Candidates for Gilroy City Council and Gilroy Unified School District have started to pull and file nomination paperwork since the qualifying period began for those seeking offices on the Nov. 3 election ballot.
The nomination period began July 13 and continues through 5pm Aug. 7.
The November ballot will feature the first by-district elections for the city council. Voters will vote only for a single candidate within their district. There are six districts represented on the city council.
The current city council made this change in 2025, after being threatened with a lawsuit for potential violations of the California Voting Rights Act.
On the Nov. 3 ballot are the seats for Districts 4, 5 and 6. The seats are currently occupied by incumbents Dion Bracco, Tom Cline and Carol Marques, respectively.
As of July 21, former City Councilmember Fred Tovar and Diana Sanchez Bentz have pulled nomination papers for the District 4 council seat, according to the City of Gilroy’s website.
In District 5, three candidates, including Cline, have shown interest in running for the District 5 seat. Cline, Christina Tovar and Joseph Garcia pulled nomination papers on July 13.
In District 6, Elizabeth Bracco has pulled and submitted nomination papers to run for office; and former Councilmember Rebeca Armendariz has pulled papers.
Also on the Nov. 3 ballot are four seats on the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education. The seats on the ballot are for district Trustee Areas 1, 3, 4 and 7.
So far, the incumbent in Area 3, Michelle Nelson, is the only candidate who has pulled or submitted paperwork for any of the seats, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters office.
Voters in all of South County—including within the cities of Gilroy and Morgan Hill—will also have the chance to vote for the District 1 Director for the Valley Water board. Jimmy Forbis, former Gilroy city administrator, has pulled or submitted papers.
The current District 1 Director is John L. Varela, who is not yet included on the county elections site’s list of unofficial candidates.
None of these candidates have yet completed the qualification process to appear on the ballot. Candidates must file nomination paperwork with their appropriate city clerk’s or election official’s office. The paperwork includes a short list of signatures, which must be verified before the candidate can qualify.
On Aug. 13, the California Secretary of State will conduct a randomized alphabet drawing to determine the order of candidates’ names on the ballot.
The Nov. 3 ballot will also include a Transient Occupancy Tax Rate Measure for the City of Gilroy. If approved by a majority of voters, the measure would raise the city’s TOT, or hotel tax, from 9% to a maximum of 13 percent. The city council would set the exact new rate if approved by voters.
The text of the measure reads “To maintain critical City services such as street/pothole repair, park and recreation programs, emergency preparedness for storms, flooding and wildfires, and police and fire response shall the City of Gilroy measure raising the Transient Occupancy Tax (hotel tax) rate from 9% to a maximum of 13%, set by Council resolution, providing $700,000 annually paid only by hotel/lodging guests, with annual independent audits, that cannot be taken by Sacramento, until ended by voters, be adopted?”
