Just months after a Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury slammed the Santa Clara City Council for being unable to “work together as a cohesive group,” three councilmembers are up for reelection and another is terming out in what could lead to the reshaping of the council for the first time in years.
Councilmembers Kevin Park, Anthony Becker and Suds Jain are running for a second term in their respective districts and Councilmember Kathy Watanabe — Mayor Lisa Gillmor’s sole ally on the seven-person council — is terming out.
The San Francisco 49ers and Levi’s Stadium has been one of the biggest dividing issues among city officials and residents in recent years, with the NFL team and its owners spending $13.1 million in Santa Clara elections between 2009 and 2023.
In early September, the 49ers set up four different political action committees supporting and opposing a slate of candidates and contributed nearly $1 million into them. The team is renewing its support for Park and Jain and opposing their challengers: businessman David Kertes and former Councilmember Teresa O’Neill.
In the seat left open by Watanabe, the 49ers are supporting Santa Clara Unified School District Trustee Albert Gonzalez and opposing former Charter Review Committee member Satish Chandra. In District 6, which is represented by Becker, the team has opted to support former Parks and Recreation Commissioner George Guerra and oppose Santa Clara University Assistant Dean Kelly Cox.
With Watanabe terming out, the mayor, who has had an adversarial relationship with the 49ers, has backed a slate of candidates challenging Park, Becker and Jain and running on a platform to “reclaim our council.”
In the coming years, the council will continue to grapple with a more than $600 million infrastructure backlog, which could be partly filled by a $400 million bond also on the November ballot, and plan for two major sporting events — Super Bowl LX and the FIFA World Cup — in 2026.
Santa Clara District 1
Harbir Bhatia
Bhatia, 53, is the CEO and President of the Silicon Valley Central Chamber of Commerce and is running for the District 1 seat for a second time after her unsuccessful bid in 2020. She sees herself as a civic entrepreneur, having served in various community organizations, the Santa Clara Cultural Commission and traveling to Ukraine to help women and children escape during the latest Russian invasion.
“For me, that’s just the way my brain works, I go to look for a solution, not to complain,” Bhatia said of her experience as a community organizer. “We want to explain the problems, but we need to be able to find the solutions and I’m very good at finding the solution. I’m not a career politician.”
Bhatia has what she called a “future forward” plan for Santa Clara that focuses on sustainable planning by addressing the housing crisis, economic development through leveraging upcoming major events at Levi’s Stadium and supporting small businesses and increasing community engagement by forming a task force to address the impact of the stadium on nearby residents.
She is endorsed by four members of the council — Councilmembers Raj Chahal, Karen Hardy, Park and Jain — as well as other local elected officials, such as California State Sen. Dave Cortese and Assemblymembers Alex Lee and Ash Kalra.
Satish Chandra
Chandra, 51, is a first-time candidate who has spent the last 25 years working in the IT sector. He said he decided to run for council because he wants to “give back to the community.”
“I have immense gratitude to this country and that’s where I wanted to contribute positively wherever I can and bridge the gap and make it a better place,” Chandra said.
He currently serves on the Police Department’s Chief Advisory Committee and was a member of the recent Charter Review Committee that recommended two failed ballot measures in the March primary that tried to change the police chief and city clerk roles from an elected position to an appointed one. Chandra opposed the measures.
His top priorities include ensuring the safety of Santa Clara residents and supporting small businesses.
Chandra is endorsed by Gillmor, Watanabe and other local elected officials, such as Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, Santa Clara Police Chief Pat Nikolai and Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein.
Albert Gonzalez
Gonzalez, 52, has served on the Santa Clara Unified School District Board of Trustees since 2008 and said he wants to bring his experience to the council as it continues to navigate difficult times.
“I’ve seen different governance teams in the 16 years that I’ve served on my board,” he said. “Sometimes there’s challenging episodes within different governance teams, different characters, different ways that people go about governing and leading, and I see this as an opportunity really to help the council with some of the conflicts, the internal strife that they’ve had there on the council and hopefully get people moving in the right direction.”
Gonzalez’s top priorities include working with developers and other partners to build more affordable housing, investing in efficient and sustainable services, such as public safety, public works and the city’s permitting department and ensuring the city has leaders they can count on.
His endorsements include East Palo Alto Mayor Antonio López, San Jose City Councilmember Peter Ortiz, the Santa Clara County Democratic Party and the South Bay Labor Council.
Santa Clara District 4
Teresa O’Neill
O’Neill, 69, who served as Santa Clara’s District 4 councilmember from 2012 to 2020, said she wants to help Santa Clara return to a more positive environment, calling her candidacy “a chance to do a little bit of a reset.”
