Three months before the June 3 primary election, races for San Jose City Council and Santa Clara County supervisor are heating up.
Friday’s deadline for submitting papers to run for office showed competitive races for three of San Jose’s 10 city council districts and two of the five supervisorial seats.
In San Jose, six candidates filed for a chance to replace termed-out Forrest Williams in District 2, which includes the Santa Teresa area and the Coyote Valley. They are defense lawyer and planning commissioner Ash Kalra, Oak Grove School District trustee Jacqueline Adams, real estate instructor Bui Thang, professor and civil engineer Ram Singh, businessman and entrepreneur Ted Scarlett and council assistant Nicholas Rice-Sanchez.
In District 8, which includes Evergreen, eight candidates filed to replace Vice Mayor Dave Cortese, who also has reached his two-term limit. They are businesswoman and activist Rose Herrera, business owner Minh Duong, Santa Clara County Board of Education member Craig Mann, East Side Union High School District trustee Lan Nguyen, businesswoman Van Le, community volunteer Patrick Waite, Realtor and loan officer Galvin D. Jackson and Evergreen Elementary School District trustee Sylvia Alvarez.
In Council District 10, which includes Almaden Valley, incumbent Nancy Pyle will have to defend her seat against a challenge from real estate developer Ashraf Madraswala.
Incumbents Kansen Chu in District 4 and Pierluigi Oliverio in District 6 are unopposed for re-election.
All of the candidates are already vying for the support of labor groups, who are traditionally powerful in city council elections.
“Right now we are just watching and listening,” said Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, executive director of the South Bay Labor Council. “We won’t make a decision for six to eight weeks.”
On the county board of supervisors, six candidates are vying to replace Blanca Alvarado in District 2, whose term ends this year.
They are lobbyist and East Side Union High School trustee George Shirakawa, Alum Rock School Board President Frank Chavez, San Jose/Evergreen Community College Board trustee Richard Hobbs, teacher and former East Side Union High School District trustee Patricia Martinez-Roach, Richard Lopez, a marketing director for a Stockton marble-countertop company and perennial candidate Andrew Diaz.
Three candidates are running in District 3 to replace Supervisor Pete McHugh, who also is stepping down because of term limits. They are San Jose Vice Mayor Cortese, Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves and Sunnyvale City Councilman Otto Lee. Supervisor Liz Kniss is unopposed for re-election in District 5.
Contact John Woolfolk at jwoolfolk@mercurynews.com or (408) 975-9346.
Mercury News Staff Writer Deborah Lohse contributed to this report.
