The more than 1 million registered voters in Santa Clara County are voting by mail at the pace of about 20,000 per day. The 26 voting centers open this weekend for in-person voting, with 13 days until the polls close.

Torres’ council chair was again conspicuously empty, and he continues to be a no-show at various boards and committees.

Joseph has served as acting chief of police since former Chief Anthony Mata’s retirement on March 31.

The mayor said that for the past two weeks, Torres has not shown up to any council meetings, community meetings or committees to which he has been assigned.

The split vote Wednesday evening came hours after a Superior Court judge turned down a request from Dewan’s lawyers for an order blocking a board vote.

The pleas from business groups are based on revelations in an Oct. 1 police affidavit of sexually explicit comments by Councilmember Omar Torres about young boys.

The restrictions on political ads around Election Day are being reinstated out of concern for political misinformation, heightened by the use of AI.

The Santa Clara County Board of Education, which voted to dismiss Dewan on Oct. 2, is slated to appoint an Orange County educator, Charles Hinman as the interim superintendent at its meeting tonight.

Omar Torres’ attorney affirmed that the first-term council member has engaged in sexually explicit social media activities revealed in graphic detail in an affidavit filed in connection with search warrants on Torres’ property.

The San Jose police union accused City Manager Jennifer Maguire of attempting to divert police resources from the investigation of Omar Torres to instead go after media for leaking an affidavit that was on file with the court.

The debate at the end of the first week after ballots were mailed to registered voters was combative but offered voters few real differences of opinion between the progressive Evan Low and the moderate Sam Liccardo.

Neither Torres or police gave any details about the allegations. Several media outlets have reported the allegations involve possible sexual misconduct related to online searches.

Defend the Vote said that Low’s state campaign committee is funded through money that is not permitted to be spent in federal elections, and that he is using impermissible funds on federal campaign ads.

Mary Ann Dewan was dismissed Oct. 2 after six years leading the county Office of Education. She is now demanding reinstatement, claiming the board violated California’s Brown Act and had no authority to fire her.

At a press conference today, the victim was identified as Regulus Teotico, 45, a bus driver for 10 years and father of two teenagers.

On the first survey question posed to likely 16th District voters, Liccardo leads Low 42% to 28%, according to a memo from the pollsters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4%.