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 as the number of women holding Silicon Valley's elected offices dwindled. 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 only had two female mayors in its entire history.
Now all that could change.
The November election could propel eight women to city political office, including the possibility of Supervisor Cindy Chavez becoming San Jose's third female mayor. And a woman is fighting to stay in the halls of power. In all, the San José City Council could have 8 women on its bench next year, nearly 72 percent of its 11 members.
"It's really exciting that we have a number of women potentially elected to the City Council," former San Jose Vice Mayor Rose Herrera told San Jose Spotlight. "It's time".
After former San Jose Mayor Janet Gray Hayes became the first female mayor of a major US city in 1975, a wave of female elected officials poured into San Jose. In 1981, seven of the 11 San José city councilors were women.
Then he became "Man José".
Since Gray Hayes' tenure on the council, San Jose has elected only 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 position, records show. the city.
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. Chávez is among 12 women who have been elected to the San José City Council, elected in 1998.
Right now, San Jose 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 a challenge, and Davis will keep his seat after losing a mayoral bid. Carrasco is winding down, and another woman could possibly replace her: former Assemblywoman Nora Campos, who held the East San Jose seat from 2000 to 2010. Campos is up against County Board of Education trustee Peter Ortiz.
Another candidate, Irene Smith, could replace Councilmember Raúl 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's 7th District, Esparza fends off a challenge from Fire Captain Bien Doan.
Arenas is seeking higher office, mounting a formidable career 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 José election and Arenas remains on the council, San José 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 stepped down in 2016, grew up seeing a wave of women leaders taking charge in the South Bay. But since she won her race, female representation has dwindled. For most of her time in office, former Deputy 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. «?Have the perspective of women? it is very important when making decisions that affect a million people.”
Herrera fought hard to see more women on the stand. She also urged her colleagues to adopt a Gender Pay Equity policy to address the pay gap 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 asking for support.
"Women who are successful in running for office have learned to ask for money, to ask for support and endorsement," Foley told San José Spotlight, adding that the traditional resources needed to win elections have often gone to the men. “It is more difficult for us to ask for help. We're the ones doing the work, but that doesn't mean we're raising our hands to run for political office."
recovering the title
Local organizations, like Democratic Activists for Women Now "DAWN," have spent years training and supporting women candidates to increase representation and advance women's rights.
"While we've made progress, I think overall women are dissatisfied with how our government is running," Frances Herbert, DAWN's vice president, told San José Spotlight. "With the attack on women's rights, there will be more women coming forward to run for public office."
Herbert also pointed out that a majority of women on the San José City Council does not guarantee the rights and perspective of women.
“We must elect like-minded women and men who embody these political agendas,” Herbert stressed. DAWN endorsed Torres over Smith in the Downtown District 3 race.
Foley said she's excited to see the momentum among the female candidates in this election, though she believes the mayoral race will be a close one.
"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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