Tordillos Cites Desire for ‘New Type of Politics in San José’ in Apparent Council Win

In a city long divided by the political interests of business and organized labor, San José Planning Commission Chair Anthony Tordillos charted a unique path to his apparent victory in Tuesday’s special City Council election.

Backed by a coalition that included business groups, moderate political organizations and a handful of labor unions, Tordillos opened a wide lead over nonprofit executive Gabby Chavez-Lopez, 65% to 35%. He said voters wanted “a new type of politics in San José,” and the results could shake up the alignment of power at City Hall.

“When I first entered this race, seven months ago, I think a lot of folks did not expect us to make it this far — most folks didn’t even expect us to make it into the runoff to begin with,” Tordillos said. “But we focused on getting out there, talking to as many voters as possible, really building those direct relationships with the people of District 3, and I think that’s carried us very far.”

Tuesday’s vote was the culmination of a campaign that began after the shocking resignation and arrest of former District 3 Councilmember Omar Torres, who pleaded no contest to charges of child sexual abuse. Tordillos acknowledged the district had “been through a lot” and said he was committed to rebuilding trust between City Hall and voters in the downtown district.

“First priority is just going to make sure that we staff up the District 3 office so that we can be responsive to constituent concerns, start to build those bridges with all of our neighborhood associations, all of our community leaders, so that we can really hit the ground running and represent all of the people of District 3,” Tordillos said. “After that, focus on policy. I’ve run a policy-centric campaign focused on housing affordability and homelessness and public safety.”

Tordillos is seen as more progressive than the current interim District 3 councilmember Carl Salas, but his status as a political newcomer with a broad coalition of support makes it difficult to predict how he might shift the City Council’s political alignment.

Mayor Matt Mahan endorsed Tordillos after his preferred candidate failed to advance to the runoff. Tordillos aligns with the mayor on promoting housing development downtown and using a data-driven approach to track the city’s progress on key priorities.

But Tordillos has resisted Mahan’s push for a long-term realignment of homeless dollars from permanent housing to shelter, and he opposed the mayor’s plan to arrest unhoused people who refuse multiple offers of shelter.

“He and I don’t agree on every issue,” Mahan said. “But we’ve had hours of deep conversations talking about data, and so he’s got the right mindset.”

Chavez-Lopez did not concede the race on Tuesday, but acknowledged the early results were disappointing. A longtime community activist and executive director of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley, she ran with the support of the South Bay Labor Council and a long list of South Bay elected officials.

“I feel like we really led a positive, affirming campaign that was really trying to play to people’s hopes more than their fears,” Chavez-Lopez said.

After finishing first in the April 8 election, Chavez-Lopez faced a deluge of negative ads in the runoff campaign, bankrolled by outside groups including the California Association of Realtors and the San José Police Officers Association.

The Realtors spent more than $160,000 in the runoff, including on mailers that labeled Chavez-Lopez “Greedy Gabby.” The Chavez-Lopez campaign believed the attack was a result of her support for expanding rent control.

“The amount of vitriol and just attacks that I experienced as a woman, as a mother, as somebody that’s just a longtime public servant…has been something,” Chavez-Lopez said. “Hopefully, I can go out and change things moving forward and make it more of an accessible place for other women who might want to run after me.”

The District 3 seat has long been a marquee position on the council, covering downtown, the San José State campus and historic neighborhoods such as Japantown and Guadalupe-Washington. Former mayors Susan Hammer, Sam Liccardo and Tom McEnery, along with former Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, all held the seat.

The district is also at the center of many of the city’s vexing challenges, such as reducing homelessness and building a vibrant downtown.

“We have the majority of the unhoused population [in District 3] who are living in abject human suffering, so we have to address that head-on. We have this proposed plan for BART to come through downtown to bring downtown San José back to its glory,” said County Supervisor Betty Duong, who endorsed Chavez-Lopez in the election.

“So there’s a lot of work to do and it’s going to require partnership, empathy, compassion for those who are the most vulnerable and also bold leadership,” Duong added.

Gabrielle Antolovich, board president of the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center, thinks Tordillos will be up for the challenge. She recalled hearing him at an early candidate forum and was impressed with his policy knowledge.

“You ask him a question and you actually get an answer,” she said. “And part of it is that he’s not a politician just jumping from being a regular person to becoming City Council — he’s been on the Planning Commission.”

“At first, I was afraid that he was a gay man…with all the negativity that’s out there about LGBTQs, and I immediately felt protective because I’m old and he’s young and I thought I’ve got to protect him from the hate out there,” Antolovich added. “But he is a completely different creature. He carries himself really well, he’s very professional and he cares.”