San Jose, a million-person city in which a fifth of its residents choose the mayor, has a history of close elections. Only three of the past seven open elections could be called lopsided victories. The last time an open seat was decided in one round was 40 years ago, in 1982—the year 39-year-old Matt Mahan was born.

The supervisor shared her ambition to become San Jose’s next mayor at a private luncheon of Asian-American and Pacific Islander elected officials.

The South Bay’s food halls have seen better days—but there may be some hope on the horizon.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo celebrated two wins in one night—his re-election and a successful campaign against “greedy billionaires.”

A petition that has gathered 500-plus signatures is asking city leaders to name a street after President Barack Obama.

Unequivocally, Tom Alessandri was one of those special educators America should hold in the highest esteem.

A recent column in the Mercury News listed the best and worst local decisions in the last 50 years. Here’s a few more to add to the pile.

Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose) is under fire after his legislative staff became a runaway train, transforming itself into a campaign squadron to fend off a 2014 election challenge by Ro Khanna.

Documents released Thursday suggest Rep. Mike Honda's office viewed official business as a commodity to be sold in exchange for campaign support. We combed through the documents to pull out the biggest findings.

A curious cultural taboo has been openly flouted over the last two decades in San Jose, and it seems one local institution could soon double down.

San Jose Mayor-elect Sam Liccardo announced that an eight-person transition team will help him “identify key initiatives to focus on” during his first term. It appears Carl Guardino, his close friend and CEO of Silicon Valley Leadership Group, will have the loudest voice in the room.

The votes have been counted—most of them anyway—and it's time to reflect on all that went into the 2014 Midterm elections. But before we do that, here's a collection of photos from the night that was make or break for local politicos.

Just as we predicted in March 2012, a Sicilian American, Bellarmine-educated attorney was elected mayor of San Jose this week. As of 2am, Sam Liccardo held a 2-percent lead over Dave Cortese.

Some 200 attendees—many of them former San Jose police officers—met at the California Theatre on Thursday to honor the life of Joseph McNamara, the city's former police chief and “father of community policing.”

San Jose may try to settle a spat with Santa Clara County to free up some $20 million-a-year that could pay for affordable housing and homeless shelters.

Joseph McNamara, the police chief chief who created San Jose's reputation for having one of the most progressive police departments in the country, has died.