San Jose and Santa Clara Tally Council Votes as SEED Act Passes

SAN JOSE & SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Incumbent San Jose City Councilmembers Peter Ortiz and Bien Doan and District 9 candidate Genny Altwer opened early leads in Tuesday’s 2026 election returns while Santa Clara Councilmember Karen Hardy led a 6-way mayoral contest despite more than $2.6 million in San Francisco 49ers political spending, as Silicon Valley educators welcomed the newly signed federal SEED Act and 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk filed for NFL reinstatement.

San Jose Councilmembers Peter Ortiz and Bien Doan Lead as Genny Altwer Tops District 9

According to Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters returns reported by San Jose Inside and San José Spotlight:

• District 5 (East San Jose / Alum Rock / Mt. Pleasant): As reported by San José Spotlight, incumbent Peter Ortiz (elected in 2022 with 55% over Nora Campos after advancing from the June 2 primary against Karen Martínez and Vy Dang, and backed by the South Bay Labor Council and a $3 million federal grant for Mexican Heritage Plaza’s La Placita) led former Assemblymember Nora Campos, 60 (who represented District 5 from 2001 to 2010 and the Assembly from 2010 to 2016 and leads 55 Advisors), by 56.8% (4,645 votes) to 43.1% (3,532 votes).
• District 7 (Central & East San Jose / Little Saigon): As reported by San José Spotlight with county turnout at 23.20%, incumbent Bien Doan, 61—a 21-year San Jose Fire Department veteran and the city’s first Vietnamese fire captain who unseated Maya Esparza in 2022, backed Med 30 in a district with 145,000 Vietnamese residents, and raised nearly $190,000 (including a $20,000 personal loan, spending $167,770, while addressing 1985–1987 court records)—led 4-time candidate and 4-term East Side Union High School District trustee Van Le (who fled Vietnam in 1975, lived in San Jose for 40+ years, ran a State Farm agency for 20+ years, and raised $119,286 with a $30,000 loan, spending $98,410) by 62.8% (5,316 votes) to 37.17% (3,145 votes), becoming the first District 7 incumbent reelected since 2010.
• District 9 (Willow Glen / Hillsdale / Cambrian Park): As reported by San José Spotlight with turnout at 23.13%, Genny Altwer, 46—a 13-year former San Mateo police officer and licensed marriage and family therapist endorsed by Mayor Matt Mahan, Rep. Sam Liccardo, and outgoing Vice Mayor Pam Foley (who backed chief of staff Scott Hughes in the primary) and celebrating at Jack Holders Restaurant—led 10-year Public Works employee Gordon Chester (Chester Gordon, backed by San Jose YIMBY, State Sen. Dave Cortese, Assemblymember Marc Berman, and Supervisor Otto Lee, and chatting with Assessor Neysa Fligor) by 53.6% (7,104 votes) to 46.3% (6,133 votes), a margin of less than 1,000 votes.

Karen Hardy Leads Santa Clara Mayoral Race Despite $2.6M in 49ers PAC Spending

In Santa Clara, San Jose Inside and San José Spotlight reported that the San Francisco 49ers—who spent nearly $42 million on NFL free agents including kicker Eddy Piñeiro—poured over $2.6 million in 2026 (and nearly $11.5 million since 2020) into independent expenditure committees to succeed termed-out Mayor Lisa Gillmor.

Despite 49ers PAC spending backing AFSCME Council 57 representative Armando "Gary" Ferraris and opposing Kathy Watanabe and David Kertes, retired Wilcox High School computer science teacher and Councilmember Karen Hardy (elected in 2018, vice mayor in 2020, retired from teaching in 2025, and co-founder of a robotics program with Suds Jain) led with 23.8% (2,911 votes in initial reports, 2,919 at 8:45 p.m., and 2,947 at 9 p.m.), followed by 40-year Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP legal assistant and 8-year former Councilmember Kathy Watanabe (termed out in 2024) at 21.5% (2,619 / 2,634 / 2,648 votes), 20-year sales executive and Novanta director David Kertes at 18.6% (2,265 / 2,290 votes), District 4 Councilmember Kevin Park at 16.9% (2,071 / 2,089 votes), Gary Ferraris at 12% (1,472 / 1,502 votes), and Mike Wiltberger at 6.8% (851 votes). In Santa Clara City Council District 2, 49ers-backed Kimberley Williams (Kimberly Williams) led Yvonne Inciarte 1,021 to 737 (1,036 to 751 at 9 p.m.), while in District 3 Eric Crutchlow led Kyle Madej 993 to 818 (1,002 to 820).

