Politics

The estimated voter turnout in the Nov. 8 election surpassed 50% in Santa Clara County this week as local elections officials have continued to count ballots submitted by mail and those cast provisionally.  As of 5pm Nov. 15, elections officials have counted 526,659 ballots cast...

Palo Alto Police Chief Robert “Rob” Jonsen led retired sheriff’s captain Kevin Jensen in the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s race Tuesday, widening an early lead in his bid to be the first new county sheriff in more than two decades. With 90% of precincts reporting,...

Four San Jose non-citizen permanent residents received Santa Clara County 2022 election ballots even though they are not U.S. citizens, according to a concerned family friend and copies of documents reviewed by this newspaper. The four were sponsored by their brother to live in the...

Voting has begun in the Nov. 8 general election, as voters throughout California will receive ballots in the coming days—and can drop them off, completed and signed, at authorized locations now through Election Day. Elections officials in Santa Clara County began sending ballots in the...

A 48-year-old Cupertino woman who ran for the position of Santa Clara County sheriff in the June 7 primary election has been charged with perjury for allegedly saying she had the law enforcement experience required to qualify for the job, prosecutors said. Anh Colton, who...

Santa Clara County supervisors approved a quartet of housing projects March 22 that will convert existing properties into more than 300 affordable housing units. The board unanimously approved the purchase of four properties—two in San Jose, one in Morgan Hill and one in Santa Clara—that...

Facing corruption probes and a potential trial that could expel her from office, Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said Thursday she will not run for reelection and will retire when her sixth term ends in January. Smith, who was the first woman to be...

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., sentenced Mariposa Castro, of Gilroy, to 45 days in jail Feb. 23 for her participation in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Castro, also known as Imelda Castro, was also ordered to pay a $5,000...

As Santa Clara County lawmakers prepare to approve new political boundaries, some local politicians are raising complaints about the process. The Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 earlier this month to advance a proposal for redistricting the county's five political boundaries, choosing the so-called Yellow Map...

The City of Gilroy has hired a law firm to conduct an independent investigation into whether City Councilmember Rebeca Armendariz violated any city codes or administrative rules in relation to the deadly Oct. 30 shooting on her property. Gilroy City Administrator Jimmy Forbis informed Mayor...