2020 Endorsements

Dave Cortese is currently the County Supervisor for District 3 and serves as the Chair of the Housing, Land Use, Environment and Transportation Committee. Two of his priorities for Santa Clara County have been focused on increasing affordable housing and finding solutions to homelessness. He has expressed support for housing along transit-corridors and voted for the CASA Compact, and is committed to expanding access to affordable housing.

To learn more about Dave, get involved, or donate, please visit his campaign page.

Alex Lee has worked as a Legislative Policy Advisor in the California State Senate and Assembly working on issues including housing, public safety, education and climate change. He believes housing is a human right and that the state must work towards building affordable housing faster, building stronger tenant protections, and take advantage of underused lots for mixed-use and mixed-income housing. He is a strong supporter of SB 50 and transit-oriented policies.

To learn more about Alex, get involved, or donate, please visit his campaign page.

Otto Lee formerly served the City of Sunnyvale as a council member and Mayor. He wants his daughters to live in a more walkable, diverse, social neighborhood, which is why he supports upzoning in cities across Santa Clara County. He supports housing development on land owned by transit agencies like VTA and BART; and supports building more affordable housing county-wide.

To learn more about Otto, get involved, or donate, please visit his campaign page.

Rebeca Armendariz wants everyone to be able to afford to live in Gilroy. She supports a commercial linkage fee to fund affordable housing; just cause evictions and rent stabilization; and safe parking programs. She sees the future California HSR station as a big opportunity for Gilroy to build transit-oriented development.

To learn more about Rebeca, get involved, or donate, please visit her campaign page.

Zach Hilton believes in an affordable Gilroy for all. He welcomes city-wide rezoning; supports a Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance; and plans to introduce both TOD and TDM ordinances if elected. Zach also helped develop AB 3153 (Rivas), which would have allowed developers to reduce parking minimums in exchange for long-term bike parking. Zach is a member of South Bay YIMBY.

To learn more about Zach, get involved, or donate, please visit his campaign page.

David Cohen is a member of the Berryessa Union School District Board and has seen how San Jose’s lack of affordable housing has impacted teachers in the district. He supports expanding opportunity housing city-wide; strengthening San Jose’s mobilehome conversion ordinance; and wants the city to focus on infill development.

To learn more about David, get involved, or donate, please visit his campaign page.

Jake Tonkel has a vision for thriving, inclusive neighborhoods in San Jose. He supports opportunity housing city-wide and protections for low-income renters; a higher commercial linkage fee to fund affordable housing; and access to attorneys for renters facing eviction. 

To learn more about Jake, get involved, or donate, please visit his campaign page.

Anne Souza is a renter in Campbell, who wants her son to be able to afford to live in the area. She supports expanding affordable housing; supportive housing with wrap-around services for formerly homeless neighbors; rent control and banning evictions due to the pandemic; and wants to expand Campbell’s safe parking program.

To learn more about Anne, get involved, or donate, please visit her campaign page.

Sergio Lopez has experience at all levels of government and currently serves as an elected delegate to the California Democratic Party. He supported Senator Wiener’s SB 50; supports finding county and state legislation to increase funding for affordable housing; and wants to see Campbell integrate public transit into their land use and housing decisions.

To learn more about Sergio, get involved, or donate, please visit his campaign page.

J.R. Fruen is a co-founder of Cupertino for All, and wants future generations to be able to thrive in Cupertino. He supports missing middle housing in single-family neighborhoods; increasing in-lieu developer fees to support affordable housing; and establishing navigation centers to help RV dwellers access resources and find permanent housing. If elected, he would be the only renter on the Council.

To learn more about J.R., get involved, or donate, please visit his campaign page.

Hung Wei believes an inclusive city offers housing options for all. She supports partnerships with nonprofits to provide assistance to RV/vehicle dwellers; a regional structure to support transit; and tenant protection ordinances like Right of Return and Relocation Assistance. If elected, she will leverage state housing laws to challenge the current no-growth mindset of the Cupertino City Council.

