By Tran Nguyen. San Jose Spotlight
San Jose, the 10th largest city in the United States, was once dubbed "the feminist capital of the world."
But as the years passed, the title faded with the decline in women holding elected office in Silicon Valley. San Jose scraped the bottom of a Pew research study six years ago that compared the ratio of men to women on city councils. And the city has had only two female mayors in its entire history.
Now all that could change.
The November election could propel eight women into city political office, including the possibility of Supervisor Cindy Chavez becoming San Jose’s third female mayor. And one woman is fighting to remain in the halls of power. In total, the San Jose City Council could have 8 women on its dais next year — nearly 72 percent of its 11 members.
“It’s really exciting that we have multiple women potentially elected to the City Council,” former San Jose Vice Mayor Rose Herrera told San Jose Spotlight. “It’s about time.”
After former San Jose Mayor Janet Gray Hayes became the first female mayor of a major U.S. city in 1975, a wave of female elected officials came to San Jose. By 1981, seven of San Jose’s 11 city council members were women.
He later became "Man José."
Since Gray Hayes' tenure on the council, San Jose has only elected one other female mayor, Susan Hammer, who served from 1991 to 1999. In the past 24 years, only 12 other women have been elected to the office, city records show.
Meet the women
Chavez, who has been in elected office for 17 years, is running against Councilman Matt Mahan for mayor, the top political seat in San Jose. Chavez is among 12 women who have been elected to the San Jose City Council, which was elected in 1998.
San Jose currently has five women on its council: Councilmembers Magdalena Carrasco, Maya Esparza, Sylvia Arenas, Dev Davis and Pam Foley.
Foley won re-election in June without challengers, and Davis will keep her seat after losing a bid for mayor. Carrasco is finishing up, and another woman could possibly replace her: former Assemblywoman Nora Campos, who held the East San Jose seat from 2000 to 2010. Campos is facing County Board of Education Trustee Peter Ortiz.
Another candidate, Irene Smith, could replace Councilman Raul Perales in the fight for the downtown District 3 seat. She will face San Jose-Evergreen Community College District Trustee Omar Torres.
In San Jose District 7, Esparza fends off a challenge from Fire Captain Bien Doan.
Arenas is seeking higher office, mounting a formidable race for county supervisor. However, if he doesn't win that race, he will remain in his seat on the District 8 council.
If all female candidates prevail in the San Jose election and Arenas remains on the council, San Jose will see a majority-female City Council, headed by a woman, for the first time in decades.
A fight for representation
Herrera, the former vice mayor who resigned in 2016, grew up seeing a wave of female leaders take charge in the South Bay. But since she won her race, female representation has declined. For most of her time in office, former Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen was the only other woman on the dais.
After Nguyen left office in 2014, only Herrera and Carrasco remained.
“If you don’t have a seat at the table, your perspective isn’t there,” Herrera said. “Having women’s perspectives is so important when you’re making decisions that affect a million people.”
Herrera fought hard to see more women on the bench. She also urged her colleagues to adopt a Gender Pay Equity policy to address the pay disparity between men and women in 2015.
Foley, the Ward 9 councilwoman who won her seat in 2018, said female candidates tend to have a harder time building their networks and soliciting support.
“Women who are successful in running for office have learned to ask for money, to ask for support and backing,” Foley told San José Spotlight, adding that traditional resources needed to win elections have often gone to men. “It’s harder for us to ask for help. We’re the ones doing the work, but that doesn’t mean we’re putting our hand up to run for political office.”
Recovering the title
Local organizations, like Democratic Activists for Women Now (DAWN), have spent years training and supporting female candidates to increase representation and improve women’s rights.
“While we have made progress, I think women are generally dissatisfied with how our government works,” DAWN Vice President Frances Herbert told San José Spotlight. “With the attack on women’s rights, there will be more women coming forward to run for office.”
Herbert also noted that a female majority on the San Jose City Council does not guarantee women's rights and perspectives.
“We must elect like-minded women and men who embody these political agendas,” Herbert said. DAWN endorsed Torres over Smith in the downtown District 3 race.
Foley said she is excited to see the momentum among the female candidates in this election, although she believes the fight for the mayor's seat will be a close race.
“We may have a female mayor this time and we can claim the title of ‘Feminist Capital of the World,’” Foley said. “I really love that.”
The second round is on November 8.
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