San Jose City Council District 6 is one of the ten districts of the San Jose City Council. District six is located in central San Jose. The District is one of ten created in 1978 by Measure F with an intent to alleviate the racial inequality in the San Jose City leadership; previously, the council was elected in city-wide elections, producing only two non-white council members in the preceding twenty-five years. The district boundaries have changed with each population census; the 2011 proposed changes in the District boundary drew heated protests and most proposed changes were abandoned.In a surprising move for a conservative Republican Party candidate, Dev Davis was elected to the 2016 council to represent District 6. Later, in 2018, Dev renounced her Republican party due to Party attacks on immigrants.The sixth district has suffered from exclusions of Latinx representation despite a large 31% demographic; an ongoing issue that has been controversial in the San Jose regional politics. There has never been a Latinx representative elected to District 6.
To be eligible for office, a candidate must be a: United States citizen by January 1 of the election year Resident of the District in which the candidate is running by November 6 of the year preceding the election year. Registered voter of the City of San José by December 6 of the year preceding the election year. If an incumbent does not seek re-election, the deadline for that District is extended by five calendar days. The 2012 election followed a familiar pattern of white candidates, that included challenger Steve Kline and fiscally conservative incumbent Pierluigi Oliverio. The 2016 election produced two leading candidates for District 6; a Labor endorsed and Chamber of Commerceendorsed candidate each, however, both followed a campaign theme of social inclusion. The resulting primary was a close split of 86 votes, that led to a runoff in the general election. The 2020 election cycle produced a crowded field of four candidates including incumbent Davis and challengers including San Jose Housing Commissioner Ruben Navarro, biomedical engineer Jake Tonkel, and student Marshall Woodmansee. The District six 2020 race is significant in it has a potential to shift a current balance on the City Council between Labor Unions and the Chamber of Commerce. As a result, the fundraising for the 2020 cycle has raised large sums of money.
Officeholders
Terms
Prior to 1981 there were no districts. Five people have represented this district, and are:
Nancy Ianni was elected in San Jose's "feminist capital" era and served alongside women like Iola Williams. Nancy was best described as sharp, witty and fair.
Frank Fiscalini was described best as an all-around great guy.
Ken Yeager taught political science at San Jose State University; showing the District 6 liberal-leaning politics, Ken Yeager was the first gay elected official in the San Jose region.
Pierluigi Oliverio worked in the tech industry prior to serving on the city council.
Devora Davis was a Republican conservative, however, she later renounced her party affiliation in 2018 after the election.
