Elections in San Mateo County come into focus

FEDERAL AND STATE ELECTIONS

U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, will face off against Republican housing policy advisor Anna Cheng Kramer to defend his 15th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In the 16th district, Assemblymember Evan Low and former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo are going head-to-head to replace U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, after a crowded primary and tumultuous recount.

State Sen. Josh Becker, D-Palo Alto, is running for reelection in the 13th District against Republican Alexander Glew, an engineer.

North County residents will decide between incumbent state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and Republican challenger and nurse Yvette Corkrean for the 11th District state Senate seat.

Also in North County, two Democrats — San Francisco Supervisor Catherine Stefani and civil rights educator David Lee — are running against one another in the District 19 state Assembly race to replace Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco.

Incumbent Assemblymember Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, is running to defend his District 23 state Assembly seat against fellow Democrat and Palo Alto Councilmember Lydia Kou.

Another incumbent, Assemblymember Diane Papan, D-San Mateo, is also defending her state Assembly seat, running against Republican and small business owner Mark Gilham in the District 21 race.

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ELECTIONS

Two East Palo Alto councilmembers are vying to replace current Board of Supervisors President and District 4 representative Warren Slocum — East Palo Alto Mayor Antonio López and Councilmember Lisa Gauthier. The district encompasses the Bay side of the Peninsula, from East Palo Alto up to the San Mateo border.

In March, former U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier garnered enough votes against Millbrae Councilmember Ann Schneider to run unopposed for the Board of Supervisors District 1 seat. Speier will replace soon-to-be termed out Supervisor Dave Pine, whose district covers Burlingame up to South San Francisco.

Supervisor David Canepa ran unopposed for reelection to his last term in District 5.

CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS

In Belmont, Mid-Peninsula Water District Board Member Cathy Jordan is running for the City Council District 2 seat against firefighter Ken Loo. Belmont Councilmember and attorney Davina Hurt and Councilmember and architect Tom McCune are running for reelection in the District 4 race against Pat Cuviello and business executive and military staff sergeant Arina Merkulova.

Belmont Mayor Julia Mates is currently running unopposed for re-election. 

Burlingame Councilmember Andrea Pappajohn, who was appointed earlier this year to replace Ricardo Ortiz in the District 1 seat, is now running to complete the term, which ends November 2026.

There’s a crowded race for the Burlingame City Council’s District 2 seat: business owners Rachel Ni, Hadia Khoury and Nirmala Idumalla Bandrapalli, as well as scientist and educator Desiree Thayer are all in the mix.

Current Burlingame Mayor Donna Colson is running to hold on to her District 4 seat against senior transportation engineer Tony Paul.

Five candidates are vying for Foster City’s open City Council positions: Suzy Niederhofer, a municipal finance manager, business executive Richa Awasthi, Planning Commissioner and businesswoman Phoebe Shin Venkat, Shankar Kenkre, a business owner and current Mayor Patrick Sullivan.

Half Moon Bay Vice Mayor Harvey Rarback is defending his District 2 seat against businessman Patric Bo Jonsson; Mayor Joaquin Jimenez is doing the same with his District 3 seat against civil engineer Paul Nagengast.

Both Ghassan Shamieh, an attorney, and Stephen Rainaldi, businessperson, are running for Millbrae’s District 1 seat to replace current Councilmember Gina Papan. There are also two candidates for the District 3 seat to replace Councilmember Ann Schneider: Millbrae business owner You You Xue and Rueben Holober.

Current Millbrae Mayor Anders Fung is running unopposed for the District 5 seat.

In Redwood City, Mayor Jeff Gee is running for District 1 reelection unopposed, and Councilmember Elmer Martínez Saballos is also running for District 4 without a challenger.

Redwood City Vice Mayor Lissette Espinoza-Garnica does face a challenger for the District 3 seat, however, with public health professional Isabella Chu also vying to represent the district.

Redwood City’s open District 7 seat has two candidates running: Parks Commissioner Marcella Padilla and Diana Reddy, a community organizer.

Two candidates have thrown their hats in the ring for Bruno’s at-large mayoral race: current Mayor Rico Medina and San Bruno Councilmember Marty Medina. Councilmember Tom Hamilton will face businessman and Realtor Stephan Marshall for the District 2 seat, and Councilmember Michael Salazar is running unopposed for District 3.

