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City of Milpitas · Statewide General Election

Milpitas City Council

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person would hold one of two open seats on Milpitas's five-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use in this Santa Clara County city of about 80,000, alongside the separately elected Mayor and the other two Council seats. A 4-year term. All Council seats, like the Mayor, are elected citywide (at-large) rather than by district.

Five candidates are running for Milpitas's two open, at-large City Council seats on the November 3, 2026 ballot, including incumbent Garry Barbadillo. Whoever gets the two highest vote totals wins outright -- there is no primary or runoff.

This person would hold one of two open seats on Milpitas's five-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use in this Santa Clara County city of about 80,000, alongside the separately elected Mayor (a distinct contest on this same ballot) and the other two Council seats. A 4-year term. All Council seats, like the Mayor, are elected citywide (at-large) rather than by district.

Both open seats belong to Council members first elected in 2022: Garry Barbadillo, running for reelection here, and Hon Lien, who is not seeking reelection to this seat and is instead a candidate in the separate Mayor's race on this same ballot. The other two Council seats (Evelyn Chua and William Lam, elected 2024) aren't up this cycle.

Seema Kanani

Seema Kanani is a licensed clinical social worker with 19 years at Kaiser Permanente, a first-time candidate for Milpitas office. She serves on SEIU-UHW's executive board, was a strike captain and bargaining-team member during Kaiser's 2023 strike, sits on the California Democratic Party's legislation committee, and is a South Bay Labor Council delegate. Her platform centers on housing affordability without displacing essential workers, seniors, and lower-income residents; public-safety staffing and infrastructure upkeep (street lighting, park maintenance); and government transparency. She says on her campaign site that she won't take PAC or corporate contributions. Her 2026 committee filed a Form 460 for January-June 2026: $3,555 in monetary contributions plus a $5,000 self-loan, for $8,555 in total contributions against $2,889.03 in expenditures, ending cash $5,665.97, with the $5,000 loan outstanding.

Strengths

Two decades of frontline healthcare and labor-organizing experience, a specific platform, and one of two Form 460s in this race disclosing real fundraising activity.

Trade-offs

A self-funded $5,000 loan is most of her disclosed treasury; one $250 contribution is listed with a committee ID number, in tension with her stated no-PAC pledge.

Keep in mind

That $250 contribution ('Americans4Hindus,' ID# C00729574) is small against her $8,555 total and may reflect a narrower definition of "PAC" than a reader assumes -- reported here as filed, not as she may have meant it.

Bill Chuan

Bill Chuan is a military veteran (an armor crewman before the first Gulf War) and former Milpitas Planning Commissioner (2019-2024, chairing it 2022-2024), running for City Council for the second consecutive cycle. He chairs the Milpitas Unified School District's Community Board Advisory Council and its Parcel Tax Oversight Committee, sits on the Milpitas High School Site Council, and volunteers with Hope for the Unhoused, the Kiwanis Club of Milpitas, and the Naval Junior ROTC program. In 2024 he ran for one of two open seats against five other candidates and placed third with 17.06% of the vote, behind winners Evelyn Chua (29.62%) and William Lam (19.9%). His platform prioritizes public safety, fiscal responsibility, and addressing the city's difficulty retaining senior staff. His 2026 committee filed a Form 460 for January 27-June 30, 2026: $9,313 in monetary contributions, $500 in nonmonetary campaign-kickoff banners, and a $1,000 self-loan, for $10,813 in total contributions against $864.56 in expenditures, ending cash $9,448.44, with the $1,000 loan outstanding.

Strengths

Five years on the Planning Commission including two as chair, a specific 2024 vote total (17.06%) to compare against this run, and the race's largest disclosed treasury.

Trade-offs

A prior loss in this same race, well behind both 2024 winners; his staffing critique, like Lien's in the Mayor's race, is not independently verified in this pass.

Keep in mind

"I don't give up easily, especially when the going gets tough" is Chuan's own quote to Milpitas Beat explaining a second run -- his account of persistence, not this dataset's characterization of his chances.

Ha Phan

Ha Jennie Phan's filed ballot designation is "Community Volunteer"; she filed no candidate statement with the city, and no independent news coverage of her candidacy was found in this pass. Her 2026 committee filed a Form 470 -- the short form for a candidate who does not expect to raise or spend more than $2,000 for the year -- declaring exactly that under penalty of perjury on June 19, 2026. No Form 460 itemized disclosure is required or on file.

Strengths

A declared low-budget campaign is, on its own terms, a specific and verifiable commitment -- one confirmed directly from her own filed Form 470.