“I felt like I have the leadership experience and a record of some achievement and a record of being able to work well with lots of different types of people in a civil manner, in a constructive manner so that we can move forward,” O’Neill said. “I feel like things have gotten a little stultifying and the progress has been limited because of some of the ways some members of the council choose to interact between themselves, with the public and with staff.”
O’Neill also said she wants to do a “deep dive” into the city’s financial model and examine how to make it more sustainable so they can provide the services people want.
Her endorsements include Gillmor, State Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Cupertino), the Santa Clara County Democratic Party, the South Bay Labor Council and former Santa Clara County Supervisor Rod Diridon Sr.
Kevin Park
Park, 54, who could not be reached for an interview, is running for a second term on the council.
On his website, Park said that since taking office he has “helped create new sources of revenue to help our city grow and begin to restore its reserves. We have more stadium events and profits, updated business license fees and other increases to the general fund.”
He added that he has also “fought for transparency and public voice, whether it be for residential projects, or policies that were untruthful or outright repressive.”
Santa Clara District 5
Suds Jain
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Jain, 62, is running for reelection and said he’s looking forward to pursuing some of the priorities he wasn’t able to accomplish in his first term because of the city’s deficit.
“I believe that I’ve been very effective at getting things done in Santa Clara,” he said of his first term. “We did the Homelessness Task Force. I started the Station Area Plan and I’ve done a very active and aggressive climate action plan where now we’re making data centers commit 100% of their electricity to be 100% carbon-free renewable electricity.”
Jain’s priorities include ensuring more affordable housing is built in the city — especially near the future BART station — revitalizing the downtown area and meeting Santa Clara’s climate goals, which includes an 80% carbon reduction by 2035.
Jain is endorsed by Chahal, Hardy and Park as well as other elected officials including U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, Santa Clara County Supervisors Susan Ellenberg, Cindy Chavez and Otto Lee.
David Kertes
Kertes, 54, is a businessman who wants to bring his problem solving skills and experience to the council after he said he watched it deteriorate in recent years.
“I coach West Side Little League and Santa Clara Youth Soccer and have two kids that play both sports as well and I try and do as much as I can for the community,” he said. “So my next thing for the community was really let’s get this council back to the transparency that’s missing, the integrity and the ethics.”
Kertes said he’s concerned about the upcoming Super Bowl and World Cup in 2026 and if elected, he wants to make sure the city is protected. His other priorities include improving access to youth sports by reducing the cost of using facilities and creating a long-term plan for the city’s growth.
Kertes’ endorsements include Gillmor, Watanabe, Nikolai and the Santa Clara Police Officers’ Association.
Santa Clara District 6
Anthony Becker
Becker, 39, is currently awaiting trial for allegedly leaking a confidential Santa Clara County civil grand jury report and lying about it. But the councilmember said he’s running for reelection because he believes that he is “not in the wrong.”
Becker said that he wants to continue his “commitment to Santa Clara” and finish the job he started four years ago.
“My message has always been the same, which is focusing on our city, offering hope for a better tomorrow,” he said.
Becker said that if he’s reelected he wants to focus on issues like rebuilding the city’s failing infrastructure — including finding a long-term plan for the recently closed George F. Haines International Swim Center — ensuring more affordable housing and revitalizing the downtown area.
Becker currently has no endorsements.
Kelly Cox
Cox, 44, is the assistant dean for the Santa Clara University School of Engineering as well as a former Parks and Recreation Commissioner. She said she decided to run for council because she believes that “Santa Clara really deserves leaders who are committed to restoring public trust and serving the people over public interest.”
“The rhetoric in the city is quite dismal right now,” she said. “And we really believe that we’re losing kind of our community connection and our residents first perspective.”
Aside from restoring residents’ trust in Santa Clara’s governance, Cox’s top priorities include supporting working families by pushing for more affordable housing and planning for sustainable growth in the city thorough infrastructure improvements and a revitalized downtown.
Cox is endorsed by Gillmor, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Dana Caldwell and Santa Clara Board of Library Trustee Debbie Tryforos.
George Guerra
Guerra, 60, is a telecom manager and former Parks and Recreation Commissioner who decided to run after seeing a divide in the council that he wants to fix.
“A theme of mine is trying to bring everybody together, trying to move past all this rhetoric and negativity,” he said. “I think that is something that I could bring out in other councilmembers and hopefully work to move towards policy that values everybody’s input.”
Guerra’s priorities include redeveloping and revitalizing the downtown, ensuring that police officers and fire fighters are well-equipped and well-trained and addressing the city’s growing infrastructure issues.
He currently has no endorsements.