Attack ad row escalates between San Jose District 7 candidates ahead of election

With less than two weeks until Election Day, the challenger in San Jose’s District 7 City Council race is accusing incumbent Bien Doan of an all-out effort to stifle her voice in the campaign. Doan is calling it a manufactured controversy.

Community advocate Van Le, a trustee for the East Side Union High School District, held a Thursday news conference to draw attention to her accusations, which center on two recent dust ups between the rival campaigns. Both incidents are part of the fallout from an attack ad issued by Le’s campaign last month that resurfaced two misdemeanor theft convictions Doan faced 40 years ago in his early 20s. Doan accused Le of misrepresenting his record and threatened to file a defamation lawsuit.