Arjun Batra led on all three ballots during the council selection process, which required a two-thirds majority to win.

The vote came after six hours of interviews, comments and deliberations on the merits of five finalists who had been picked by the council last week. The process had been abruptly interrupted at 7pm by “an urgent adjournment to a closed session” to consider allegations that Candelas had been given questions in advance.

When a divided San Jose City Council decided in December to appoint rather than hold an election to fill two vacant seats in 2023, they pledged the process would be 'transparent.' 

Armed with the results of a new poll that shows overwhelming popular support for a special election to fill vacant District 8 and District 10 seats, council members next week may reconsider a plan rejected by a largely lame-duck city council last month.

The vacancies were created by the November election, when District 8 Councilmember Sylvia Arenas was elected as the District 1 representative on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and District 10 Councilmember Matt Mahan was elected mayor.

Jenny Higgins Bradanini, Matt Mahan and Helen Wang are vying to replace Councilman Johnny Khamis in the Almaden Valley district.

Political insiders are wondering whether a run for office is even feasible anymore for the Bay Area Women’s March president.

Los Gatos police said on Monday that the incident is still under review and that a cause has yet to be determined.

District 10 contender Jenny Higgins Bradanini expressed her heartfelt condolences for the man’s surviving loved ones. 

With no other options, financial advisor Vinh Do says he’ll explore the possibility of running a write-in campaign. 

The D10 contender and local businesswoman caused some confusion by touting supporters she didn’t actually have for her campaign.

Each campaign season brings its sign swindlers. But council candidate Jenny Higgins Bradanini had to deal with that and then some.

The District 10 councilman pitched the idea in a May 22 budget memo, citing a protest against a Google land-buy as the catalyst.

Jennifer Higgins Bradanini plans to run against Brigade Media founder Matt Mahan in next year’s Almaden Valley City Council race.

Almaden Lake, one of the filthiest bodies of water in the Bay Area and possibly the state, is steeped in elemental mercury and polluted by blue-green algae blooms and bacteria from bird droppings. But how to clean up this community cesspool has raised a fair bit of controversy.

In a state of more than 18 million registered voters and a city of nearly one million people, it’s easy for any one person to feel insignificant. That’s why it’s important to remember that we’re all in this together; that our collective opinions add up to something greater than ourselves; that this grand experiment called “democracy” works best when we all stand up to be counted.