In a speech to supporters gathered around standing tables at the Corinthian Ballroom, Chavez-Lopez said, \u201cWe live to fight another day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, not the results we wanted to see, but we\u2019re keeping optimistic,\u201d Chavez-Lopez told KQED. \u201cWe know we put in the work, we talked to thousands of voters over the last eight months \u2014 made relationships, made connections.\u201d <\/p>\n
Chavez-Lopez and Tordillos were the top finishers<\/a> in an initial April 8 election, though neither received a majority of the vote \u2014 setting up<\/a> the Tuesday runoff.<\/p>\n Chavez-Lopez, the executive director of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley, has touted her connections with local elected officials and said her experience organizing for affordable housing and COVID response will allow her to hit the ground running on the city council. She is supported by the South Bay Labor Council and all five Santa Clara County Supervisors.<\/p>\n \u201cThis district doesn\u2019t have time to waste. We can\u2019t afford on-the-job training, quite frankly,\u201d Chavez-Lopez told KQED. \u201cWe haven\u2019t had a representative in this office for quite some time, and time is moving very fast and things are happening very fast.\u201d<\/p>\n Tordillos points to his work as chair of San Jos\u00e9\u2019s planning commission as evidence that he will be a champion for more dense development downtown. In addition to being the favored candidate of pro-housing organizations, Tordillos added the support of San Jos\u00e9\u2019s Mayor Matt Mahan, after the April 8 election.<\/p>\n \u201cFolks are ready for a council member who takes issues of public policy seriously,\u201d Tordillos told KQED. \u201cSomeone who\u2019s willing to be collaborative, to engage with people on both sides of the [business-labor] aisle and who are focused on finding and delivering solutions for the people of District 3.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.kqed.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2024\/03\/IMG_7650.jpeg\")
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