Trade-offs

No candidate statement, no news coverage, and no campaign website were found in this pass -- the ballot designation and the $2,000 spending declaration are nearly the whole record.

Keep in mind

A sub-$2,000 campaign is not evidence of a weaker candidacy -- some campaigns simply don't raise or spend money -- but it does mean voters have little beyond her ballot designation absent direct outreach from her.

Dipak Awasthi

Dipak Awasthi immigrated to Milpitas from India in 1996; his family ran a retail market for a decade before selling it, and both his children graduated from Milpitas schools and San José State University. He's in his third year on the Planning Commission (term expires December 2027) and has also served on the Sister Cities Commission and the Economic Development and Trade Commission; this is his third consecutive Council run, after losing in 2022 and again in 2024's six-candidate field for two seats. His platform centers on fiscal responsibility -- he opposes extending Measure J, the city's 1/4-cent sales tax, past its 2029 expiration -- alongside voluntary pay cuts for elected officials, homelessness, infrastructure, and public safety. His 2026 committee has filed only a Form 410 as of this retrieval -- no Form 501, no Form 460.

Strengths

Three years of current Planning Commission service and two prior citywide campaigns give him a specific, checkable public record most first-time candidates lack.

Trade-offs

Two prior Council losses (2022 and 2024); his opposition to extending Measure J is a specific position, but this dataset does not evaluate the deficit claims behind it.

Keep in mind

His committee's Form 410 with no Form 501 on file is an unusual filing order -- documented here as what the record shows, not a claim about his eligibility or intent.

Garry Barbadillo

Garry Barbadillo is the incumbent, elected to Council in 2022 (and Vice Mayor by his colleagues' selection) after an earlier stint as a city Commissioner starting 2012; he's a practicing attorney, repeatedly named "Best Attorney" by the Milpitas Post (2015-2019, 2021-2022) and "Best Elected Official" in 2018, and was Milpitas's 2018 Citizen of the Year. He moved to the U.S. from the Philippines in his late twenties, worked entry-level retail and restaurant jobs, then a courtroom-clerk job with Santa Clara County, before self-studying for the bar exam and passing it in 2008. He serves on the Milpitas Chamber of Commerce board and the Silicon Valley Regional Interoperability Authority board. His platform emphasizes fiscal discipline, more police officers, maintaining city services, and senior citizens' rights. His 2026 committee has filed its organizing paperwork (Form 410, Form 501) but no Form 460 as of this retrieval.

Strengths

Current Council and Vice Mayor experience, a legal career with repeated local recognition, and board seats (Chamber of Commerce, a regional interoperability authority) beyond city government.

Trade-offs

As the only incumbent here, staffing and permitting concerns raised elsewhere on this ballot fall partly on his record; no Form 460 is filed yet to show this cycle's fundraising.

Keep in mind

His path to the bar -- self-studying after his employer twice denied him study leave -- is his own account to Milpitas Beat of a formative career decision, not this dataset's characterization.

