance to keep people from entering homelessness. “But let’s make sure that for the population that exists on the streets right now, that we’re building the housing that they need and providing the services to help them get off the streets.”

Smith supported Mahan’s plan and said proponents of affordable housing “haven’t been able to build big enough or fast enough. So we have to have interim solutions for folks who are living on the streets and living in tents.” Smith diverged from Mahan in her preference for spending on large congregate shelters instead of tiny homes.

Tordillos opposed Mahan’s plan to permanently shift the Measure E dollars toward interim housing because it would “ignore the will of the voters who impose this tax on themselves.” He supported increased funding for interim housing in the short term but said, “Over time, we need to make sure that we’re getting back to a balanced allocation of Measure E dollars between both shelter spending as well as affordable housing.”

Wade said his experience working in homeless shelters for San José Urban Ministries taught him that city spending should be tailored to the specific needs of each unhoused person, which could be counseling, treatment or job training. “It’s not a question of homes or temporary housing,” Wade added. “It’s an experience that has to be followed and coached until someone is stable enough to maintain their own lifestyle.”

What will you do to restore trust in city government and strengthen communication with District 3 residents after the Torres scandal? 

Chavez-Lopez pointed to the fact she hasn’t run for office or served in government. “It is a real plus because I have been serving in the community and really establishing deep-rooted relationships here.” She referred to herself as “a community organizer at heart” who “will continue to make sure that residents are informed that they have all the information available to them.”

Dolan supported creating an easily accessible online directory that could store information about city departments, making it easier for residents to find where to report specific issues. “So a person … can get on there and say, ‘Bumpers in the street,’ and the search will take you to the [department] and why they’re putting these little bumpers in the street. I want everything to be so transparent.”

Duran said “the bruise to the community” from the Torres scandal was deep. He cited his work in the county jail as evidence of his commitment to public service. “I was always that guy trying to serve, even inside behind the walls … so this is all part of my journey in helping people and serving my community.”

Quevedo said that trust will be built if residents receive high-quality services. “I think long before even the [Torres] incident that occurred, there has been an erosion of trust in providing services,” he said. He said the council’s decision to fill the seat through a special election rather than a longer-term appointment will make residents feel that their voice is being heard at City Hall.

Smith called for more opportunities for public feedback on development and criticized the city’s recent elimination of public hearings for housing in already-developed areas, known as infill development. “Where does infill go? That goes into D3,” Smith said. “So they’ve completely eliminated our voice on public infill.”

Tordillos said he would gain voter trust through his decision not to accept campaign donations from corporations or lobbyists. “Some folks in our community feel like special interests often have more of a voice at City Hall than actual residents and community members,” Tordillos said. “So I’m running and rejecting corporate money.”

Wade proposed developing an advisory board of residents and groups, including “community activists, community leaders, churches, schools [and] nonprofits” that would propose ideas to inform his work. “The community has a better feel for what they want and need to be done, and they can direct those services,” he added.

How to vote? 

Election officials are mailing ballots to registered voters in District 3, which also includes the Washington-Guadalupe, Naglee Park and Northside communities.

The ballots can be returned at drop boxes at the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters’ office, San José City Hall, Biblioteca Latinoamericana Branch Library, Joyce Ellington Branch Library, East San José Carnegie Library and the Santa Clara County Civic Center.

In-person voting

For voters who prefer to cast in-person ballots, the county is opening two voting locations on March 29. The location will be open daily from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. through April 7 and from 7 a.m.–8 p.m. on election day, April 8.

• Joyce Ellington Branch Library Community Room, 491 East Empire St., San José.
• Olinder Community Center Community Room, 848 East William St., San José.

A third voting location will open on April 5. The location will be open daily from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. April 5–7 and from 7 a.m.–8 p.m. on April 8.

• Center for Employment Training Banquet Room, 701 Vine St., San José.