With an insurmountable lead even as the final vote tally has yet to be released, gay San Jose City Council candidate Anthony Tordillos has won election to the governing body of the Bay Area’s largest city. The youthful political newcomer is set to become one of the most high-profile LGBTQ elected leaders in the South Bay.
Tordillos declared victory early Thursday morning in his special election to represent District 3 on the council. It covers much of downtown San Jose and its Qmunity LGBTQ district.
“District 3 voters showed they won’t settle for status quo San Jose politics. They’re tired of the same old fights between ‘business' and ‘labor’- they want a councilmember they can count on to deliver results on housing affordability, homelessness, and public safety,” stated Tordillos. “We were never supposed to make it this far, but thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who knocked on over 30,000 doors, we’re here.”
After the polls closed in his June 24 runoff race, Tordillos was in first place with 64% of the ballots counted, for a total of 4,449. In second was Gabriela "Gabby" Chavez-Lopez with 2,413 votes. Wednesday, after another tally was posted, Tordillos’s vote count grew to 5,328 and Chavez-Lopez’s stood at 2,954.
According to the Santa Clara County registrar, the vote tally will be updated by 5 p.m. Thursday. Turnout in the special election is so far at 17.64%.
It is unclear when Tordillos will be sworn into office. He will serve out a council term that expires at the end of 2026 and need to seek a full four-year term on next year’s ballot.
“While we wait for the County Registrar to finish counting, I am working to build a team that can hit the ground running and restore trust in city government for District 3 residents,” stated Tordillos.
He is the second out council candidate to win a special election this year in the Bay Area. Lesbian District 2 Oakland City Councilmember Charlene Wang, a civil rights and environmental justice expert, was elected in April to also serve out the remainder of a term through 2026.
BAYMEC, the Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee that supports LGBTQ candidates in the South Bay, praised Tordillos’s election. It had endorsed him in the race and made “an historic investment” in his candidacy, noted BAYMEC President Drew Lloyd.
“Anthony Tordillos’ victory sends a powerful and timely message: In a moment of national division, San José voters have chosen to stand with a young, openly gay leader who leads with integrity and heart,” stated Llyod. “His success is as much a win for District 3 as it is LGBTQ+ candidates everywhere who have been told to wait, to hide, to make themselves smaller.”
Chair of the San Jose Planning Commission, Tordillos, 33, is an engineering manager at YouTube. He lives with his husband, Giovanni Forcina, a cancer biologist, near the San Jose State University campus.
He beat out Matthew Quevedo, deputy chief of staff to San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, in the special April 8 primary for second place in order to advance to the runoff that happened to coincide with Pride Week. Because Quevedo fell short by six votes behind Tordillos to land in third place, it triggered an automatic recount of the results that confirmed the outcome.
Quevedo then threw his support behind Tordillos in the runoff, as did Mahan, who walked precincts with Tordillos in the final days of the campaign leading up to Tuesday’s election. Their backing of him was expected to give Tordillos a leg up in the runoff race since his and Quevedo’s combined support in the primary dwarfed that of Chavez-Lopez, 37, a single mom.
Chavez-Lopez is the executive director of South Bay nonprofit the Latina Coalition of Silicon. Seen as more to the left politically of Tordillos, and a potential check on the more moderate agenda of Mahan, Chavez-Lopez has received support in recent weeks from a number of prominent progressive South Bay leaders, such as bisexual Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San Jose).
She conceded Thursday afternoon, and in an email to her supporters congratulated Tordillos on his victory and wished him “success in the work ahead,” although it had his last name wrong. She also lambasted the special interest groups that had worked to defeat her own candidacy.
“I look forward to finding ways to collaborate on the challenges facing our families, small businesses, and neighborhoods,” wrote Chavez-Lopez. “I also want to be honest: this campaign faced unprecedented levels of misinformation and negative attacks from outside special interest groups like the California Association of Realtors and BizPAC. That kind of politics does not serve our city. I remain—as I always have—committed to raising the standard for how we conduct local elections. San José deserves campaigns grounded in truth, integrity, and respect for our voters.”
Many LGBTQ leaders and groups had supported Tordillos in the contest, including the first gay member of the San Jose City Council, Ken Yeager, who went on to be the first and, so far, only out member of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Gay former state Assemblymember Evan Low who represented Silicon Valley cities and the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which Low now leads, had also backed Tordillos in the race, as did statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization Equality California.
“We are thrilled to see Anthony succeed in his race for city council,” gay EQCA Executive Director Tony Hoang told the B.A.R. “Some of the most important and consequential policymaking for Californians happens at the local level, and it's critical to have LGBTQ+ representation in these conversations. We congratulate councilmember-elect Tordillos and look forward to working with him in future endeavors.”
The council seat has been represented since earlier this year by engineering firm owner Carl Salas. He was selected as a caretaker of the seat by the council following the resignation last fall of gay former councilmember Omar Torres due to his arrest for allegedly molesting a cousin years prior.
Torres has since pleaded no contest to child sex crimes. He is awaiting his sentencing and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Elected in 2022, Torres was the first gay Latino and out person of color to serve on the San Jose City Council, and only its second out councilmember. The governing body had gone 16 years without a member from the LGBTQ community until Torres took his oath of office two years ago.
While Torres’ scandal had hung over the primary race this spring, Tordillos was able to overcome any doubts voters in the district had of sending another gay man to represent them at City Hall. Tordillos should now be in office well ahead of the annual Silicon Valley Pride festival and parade set to take place August 30 and 31.
