There are no elections in Los Gatos this year because no one in town stepped up to challenge the incumbents, guaranteeing two councilmembers another four years in office.
Councilmembers Matthew Hudes and Maria Ristow are up for reelection, but with no challengers the Town Council appointed them to the governing body for the next four years in a 4-0-1 vote, rather than host a costly November election. Hudes abstained from the vote.
The decision will save the town nearly $95,500 it can use elsewhere, and rules out write-in candidates who aren’t on the ballot for an at-large election.
Los Gatos residents and officials said the lack of candidates isn’t unheard of with no open seats, but it also brings up the importance of local representation and diversity.
Gordon Yamate, a Los Gatos resident for nearly 40 years, said he’s not surprised other residents didn’t run because it’s difficult to unseat an incumbent. He said potential candidates with diverse backgrounds may feel discouraged because of the town’s discriminatory history, including homophobic attacks in 2021 targeted at one of the few elected people of color in the town’s history, Marico Sayoc.
Yamate, who serves as the town’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commission chair, said the presiding councilmembers are capable and can be allies to underrepresented groups. Los Gatos is less diverse than other municipalities in Santa Clara County. About 65.3% of the population identifies as white, 18.4% as Asian and 10.4% as two or more races, according to 2020 census data.
“We’re missing a point of view. But I would say out of five councilmembers, there are people on the council who I think are very good thinkers and people that I certainly trust in terms of their judgment and making the right decision for the community,” he told San José Spotlight.
Voters first elected Ristow and Hudes in 2020. Both have goals for the next four years before they term out in 2028.
Ristow said she was surprised there were no challengers with large issues on the table, including housing. She said her priorities over the next four years include creating more affordable housing, improving traffic safety and supporting law enforcement. Ristow said she’ll continue working with the town manager and learning from other municipalities, while listening to residents to accomplish her future goals.
“Our staff is lean and works so hard. It is vital the council remains focused on pursuing the most significant issues around achieving more affordable housing,” she told San José Spotlight. “I also expect to engage as much as possible with developers as we attempt to accommodate housing that actually works for Los Gatos.”
Hudes’ priorities include producing housing that isn’t seven stories and unaffordable, creating a multi-generational community center and maintaining the town’s feel. He said he wants to make town-selected housing sites more attractive to developers and will continue to support older adults as vice president of older adult nonprofit Los Gatos Thrives Foundation.
“It isn’t only about housing — it’s about our historic neighborhoods, the vibrant downtown and the hillsides and the schools,” he told San José Spotlight. “It’s just getting things right so that we keep Los Gatos charming and just a wonderful place to live.”
The last time the town had no more candidates than seats available was in 2012 when Barbara Spector and Marcia Jensen were elected. That iteration of the council hosted an election and did not receive write-in candidates. Town officials said there hasn’t been a write-in candidate in about 22 years.
Lee Fagot, co-founder of political group Los Gatos Democracy Tent, said he would have liked to see someone challenge Hudes and Ristow because representation across underrepresented groups is important. He added the incumbents agreed to attend a future Los Gatos Democracy Tent meeting, hosted every Monday except holidays from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Saratoga’s Joan Pisani Community Center, where residents can interact with them.
“Meet the candidates, attend council meetings and make your concerns, your views and your suggestions known to the council, because they are the decision makers for the town staff and the direction the town will be going,” he told San José Spotlight.
Yamate said this election cycle brings up questions of who should run in 2026. Mayor Mary Badame, along with councilmembers Rob Moore and Rob Rennie, could choose to run for reelection during the next cycle.
“It’s a good reminder that we need to think about these things and we need to find people in the community who perhaps provide a greater richness of backgrounds so we don’t have the stigma that we have right now, which is basically a predominantly Caucasian community,” Yamate said.
Contact Annalise Freimarck at annalise@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @annalise_ellen on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This story originally appeared in San José Spotlight.