Browsing Category : Politics

After almost two years in office,  San Jose Councilman Lan Diep has managed to offend the Vietnamese-American community to a point that the community leaders are calling him out publicly.  He is not well liked in the community and often not invited to community events.  Most of the time,  if attended, he would appear as guest of  Councilman Tam Nguyen.…

In the hotly contested race for the San Jose City Council District 7 seat, challenger Maya Esparza is on pace to oust current Councilmember Tam Nguyen. Election night saw Nguyen leading Esparza by 10 points, but as the Registrar continued to count votes, Nguyen’s lead shrank.  Five days after the election, Esparza surpassed Nguyen by more than 500 votes, and…

San Jose’s newest PAC, the Business San Jose Chamber PAC, just sent their first mailer, and the PAC is already embroiled in controversy. San Jose Chamber PAC, which broke off from the Silicon Valley Organization PAC (which confusingly enough is run by the real Chamber of Commerce), sent a mailer that features a quote implying that Sacred Heart Executive Officer…

Robert Varich, Republican candidate for Campbell Union High School has, for years, been promoting racist and hateful messages via his social media. Varich posted on his Facebook what appears to be a letter to the editor likening individuals who receive food assistance to animals who, if fed, will not learn to take care of themselves. The post is captioned, “Enough…

Carl Guardino, head of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, is putting his campaign committee, Innovation for Everyone, to use.  So far in the general election, Guardino has spent more than $40,000 on his candidate for Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg.  Most recently, Innovation for Everyone sent out a mailer attacking her opponent Don Rocha for being backed by special…

Last week, the Silicon Valley Organization (SVO), formerly the Chamber of Commerce, came under fire when its PAC sent out a mailer with an image that had been manipulated to appear as though San Jose Council candidate Kalen Gallagher was flipping off the camera, instead of pointing to the “I voted” sticker that they had removed from the altered photo.…

A mailer paid for by the Silicon Valley Organization’s PAC attacking San Jose City Council candidate Kalen Gallagher is getting attention, and not because of the accusations it made against the candidate. The SVO photo shopped an image of Gallagher taken from his Instagram account. The original photo is a selfie of Gallagher pointing to his “I voted” sticker. The…

The Deputy Sheriffs’ Association (DSA) just closed their “primarily formed” campaign committee that exists solely for the purpose of electing John Hirokawa sheriff and opened a “general purpose” committee called “Ready for Reform.”  What could be the advantage of doing that? One possibility is that the DSA plans to make independent expenditures for several candidates, but up to now they…

As Bob Nunez, long-time Chair of the Santa Clara County Republican Party transitions out of his role, new leaders are emerging within the party. Shane Patrick Connolly, Chief of Staff for Councilmember Johnny Khamis, will take over Nunez’s role as Party Chair. Nunez is respected as an honest, forthright, sensible leader. His ability to cross political lines has been apparent…

Pat Boone, a newcomer to the political scene and news anchor for more than 25 years, jumped into the Palo Alto City Council race.  Boone, who most recently worked as a reporter for NBC Bay Area, has stated that traffic and transportation are his number one priorities. Boone is joining four other candidates running for City Council. Three are current…