The next election results update is expected Wednesday, June 25 at 5 p.m.
EARLY ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS show San Jose Planning Commission Chair Anthony Tordillos leading by double digits in the race to represent downtown San Jose and replace disgraced former District 3 Councilmember Omar Torres.
As of 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, Tordillos held 64.8% of the vote, or 4,449 votes. Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley Executive Director Gabby Chavez-Lopez trails in second place with 35.1% of the vote, or 2,413 votes. Nearly 6,901 ballots have been cast, according to Santa Clara County elections officials who will continue processing ballots Wednesday.
Tordillos, taking in the strides of the early trends, said his first issue upon taking office will be housing.
“Housing has been my No. 1 issue — it’s what got me into local politics to begin with,” Tordillos told San José Spotlight. “I’m looking forward to continue to lead on housing on City Council and find ways to turn around our housing shortage and build a more affordable San Jose.”
Tordillos supporters — picking over charcuterie and passing drinks around at The Pressroom bar in downtown San Jose — erupted into cheers when the results on the screen flashed his early lead over Chavez-Lopez.
District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan arrived at Tordillos’ party just after the initial round of results, but he said he’s not here to pick a favorite in the race.
“I’m just looking to work with council District 3,” Doan told San José Spotlight.
Clarice Shephard, a downtown resident since 2008, said Tordillos stood out for his position on the planning commission — and because he’s one of her neighbors.
“Anthony’s my guy because I think he’ll help us with homelessness and the safety of our neighborhood and taking care of the few parks we have in our little downtown area,” Shephard told San José Spotlight. “He picks up trash— he does everything. I think he’d take the shirt off his back if you needed it.”
Despite Chavez-Lopez trailing in votes, a steady stream of supporters at her viewing party at the Corinthian Ballroom are watching the results with optimism.
Chavez-Lopez said her campaign will be watching the results come in over the next few days, as there are more votes to count. Applause rang out as she addressed more than 100 supporters and confirmed she will not concede until every vote is counted.
She told San José Spotlight there were many factors between the April primary and now that could impact the election, including thousands of special interest dollars spent opposing her.
“Obviously my opponent has a lead and we’re going to be monitoring this closely, making sure that we’re watching and seeing what the voters of District 3 ultimately are going to be deciding,” Chavez-Lopez told San José Spotlight.
District 2 Santa Clara County Supervisor Betty Duong attended Chavez-Lopez’s party and said initial results showed “we had two fierce candidates that ran strong campaigns.”
“By the time we’re done, we’re going to have a councilmember who really cares about downtown,” Duong told San José Spotlight.
District 4 Councilmember David Cohen, who endorsed Chavez-Lopez, said he was surprised by the steep margin, though low turnout was one of his concerns with running a special election.
“The first round numbers aren’t promising,” Cohen told San José Spotlight. “We will see how it plays out, but it looks like the high spending of the other side made a difference with voters.”
Whichever candidate succeeds will have to help grapple with the city’s structural budget shortfall, which is expected to balloon to $52.9 million in 2026-27.
The election results could tip the City Council’s delicate scales of power. Mayor Matt Mahan just won colleagues’ approval for a handful of his headline-grabbing proposals, including arresting homeless people for refusing shelter, which have built him a statewide political profile. But his council majority isn’t always consistent. His colleagues recently shot down one of his boldest proposals to tie city leaders’ salaries to their performance.
Mahan initially put his support behind one of his deputy chiefs of staff, Matthew Quevedo, in the special election’s April 8 primary. Quevedo was knocked out of the race after razor-thin margins triggered a recount. Mahan then threw his support behind Tordillos.
Mahan arrived at Tordillos’ party shortly after the first round of results.
“If you get to know Anthony, he’s such a kind and thoughtful person who asks great questions and really wants to understand issues,” Mahan told San José Spotlight. “He and I don’t agree on every issue, but we’ve done hours of deep conversation talking about data and he’s got the right mindset.”
In campaign finance filings posted Monday, Tordillos grew his fundraising lead to almost $100,000 ahead of Chavez-Lopez. Tordillos is going into Election Day having raised $360,734 total, and Chavez-Lopez is trailing with $261,028. Both have spent the vast majority of their funds to campaign.
Four PACs have lined up to back Tordillos, including the Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee, which endorsed Tordillos and spent $34,836 to support his campaign. The San Jose Police Officers Association PAC has spent $29,051 to support Tordillos and $8,209 to oppose Chavez-Lopez.
Common Good Silicon Valley, a PAC created in 2021 by freshman Congressmember and former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, spent thousands to support Quevedo ahead of the April election. Following Mahan’s endorsement of Tordillos in May, the PAC spent $15,000 to support Tordillos and $10,000 to oppose Chavez-Lopez.
A new special interest group formed June 10 — Californians Working Together to Support Tordillos for City Council 2025 Sponsored by Labor Organizations — has spent more than $39,000 supporting Tordillos. It’s funded by unions that have endorsed Tordillos, including Operating Engineers Local 3 and the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, as well as developers such as Bayview Development Group, Inc.
Chavez-Lopez is endorsed by the South Bay Labor Council, which has spent more than $500,000 since the start of her campaign to get her elected.
Before the April primary election, the committee Working Families in Support of Gabby Chavez-Lopez for City Council 2025 spent about $51,000 supporting Chavez-Lopez and opposing Quevedo before terminating on April 25. It was primarily funded by large companies, including PG&E, Chevron and Walmart.
Chavez-Lopez has also been the target of more than $320,000 in opposition spending from multiple business stakeholders, including the Silicon Valley Biz PAC and California Real Estate Independent Expenditure Committee.
The special election is the result of a child sex abuse investigation into former Councilmember Torres, which led to his arrest and resignation on Election Day last November. The scandal revealed Torres sent texts asking for sex with minors and admitted to molesting an underage relative in the 1990s. Torres pleaded “no contest” in court April 8. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for August.
Story updated June 24 at 9:51 p.m. Original story published June 24 at 8:08 p.m.
Contact Brandon Pho at brandon@sanjosespotlight.com or @brandonphooo on X. Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at sakura@sanjosespotlight.com or @SakuCannestra on X.
This story originally appeared in San José Spotlight.