San Jose, Santa Clara, and Morgan Hill Council Returns Take Shape

Preliminary returns from the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters show San Jose council incumbents holding early leads in Districts 5 and 7, a competitive open-seat contest in District 9, a six-candidate race for mayor in Santa Clara, and a split outcome in Morgan Hill.

San Jose City Council Races in Districts 5, 7, and 9

In East San Jose's District 5, incumbent Councilmember Peter Ortiz—who has held the seat since 2022 advocating for youth and working families—is leading challenger Nora Campos with 56.8% of the vote to Campos' 43.1%, according to San José Spotlight. Early unofficial totals reported by San Jose Inside credited Ortiz with 4,645 votes in the opening count.

In District 7, Councilmember Bien Doan—who had a 21-year career with the San Jose Fire Department—leads challenger Van Le with 62.8% of the vote (5,316 votes) to Le's 37.17% (3,145 votes), with county voter turnout at 23.20%, according to San José Spotlight. Doan is on pace to become the first incumbent reelected in District 7 in more than a decade, while Le was making her fourth bid for the council seat.

In District 9, Genny Altwer, a former police officer and licensed marriage and family therapist, secured an early lead with 53.6% of the vote over Chester Gordon, a longtime city employee in the Public Works Department who received 46.3%, with countywide turnout reported at 23.13% at the time of the update, according to San José Spotlight.

Santa Clara Mayoral and Council Contests Amid 49ers Campaign Spending

In the six-way race for mayor of Santa Clara, Councilmember Karen Hardy leads early returns with 23.8% of the vote (2,919 votes), followed closely by Kathy Watanabe in second place with 21.5% (2,634 votes), according to San José Spotlight. David Kertes is in third place with 18.6%, Kevin Park is fourth with 16.9%, Armando "Gary" Ferraris is fifth with 12%, and Mike Wiltberger is sixth with 6.8%.

In Santa Clara's City Council contests, Kimberley Williams leads District 2 with 58.4% of the vote over Yvonne Inciarte at 41.5%, while Eric Crutchlow leads District 3 with 55% of the vote over Kyle Madej at 44.9%, with approximately 337,600 ballots remaining unprocessed countywide, according to San José Spotlight.

As reported by San Jose Inside, the San Francisco 49ers spent more than $2.6 million in 2026 to influence local elections in Santa Clara—bringing the team's local political spending to nearly $11.5 million since 2020—with mixed results in early voting: while 49ers-backed District 2 candidate Kimberley Williams held a solid lead with 1,021 votes in the initial count, mayoral candidate Gary Ferraris trailed in fourth place with 1,472 votes behind Karen Hardy (2,911 votes in that initial tally) and Kathy Watanabe (2,619 votes).

Morgan Hill Mayor Reelected as Council Incumbents Trail

In South County, Morgan Hill Mayor Mark Turner won reelection with 50.2% of the vote, while challenger Deborah Africa received 37.3%, according to San José Spotlight. However, two Morgan Hill City Council incumbents fell behind challengers: in District B, Steven Hayes led incumbent Yvonne Martinez Beltran with 63.9% of the vote, and in District D, Dolores Alvarado led incumbent Marilyn Librers with 58.5% of the vote.