To learn more about Hung Wei, get involved, or donate, please visit her campaign page. 

Suds Jain is an experienced planning commissioner who has consistently fought for more deeply-affordable housing. He supports updating Santa Clara’s outdated zoning codes; safe parking programs; and has pushed for BRT lanes on El Camino Real. Suds is a member of South Bay YIMBY.

To learn more about Suds, get involved, or donate, please visit his campaign page.

Anthony Becker wants to see more affordable housing built in Santa Clara and will bring the voice of renters to City Council. He supports rent control and safe parking programs, and has advocated for more LGBTQ+ homeless support centers and housing.

To learn more about Anthony, get involved, or donate, please visit his campaign page.

Alysa Cisneros is running to build a Sunnyvale for all. She believes in enhancing tenant protections (like expanding Ab 1482’s just cause eviction protections); exploring safe parking programs; and expanding shelter capacities. She is committed to holding Sunnyvale accountable for market-rate and affordable home construction.

To learn more about Alysa, get involved, or donate, please visit her campaign page.

Omar Din is running for Sunnyvale City Council in District 6. “I am fighting for an affordable Sunnyvale because after graduating college, I found myself priced out of my hometown.” He supports upzoning all of Sunnyvale; expanding just cause eviction protections; and wants Sunnyvale to be a walkable city. 

To learn more about Omar, get involved, or donate, please visit his campaign page.

Leia Mehlman is also running for Sunnyvale City Council in District 6. As a mobile home owner renting the lot she lives on, she supports a city-wide rent control measure to stabilize lot rents. She believes in more affordable housing; supports upzoning; and supports safe parking programs.

To learn more about Leia, get involved, or donate, please visit her campaign page.

Alex Núñez is a strong housing and anti-displacement advocate in Mountain View. He supports building affordable housing for low- and middle-income workers; exploring additional business taxes to support BMR construction; and a strong Right of Return policy coupled with No-Net-Loss development standards.

To learn more about Alex, get involved, or donate, please visit his campaign page.

Pat Showalter is a former Mountain View City Council member with experience advocating for housing. She supports streamlining the entitlement and permitting process; finding additional funding sources for affordable housing; and rent control protections for mobile home communities. Pat is active on the League of Women Voter’s Housing Committee and the Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Housing.

To learn more about Pat, get involved, or donate, please visit her campaign page.

John Lashlee is an experienced housing and tenants’ rights advocate. He believes in an “all of the above” strategy to aggressively build public and private housing; supports expanding Mountain View’s head tax to fund affordable housing; and supports renters’ access to legal representation during eviction proceedings.

To learn more about John, get involved, or donate, please visit his campaign page.

Sally Lieber is an experienced local politician and former State Assemblywoman. She supports plex-zoning citywide; increased funding for affordable housing through bonds, land banks, and public/private partnerships; and wants to see rent control expanded to protect mobile home communities. 

To learn more about Sally, get involved, or donate, please visit her campaign page.

Cari Templeton believes everyone has the right to a safe, stable home. She supports expanding funding sources for affordable homes; expanding social services for RV dwellers; and strengthening accessibility to public transit and building more transit-oriented development. She is a member of both the Santa Clara County Central Committee and the California Democratic Party.

To learn more about Cari, get involved, or donate, please see her campaign page.

Raven Malone got involved in local politics after seeing that young people, renters, women, and people of color weren’t being heard. She supports expanding missing middle housing; pushing big businesses and Stanford to help fund affordable housing; and local rent stabilization and just cause eviction protections for renters. 

To learn more about Raven, get involved, or donate, please visit her campaign page.

Steven Lee believes that housing is inextricably linked to many community issues in Palo Alto. He supports rezoning to allow for plex-housing; taxing big businesses to fund affordable housing; and believes that cities should be held responsible when they don’t build their fair share of housing. 

To learn more about Steven, get involved, or donate, please visit his campaign page.