News & Updates

A hard-fought campaign for San José City Council will continue into the summer, after voters in Tuesday’s special election appeared to propel Gabby Chavez-Lopez into a June 24 runoff for the District 3 seat.

Chavez-Lopez leads the seven-candidate field with 30% of the vote — short of the majority needed to win the election outright. The second spot in the runoff remains up for grabs: Matthew Quevedo has captured 23% of the vote, holding a narrow 159-vote lead over Anthony Tordillos, who has received 20%.

 

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Here's how to vote in the June 24th Special Election in District 3!

Filling Out Your Ballot!

In-Person Voting (Vote Centers)

• Joyce Ellington Branch Library [491 E. Empire St.]: June 14 - June 23 (9:00am-5:00pm), and June 24th (7:00am-8:00pm)
• Olinder Community Center [848 E. Williams St.]: June 14 - June 23 (9:00am-5:00pm), and June 24th (7:00am-8:00pm)
• Center for Employment Training [701 Vine St.]: June 21 - June 23 (9:00am-5:00pm), and June 24th (7:00am-8:00pm)

 

Mail Ballot Voting and Ballot Drop Boxes:

All voters should have received a mail ballot the week of March 10th. If you have not received a ballot, please check your voter registration, track your ballot, or request a new one if needed.

Mail Ballots can be put into the mail, and returned to the Registrar to be counted - with NO POSTAGE REQUIRED. All ballots that are postmarked by Election Day (June 24th) will be counted.

Mail Ballots can also be dropped off at any of the Vote Centers above, or at the following Drop Box Locations:

• Joyce Ellington Branch Library: 491 East Empire St.
• Biblioteca Latinoamericana Branch Library: 921 South First St.
• San Jose City Hall: 200 East Santa Clara St.
• East San José Carnegie Branch Library: 1102 East Santa Clara St.
• Santa Clara County Civic Center West Wing: 70 West Hedding St.
• Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters (Near the Flagpole): 1555 Berger Drive, San Jose, CA 95112

You can find your closest ballot drop box location here (be sure to set your election date to the June 24, 2025 Special Runoff).

You can also reach out to the Office of Registrar of Voters at [email protected] or call (408) 299-8683.

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The District 3 candidate believes her experiences translate to understanding the city’s most pressing issues

By Devan Patel | [email protected] | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: February 27, 2025 at 6:00 AM PST

On the day Gabby Chavez-Lopez came home from the hospital with her newborn son, one of the first questions that ran through her mind was where she wanted to raise him.

The 37-year-old was living in New Mexico at the time but wanted the best opportunity for her family — a similar feeling she experienced after spending most of her childhood and adolescence in Fresno.

Born to professors at Fresno State University, she gained a foundational understanding of how to build power through community, even walking with her father as a young child in the funeral procession for Cesar Chavez. But when her father took a new job in San Jose during the tech boom, it presented a new level of excitement — as if the sky was the limit. Chavez-Lopez later realized she wanted to replicate that for her son and now for the city’s residents as she seeks the District 3 City Council seat.

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SAN JOSE, Calif. - Hundreds of people came out to the first forum held for the candidates running for San Jose’s District 3 seat. One of the candidates will replace Omar Torres in April after a special election. Torres resigned in November and is now in jail facing child sexual assault charges.

District 3 represents so much of the city’s economic future and this forum gave voters an opportunity to hear how they’d address the district’s most pressing issues.

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San Jose officials are at a crossroads over how to fill the City Council seat left vacant by Omar Torres’ stunning Election Day arrest and resignation — and several potential contenders want to take his place.

City leaders in the next several weeks will decide whether to replace Torres in a special election or appointment, the latter of which would be voted in by the council majority. Either route could tip the scales of power in a city balancing labor and business interests.

While the city hasn’t officially opened a nomination period, several residents are considering the open District 3 seat to represent the downtown core, including Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley Executive Director Gabriela Chavez-Lopez.

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SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Latina leaders and community members gathered Thursday at San Jose State University to call on local leaders and businesses to close the wage gap.

On average in the U.S., Latinas make 51 cents for every dollar made by men.

In Silicon Valley, the gap is even wider.

The day falls on the 277th day of the year, showing how many days extra Latinas would have to work to make what their white male counterparts make in a year.

"San Jose, unfortunately, is the epicenter of the wage gap in the entire nation," said Gabby Chavez-Lopez, Executive Director of Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley. "Latina workers are paid 33.6 cents on the dollar compared to their white male, non-Hispanic counterparts and what that means is debilitating happening for that individual for families."

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