A gay man running to be the first out person of color on the San Jose City Council and a gay married mother seeking to become the first female Sonoma County superintendent of schools are one step closer to being elected.
Omar Torres placed first in his race for San Jose's 3rd council district seat on Tuesday's primary ballot. He received 40.66% of the vote, according to the unofficial returns Wednesday.
Since he did not surpass the 50% threshold to clinch the seat outright, Torres will face off on the November general election ballot against the second-place finisher, Irene Smith. The mediator and volunteer attorney with Santa Clara County's Pro Bono Project received 20.52% of the vote in the June 7 contest.
It has been 16 years since the council for the Bay Area's largest city has had an LGBTQ person serving on it. Ken Yeager, San Jose's first gay councilmember elected in 2000, departed in 2006 when he became the first, and so far only, out member of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.
Torres is currently an elected member on the board of the San Jose Evergreen Community College District and a regional director for the California Democratic Party. Like recently appointed gay San Francisco District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, Torres is open about his struggles with alcohol and drug addictions and has been clean and sober for more than five years.
He had the endorsement of the incumbent, City Councilmember Raul Peralez, who was term limited from running again to represent the district, which includes downtown San Jose, San Jose State University, and the Japantown, Washington-Guadalupe, and Spartan Keys neighborhoods. Peralez came up short in his bid to be San Jose's next mayor, landing in fourth place Tuesday.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez was in first place and City Councilmember Matt Mehan was in second, according to the unofficial returns. They will now compete to lead the state's third largest city on the November ballot.
County school races
Amie Carter, Ph.D., took the top spot in her contest Tuesday to be the next Sonoma County superintendent of schools. She landed in first place with 44.53% of the vote, according to the unofficial returns.
She, too, will now compete on the fall ballot since she didn't receive more than 50% of the vote. Challenging Carter will be Brad E. Coscarelli, a school principal in Santa Rosa.
The straight married father came in second with 33.53% of the vote, ahead of Mark West Union School District Superintendent Ron Calloway. Also a straight married father, Calloway took third place with 21.94% of the vote.
Steven D. Herrington, after first being elected superintendent in 2010, decided not to seek reelection this year. Should Carter, the first openly gay candidate to run for the education post, be elected then she would be the first woman to hold the position in Sonoma in almost 100 years.
She would also be the second out woman to lead a county education office. San Mateo County superintendent of schools, Nancy Magee, a lesbian elected four years ago, ran unopposed Tuesday for a second four-year term, thus she netted 100% of the vote.
According to Magee, she is currently the only known LGBTQ county schools superintendent in the state. Another out Bay Area county education leader was also unopposed this year, Joaquin Rivera, who holds the Area 1 seat on the Alameda County Board of Education.
Since no one ran against Rivera, a gay man, his name didn't appear on Tuesday's ballot. First elected in 2010, he has said this will be his last term on the county board.
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