Santa Clara’s newly imposed election map has created one predominately minority voter district, pitting candidates of color against one another in an effort to give them a better shot at a Council seat. The remaining five districts are majority white.
Of the candidates who applied for an appointment to the Council seat recently vacated by Dominic Caserta, only two are eligible to run for election this year. Nancy Biagini and Raj Chahal can both run for the newly created Council District 2. Biagini is a lifelong Santa Claran and a longtime community activist. Chahal served on the Santa Clara Planning Commission. Biagini would be the heavyweight in the race. Currently none of the rumored candidates live in District 3, the other seat up for election under the Superior Court’s order.
The other rumored candidates, Hosam Haggag, “Suds” Jain and Tino Silva, live in District 5. This means that come 2020, when the seat is up for election, these three folks will have to run against one another to win the sole minority seat on Council.
Some observers thought it was odd that the court rushed to impose a new electoral map, purportedly to increase minority representation on the Council, only to delay the election to the one majority minority Council seat.
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