Source review: Strong (84/100) · 16 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Bill Chuan's own campaign site (billchuanformilpitas.com, redirecting to a Wix-hosted page), self-description attributed in text: confirms this is a second consecutive run following 2024, his FPPC filer ID (#1488016), and a brief note that he decided to run again after "further reflection, continued prayers, continued discussions and encouraging support" from community members and family. and Seema Kanani's own campaign site (votekanani.com), self-description attributed in text: her tagline "Collaborate - Advocate - Listen - Lead" and her own pledge, "I refuse to take a single dime from PACs or corporations. Every dollar comes from neighbors like you." may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • milpitas.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Milpitas -- City Clerk Suzanne Guzzetta's certified "Certified List of Candidates for Elective Office in the City of Milpitas, Municipal Election - November 3, 2026" (in SOS randomized-alphabet order, dated Aug. 13, 2026): names all four qualified Mayor candidates ("One (1) 2-Year Term Expiring 2028") and all five qualified City Council candidates ("Two (2) 4-Year Terms, At Large, Expiring 2030"), each with filed ballot designation and qualification date.
  • milpitas.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Milpitas -- official bilingual "Notice of General Municipal Election, November 3, 2026," signed by City Clerk Suzanne Guzzetta: confirms exactly "One Mayor... full term, two years" and "Two Members of City Council... full term, four years," and cites Elections Code section 10229 as the appointment mechanism if a seat draws no or only one nominee.
  • milpitas.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Milpitas -- the City Clerk's own "Public Candidate Contact List" for the 2026 election: each candidate's office sought and voluntarily provided email, campaign website, and phone number.
  • milpitas.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Milpitas -- "Elections" page: states the city's structure directly -- "four councilmembers and one Mayor, all elected at-large," with Council serving 4-year terms and the Mayor 2-year terms.
  • milpitas.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Milpitas -- "2026 Election" page: confirms the November 3, 2026 date, the Aug. 13, 2026 randomized-alphabet drawing, and lists Mayor Carmen Montano and Councilmembers Garry Barbadillo and Hon Lien as the eligible incumbents for this cycle's seats.
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)City of Milpitas's own NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal (aid=MIL), queried directly for all nine 2026 candidates via its own QuickNameSearch and filings/byFiler JSON API (reverse-engineered from the portal's own downloaded JS bundle), with each available Form 460/470 downloaded directly via the portal's own CampaignDocuments/download endpoint. Seema Kanani reported $3,555 in monetary contributions plus a $5,000 self-loan ($8,555 total) against $2,889.03 in expenditures, ending cash $5,665.97. Bill Chuan reported $9,313 in monetary contributions, $500 nonmonetary, and a $1,000 self-loan ($10,813 total) against $864.56 in expenditures, ending cash $9,448.44. Ha Phan filed a Form 470 (a scanned image PDF, read by rendering it to PNG) declaring she does not expect to raise or spend more than $2,000 for the year. The other six candidates have filed only organizing paperwork (Form 410/501), or in Dipak Awasthi's case a Form 410 alone, with no Form 460 on file as of this retrieval.
  • milpitas.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Milpitas -- "City Council" page: names the current five-member Council -- Mayor Carmen Montano, Vice Mayor Garry Barbadillo, and Councilmembers Evelyn Chua, Hon Lien, and William Lam.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia's Milpitas, California article -- 2020 census population (80,273) and council-manager form of government.
  • milpitas.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Milpitas -- Vice Mayor Garry Barbadillo's own city-hosted biography page: a practicing attorney (J.D., B.A. Political Science, M.P.A.) repeatedly named "Best Attorney" by the Milpitas Post (2015-2019, 2021-2022), a Commissioner starting 2012 before winning a Council seat in 2014, elected Vice Mayor by his colleagues in November 2022, 2018 Milpitas Citizen of the Year, and a member of the Milpitas Chamber of Commerce and Silicon Valley Regional Interoperability Authority boards.
  • milpitas.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Milpitas -- "Planning Commission" page: lists Dipak Awasthi as a sitting Commissioner with a term expiring December 2027.
  • milpitasbeat.com (opens in a new tab)The Milpitas Beat -- "Seema Kanani is running for Milpitas City Council" (by Rhoda Jordan Shapiro, Jun. 2, 2026), read in full: confirms her 19 years as a licensed clinical social worker at Kaiser Permanente, SEIU-UHW executive board service, and her housing-affordability, public-safety, and transparency platform.
  • milpitasbeat.com (opens in a new tab)The Milpitas Beat -- "'I don't give up easily': Bill Chuan announces run for Milpitas City Council" (by Rhoda Jordan Shapiro, Jan. 30, 2026), read in full: confirms his 2019-2024 Planning Commission service (chairing 2022-2024), his Gulf War-era Army service, and his 2024 result (17.06% of the vote, third of six candidates for two seats, behind Evelyn Chua's 29.62% and William Lam's 19.9%).
  • milpitasbeat.com (opens in a new tab)The Milpitas Beat -- "Dipak Awasthi focused on winning seat on the Milpitas City Council" (by Rhoda Jordan Shapiro, Oct. 2, 2024), read in full: confirms his 1996 immigration from India, his family's decade running a retail market, his multi-commission service, and his fiscal-responsibility platform including opposition to extending Measure J past 2029.
  • milpitasbeat.com (opens in a new tab)The Milpitas Beat -- "Garry Barbadillo is running for Milpitas City Council" (May 11, 2022), read in full: confirms his move to the U.S. from the Philippines in his late twenties, entry-level jobs before a Santa Clara County courtroom-clerk position, and self-studying for and passing the bar exam in 2008 after his employer twice denied him study leave.
  • votekanani.com (opens in a new tab)Seema Kanani's own campaign site (votekanani.com), self-description attributed in text: her tagline "Collaborate - Advocate - Listen - Lead" and her own pledge, "I refuse to take a single dime from PACs or corporations. Every dollar comes from neighbors like you."
  • billchuanformilpitas.com (opens in a new tab)Bill Chuan's own campaign site (billchuanformilpitas.com, redirecting to a Wix-hosted page), self-description attributed in text: confirms this is a second consecutive run following 2024 and his FPPC filer ID (#1488016).

Last updated August 31, 2026.