Councilmember Domingo Candelas will run to hold onto his District 8 seat, representing San Jose’s East Side, after he was appointed to the position without the mayor’s support, in January. Two of his competitors in this election, who were passed over for the appointment, accused him of cheating during the interview process for the position by seeing the questions ahead of time. Candelas said he followed the rules.
Candelas, 34, grew up in the district and attended Evergreen Valley High School. He went on to work for California Sen. Jim Beall from 2012 to 2019, then as Stanford’s Director of Local Government Affairs. He is endorsed by the South Bay Labor Council and the police officer’s association, as well as U.S. Reps Anna Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren.
After losing out on the appointment to Candelas in January, Tam Truong, a 41-year-old San Jose Police Department sergeant, is once again throwing his hat into the ring. He is a San Jose native, graduating from Silver Creek High School and later San Jose State University in 2004. Within the police department, he has worked to combat anti-Asian hate crimes — but his own record has some blemishes. According to San Jose Spotlight, he has been accused of mortgage fraud, as well as withholding more than $30,000 in wages from a former employee.
After also losing out on the City Council appointment, Sukhdev Bainiwal hopes the voters will carry him into office this spring. Bainiwal, a 57-year-old engineer who worked at Sun Microsystems and Theranos, in addition to serving as a former city airport commissioner, is endorsed by the Silicon Valley Biz PAC and the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors.
Finally, Surinder Dhaliwal, 48, is running for what would be her first elected office. She says she wants to fight the “massive corruption” that she sees in local government. She openly acknowledges having gone to jail four times for breaking a restraining order preventing her from seeing her son.
On homelessness and Measure E:
- Truong: Prioritizes emergency and interim housing for people “so they can find jobs and self-sustain.”
- Candelas: Proponent of using Measure E funds for interim housing.
- Bainiwal: Prioritizes interim housing to get people connected with job services and drug addiction programs.
On revitalizing downtown
- Candelas: Wants to bring activity to vacant spaces, like the Safeway in downtown, as the city waits for the economic cycle to improve, when there will be more development.
- Bainiwal: Is considering using some of the vacant hotel spaces to provide subsidized housing for police officers and teachers.
- Truong: Wants to bring more schools and infrastructure to downtown to encourage families to live there, too.
On the BART extension:
- Candelas: “I do have some concerns on the recent cost escalations.” He advocates looking at alternatives, such as a smaller project.
- Bainiwal: Supports extending BART through Diridon station only. “We’re already spending so much money on it.”
- Truong: “I do support expanding public transportation, but we need to make sure it works.”
On public safety:
All District 8 candidates agree that the city should address its vacancies in the police department, with Bainiwal and Truong advocating for improved officer compensation to increase retention.