San Jose City Council incumbent Peter Ortiz is leading the race in District 5.
As of 8:45 p.m. on Election Day, early results show Ortiz leading with 56.8% of the vote, or 4,645 votes. Nora Campos trails with 43.1% of the vote or 3,532 votes.
Both candidates are vying for the District 5 seat, which encompasses the neighborhoods of Alum Rock, Mt. Pleasant and the greater East Side area. Ortiz and Campos beat out Karen Martínez and Vy Dang in the June 2 primary.
Ortiz was not immediately available for comment.
Campos remained optimistic after the initial results posted.
“It’s going to be a long night,” Campos told San José Spotlight. “There’s still a lot of vote still out there, I believe, from the lines that I saw.”
Ortiz has been in office since 2022 and contends over his last four years that he has demonstrated himself to be among “the city’s most consistent champions for working families.” He’s now laying out his plans to advance several key initiatives.
Ortiz pointed to several policies he has prioritized, including measures to increase protections for immigrants, stiffen penalties for catalytic converter thefts and punish landlords who fail to maintain habitable living spaces for tenants.
In addition, Ortiz said he has sought to cut down on emergency response times by advocating for the hiring of more emergency personnel. He also cited his work to help secure a $3 million federal grant to support the expansion of the Mexican Heritage Plaza’s La Placita project
Before joining the council, Ortiz, who grew up in East San Jose, overcame gang involvement as a teen before becoming a community advocate and serving on local school boards. He previously served as president of the Santa Clara County Board of Education, as well as a member of the Mt. Pleasant Elementary School District board.
He received the sole endorsement in the race from the South Bay Labor Council.
Campos is a familiar figure in South Bay politics. She held the District 5 seat between 2001 and 2010 and went on to serve in the state Assembly from 2010 to 2016. Now Campos, 60, is seeking a rematch against Ortiz, who won 55% of the runoff vote in 2022.
Campos, who leads policy advisory firm 55 Advisors, said her years of experience in elected office have positioned her well to carry out her campaign platform centered on affordable housing, park investments, boosting youth programs, homelessness and small business support.
Campos said during her prior term representing District 5, she helped lay the foundations for several East San Jose milestones. She points to her role in leading the revitalization of the neglected shopping area at Story and King roads, advocating for VTA’s light rail extension to Eastridge and hiring more police under former Mayor Chuck Reed.
This story will be updated.
Contact Lorraine Gabbert at [email protected].
This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.