Election Preview: Santa Clara County 2020 Primary Races

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — Turnout is expected to be strong for Tuesday’s election in California, as many of Santa Clara County's nearly 1 million registered voters make their choice in the presidential primary, vote on the largest proposed bond issue in state history and pick candidates in state and local races.

Statewide, there are 20.6 million registered voters, an increase of 3.3 million since the last presidential election in 2016. In fact, nearly 82 percent of eligible Californians are registered to vote, the highest heading into a California Presidential Primary in the past 68 years.

“California entered 2020 with a record 20.4 million registered voters—and I only expect that figure to climb as we reach the Presidential Primary in March and General Election in November,” Secretary of State Alex Padilla said.

Major Elections

The statewide races dominating the headlines in California are those for the presidential primary and Proposition 13.

Here in Santa Clara County, voters will also weigh in on an open Board of Supervisors seat and races for the statehouse and U.S. Congress. Two candidates are also running unopposed for the county's Superior Court.

Board of Supervisors

Among the most competitive elections in the county is for Board of Supervisors District 3, in which four candidates are running to replace Dave Cortese, who is running for state Senate.

The candidates for the seat — which covers parts of San Jose, Milpitas and Sunnyvale — are San Jose City Councilwoman Magdalena Carrasco, state Assemblyman Kansen Chu, former Sunnyvale Mayor Otto Lee, and former San Jose Planning Commissioner John Leyba.

See also: 4 Candidates Vie For Open Santa Clara County Supervisor Seat

Incumbent supervisors are running for re-election in districts 2 (Cindy Chavez) and 4 (Joe Simitian).

Congress

In the 19th Congressional District (San Jose, Gilroy) incumbent Democrat Zoe Lofgren is facing Democrat Ivan Torres, Republicans Justin Aguilera and Ignacio Cruz, and independent Jason Mallory. In the 20th Congressional District (Gilroy), incumbent Jimmy Panetta is facing Democrat Adam Bolanos Scow and Republican Jeff Gorman.

In the 18th Congressional District (Palo Alto, Redwood City, Campbell, Los Gatos), incumbent Democrat Anna Eshoo is facing Democrat Rishi Kumar, Republicans Richard Fox and Phil Reynolds and Libertarian Bob Goodwyn.

And in the 17th Congressional District (Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Santa Clara, Milpitas), incumbent Democrat Ro Khanna is facing Democrat Stephen Forbes, Republican Ritesh Tandon and Libertarian Joe Dehn.

State Senate

Three state Senate seats are open in the county. In the 17th Senate District (Gilroy, San Jose), term-limited Democrat Bill Monning is stepping down. The candidates vying to replace him are Democrats Maria Cadenas, John Laird and John M. Nevill, and Republican Vicki Nohrden.

In the 15th Senate District (Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, San Jose), term-limited Democrat Jim Beall is stepping down. The candidates running to replace him are Democrats Nora Campos, Ann Ravel and Dave Cortese, as well as Republicans Ken Del Valle and Robert Howell, Libertarian Tim Gildersleeve and independent Johnny Khamis.

In the 13th Senate District (Palo Alto, Sunnyvale) incumbent Democrat Jerry Hill is term-limited. The candidates running to replace him are Democrats Josh Becker, Mike Brownrigg, Sally Lieber, Shelly Masur and Annie Oliva, as well as Republican Alex Glew and Libertarian John Webster.

State Assembly

In the 30th Assembly District, incumbent Democrat Robert Rivas will go up against Republican Gregory Swett. In the 28th Assembly District (Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, San Jose), incumbent Democrat Evan Low is facing Republican Carlos Rafael Cruz and Democrat Sam Ross.

In the 24th Assembly District (Cupertino, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale), incumbent Democrat Marc Berman is facing Republican Peter Ohtaki and Libertarian Kennita Watson.

See also:

• What Is Proposition 13, California's $15 Billion Schools Bond?
  
• "Presidential Candidates To CA Small Donors: Give Us Our Daily Bread Crumbs"
• An Earlier Say: Race To The White House Runs Through California
• Law Would Make Voting Mandatory In California