Across other Santa Clara County races reported at 9 p.m. by San Jose Inside: Raeena Lari led Karla Vega 21,790 to 12,780 for County Board of Education Area 7; Craig Gleason led Tina Marie To 11,081 to 4,545 in Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Ward 1; Campbell saw Dan Furtado lead Joseph Brenner 782 to 439 (District 3) and Davis Fields lead Joseph Guardado 771 to 321 (District 4); Cupertino (3 seats) had John Tang (3,761), J.R. Fruen (3,473), and Seema Lindskog (3,240) ahead of Tracy Kosolcharoen (2,398), Santosh Rao (2,248), Gopal Kumarappan (1,898), Mark Fantozzi (1,210), and J.Z. Wang (1,039); Gilroy had Diana Bentz over Fred Tovar 426 to 300 (District 4), Christina Tovar (583) over Tom Cline (463) and Joseph Garcia (175) (District 5), and Rebeca Armendariz (393) over Elizabeth Bracco (276) and Brad Starks (124) (District 6); Los Altos had Anky van Deursen over Lynette Eng 723 to 587 (District 2) and Jim Waschura (1,140) and Jasmeen Pombra (1,023) over Indu Kadambi (619) (At-Large 2 seats); Los Gatos (3 seats) had Rob Moore (3,912), Jeff Suzuki (3,080), and Rob Stump (2,874) over Mary Badame (2,722), Steve Raspe (2,144), and Heidi Owens (1,500); Milpitas had Hon Lien (3,174) leading Mayor Carmen Montano (3,103), Santosh Sahoo (687), and Voltaire Montemayor (644), with Bill Chuan (3,116) and Gary Barbadillo (3,001) leading Seema Kanani (2,224), Jennie Ha Phan (2,030), and Dipak Awasthi (1,894); Morgan Hill Mayor Mark Turner (3,915) led Deborah Africa (2,940) and Kristopher Clayton (808), with Steven Hayes (1,227 to 696 over Yvonne Beltran in District B) and Dolores Alvarado (1,262 to 883 over Marilyn Librers in District D); Palo Alto (3 seats) had Byran Chang (7,021), Ed Lauing (6,583), and Vicki Veenker (6,559) over Yu Deng (3,867), Brian Hamachek (1,928), Raymond Goins (1,419), Gary Gechlik (943), and Henry Etzkowitz (730); and Saratoga (3 seats) had Ping Li (4,091), Jeri Bromley (3,673), and Bill Dalton (3,176) over Glenn Hendricks (2,018).

SEED Act Reimburses Pre-K Teachers $350 as Brandon Aiyuk Reports to 49ers and Billy Evans Speaks Out

In education, sports, and regional culture news on Wednesday:

• Rep. Jimmy Panetta’s SEED Act Signed into Law: As reported by San José Spotlight, the Supporting Early-Childhood Educators’ Deductions (SEED) Act authored by Congressman Jimmy Panetta extends up to $350 in federal tax deductions (roughly one-third of the $895 educators spend on average each year) to transitional kindergarten (TK) and preschool teachers, building on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2021 Assembly Bill 130 universal TK rollout (2022-23 to 2025-26) for 4-year-olds. Visiting Santa Teresa Elementary School in San Jose’s Oak Grove School District on October 26 (Oct. 26), Panetta joined Principal Kristi Frankina, Curriculum Director Patricia Mondragon-Doty (who noted sites have expanded from 1 to 2 or 3 TK classes serving 60 children), and TK teachers Jennifer Anderson (who spends over $1,000 a year) and Julie Rau (who spent $3,000 when starting and $300 so far this year).
• Brandon Aiyuk Plans to Report to 49ers Facility on Friday: According to The San Francisco Standard, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk—on the 49ers’ reserve/left squad list since December 2025 after tearing knee ligaments in October 2024, signing an extension worth up to $120 million ($48.1 million paid across 7 games, nearly $50 million since 2024), and seeing guarantees voided in summer 2025—hired agent Drew Rosenhaus and applied for reinstatement ahead of the November 10 (Nov. 10) trade deadline. Aiyuk plans to report Friday after addressing 3 open Santa Clara County traffic cases, leaving coach Kyle Shanahan and GM John Lynch (with $35 million+ in 2026 cap space) to weigh a physical, the $715,000 prorated remainder of his $1.2 million base salary (after avoiding his $24.9 million option bonus, ahead of non-guaranteed $27 million and $29 million salaries in 2027 and 2028), or a release that accelerates $21.2 million in cap charges onto 2026 and 2027 instead of through 2029.
• Billy Evans Discusses You Can See Everything Documentary: As reported by NBC Bay Area, Billy Evans—who shares 2 children with former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, sentenced in 2022 to 11 years (11.25 years) on 4 counts of wire fraud (3 counts of wire fraud and 1 count of conspiracy) in Bryan, Texas—hosted a November 3 (Nov. 3) AMA on X (@per_asp3ra) about Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s October 16 (Oct. 16) documentary You Can See Everything (after celebrating Fielder’s birthday and the Time 100 dinner in Del Mar and spending 3 final days together before prison).