In San Carlos, two qualified candidates are running for two at-large seats: incumbent Councilmember John Dugan and prosecutor and school trustee Neil Layton.

Charles Hansen, a nonprofit program executive, Nicole Fernandez, a legislative district director, and union carpenter Tom O’Connor are running against one another in the San Mateo City Council District 2 race. O’Connor’s candidacy is pending as of Aug. 12.

Workforce development supervisor Danielle Cwirko-Godycki is running for the District 4 San Mateo City Council seat.

Incumbent councilmember Mark Nagales will defend his District 2 South San Francisco City Council seat against Vivian Ramos, a business executive.

In South San Francisco’s District 4, Mayor James Coleman, Avin Sharma — a university finance manager — and Edmund Besa Deguzman are running against one another.

EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS

Incumbent Chelsea Bonini and educator and science writer Priya Hays are running for the County Board of Education’s Area 4 trustee seat. Mike O’Neill is running for the Area 5 trustee seat against Maurice Goodman and Ann Schneider. 

Education communications administrator Patricia Love will face Ester Adut, an attorney and mother, for the County Board of Education Area 6 trustee seat. Hugo Torres, the appointed Area 7 trustee, is running for that seat.

For the San Mateo County Community College District Board of Trustees Area 1 seat, current trustee Lisa Petrides will face educator and coach Keith Holden. Wayne Lee, an appointed board trustee, is running for the Area 3 seat. Board President and CEO John Pimentel is running for the Area 5 seat.

Trustee Patricia ‘Pat’ Murray is running against Samuel Chetcuti, who is retired, for the Area A South San Francisco Unified School District School Board seat.

The San Mateo Union High School Board of Trustees has one qualified candidate for the Trustee Area 2 seat — incumbent Greg Land — and one qualified candidate for the Trustee Area 4 seat, incumbent Ligia Andrade Zuniga.

Principal, teacher and parent Mary Beth Thompson is running against District Student Trustee Jacob Yuryev for the Sequoia Union High School Board Trustee Area B seat.

The Sequoia Union High School Board of Trustees has one qualified candidate for the Trustee Area C seat, incumbent Rich Ginn. Tonga Victoria Afuhaamango, small business owner, is running for the Trustee Area E seat.

Anne Dang, small business owner, is running for the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District Board of Trustees Area 2 seat. Parent Shelley Tang is vying for the Trustee Area 4 seat. 

Engineering manager Chaitanya Bhuskute is running for the Burlingame School District Board of Trustees Area 2 seat. Parent and community volunteer Katie Jay is running for the Trustee Area 3 seat. Parent Nicole Mustafa is running for the Trustee Area 5 seat.

Hillsborough City School District Board of Trustees President Kim Oliff and clerk Gregory Dannis are both running for reelection to the board.

Incumbent board members Maggie Musa and Frank Barbaro are also both running for reelection to the Millbrae Elementary School Board of Education. Appointed incumbent Claire Beltrami is running for a short term. 

For the Redwood City School District Board of Trustees, Mike Wells is running for reelection to Trustee Area 4.

Pharmacist Caroline Tambe is running for election to Trustee Area 4 for the San Bruno Park School District Board of Trustees. Kingsley Ma, product manager, is running for the Trustee Area 1 seat against incumbent Jennifer Blanco.

Incumbents Sarah Johnson Kinahan and Tracy Park are vying for seats on the San Carlos School District Board of Trustees.

Those running for the San Mateo-Foster City School District Board of Trustees include strategy advisor and educator Christina Rodriguez for Trustee Area 3, appointed incumbent Maggie Trinh for Trustee Area 4 and appointed incumbent Gene Kim for Trustee Area 5.

OTHER ELECTIONS

Inge Tiegel Doherty is running for San Carlos City Treasurer.

Incumbent Peninsula Health Care District board members Ricardo Navarro and Frank Pagliaro are both running for reelection.

For the San Mateo County Harbor District, District 1 incumbent William Zemke and District 5 incumbent Virginia Chang Kiraly are both running unopposed. Incumbent Tom Mattusch is defending his District 4 seat against wildlife biologist and challenger Jill Grant.

Cama Garcia Lock, a physician’s assistant, is running for the Zone B Sequoia Healthcare District Board of Directors position.

Note to readers: This story has been updated to reflect most the recent candidate filings for local races. Additional candidate information will be reported as filings continue.