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City of Mountain View · Statewide General Election

Mountain View 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 three at-large seats up this cycle on the Mountain View City Council, a 7-member body governing this Santa Clara County city of about 82,000: city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the four Council seats not up this cycle. A 4-year term, capped at two consecutive terms. The Council selects one of its own members to serve as Mayor each year; day-to-day operations run through an appointed City Manager.

Eight candidates are running for Mountain View's three open, at-large City Council seats on the November 3, 2026 ballot. All three seats are open because incumbents Alison Hicks, Ellen Kamei, and Lucas Ramirez are term-limited -- none is eligible to run again until 2028 -- so no incumbent appears in this field. Vote for up to three: the three highest vote-getters win the open seats -- there is no primary or runoff.

This person would hold one of three at-large seats on Mountain View's seven-member City Council: city ordinances, the budget, and land use in this Santa Clara County city of about 82,000, alongside the four Council seats not up this cycle. A 4-year term, capped at two consecutive terms. The Council selects one of its own members to serve as Mayor each year; day-to-day operations run through an appointed City Manager.

All three open seats belong to Council members who reached their two-consecutive-term limit: Ellen Kamei (first elected 2018, now running for a school-board seat instead), Alison Hicks, and Lucas Ramirez. None of the eight 2026 candidates is a sitting Council member -- the four councilmembers not up this cycle (Mayor Emily Ann Ramos and Councilmembers Chris Clark, John McAlister, and Pat Showalter, all elected in 2024) aren't up again until 2028. Two of the eight, IdaRose Sylvester and Erik Poicon, ran against that same 2024 field and lost; the other six are first-time candidates. At an Aug. 27 candidate forum, all eight agreed it should be easier for small businesses to open in the city and backed a ballot measure raising the hotel tax, but split on whether to allow more office space downtown, whether to allow large-scale office development in North Bayshore (a roughly 30-year Google-led growth area whose future is unclear given Google's recent pullback on other Mountain View projects), and how the city should respond to SB 79, a state law requiring denser housing near Caltrain and VTA light-rail stops -- several candidates back a city-drafted "local alternative plan" to steer new housing away from the historic downtown core, while others back SB 79 as written.

James Kuszmaul

James Kuszmaul is a software engineer who currently serves on the city's Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee and is a member of Mountain View YIMBY, a local housing-advocacy group. His three stated priorities are street safety, housing affordability, and using local policy to limit federal immigration enforcement in the city. He wants Mountain View to reach its "Vision Zero" goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2030 through pedestrian- and bicyclist-focused infrastructure changes, and supports SB 79 as a way to put more housing near transit rather than diverting city staff time into a separate local alternative plan. He also opposes reinstalling Flock license-plate-reading surveillance cameras in the city. At the Aug. 27 forum, he gave conditional ("a bit") support for both downtown and North Bayshore office development.

Strengths

Current service on a relevant city body (Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee) plus a specific platform: a named 2030 traffic-safety target and a clear SB 79 position.

Trade-offs

The field's most pointed opponent of the local alternative plan several rivals favor, arguing it would divert staff time without improving on SB 79.

Keep in mind

"Anyone should be able to live and work and be safe in Mountain View" is his own framing for why housing, safety, and civil-liberties policy belong together in his platform.

Robert Cox

Robert Cox is a retired Intel project lead who currently serves on the Rental Housing Committee, which oversees the city's rent-control laws, and served on the Environmental Planning Commission from 2013 to 2020. He is active in the Mountain View Historical Association, the Sierra Club's Loma Prieta Chapter, and Livable Mountain View, a historic-preservation advocacy group. He opposes SB 79 as "one size fits all," arguing it could harm the concentration of historic properties on the first three blocks of Castro Street near the downtown transit center, and supports a city-drafted local alternative plan that would preserve the downtown core while shifting more housing to other parts of the city. "I'm a 'housing and' candidate, not a 'housing only' candidate," he has said, meaning he wants new housing built alongside parks and supportive infrastructure, not on its own. At the Aug. 27 forum he opposed further downtown office development but supported it in North Bayshore.

Strengths

The field's longest record of relevant city service -- seven years on the Environmental Planning Commission plus current Rental Housing Committee service.

Trade-offs

His opposition to SB 79 and preference for a local alternative plan puts him at odds with state law as written, a position several rivals share but not all.

Keep in mind

His "housing and" self-description means, in practice, directing new housing away from downtown -- worth reading in full rather than as a slogan.

Paul Donahue

Paul Donahue is a microprocessor engineer with nearly two decades of city committee service: he currently serves on the Environmental Planning Commission and has previously served on the Parks and Recreation Commission, the Downtown Committee, and the Board of Library Trustees. His parents were small-business owners in Illinois, which he cites as shaping his focus on helping Mountain View's small businesses. His platform centers on implementing the city's state-mandated Housing Element (which plans for more than 11,000 new homes by 2031), expanding parks and open-space access, and executing the city's economic-vitality strategy. He has said SB 79 is "not really right for the conditions on the ground in Mountain View" and supports a local alternative plan that would shift housing to more appropriate areas of the city. At the Aug. 27 forum he opposed further downtown office development for now and was undecided ("maybe") on North Bayshore.

Strengths

The broadest committee resume in the field -- nearly twenty years across four city bodies, including two directly relevant to this race's housing and downtown questions.

Trade-offs

His platform emphasizes implementing the city's existing Housing Element rather than a specific SB 79 alternative -- lower-friction than some rivals', but less defined.

Keep in mind

A reader comment on Mountain View Voice's coverage claims he's endorsed by eight former mayors; unverified beyond that comment, so it is not repeated here as fact.

Silja Paymer

Silja Paymer is a physics teacher at Los Altos High School and a 19-year Mountain View resident. She is a founding member of GreenSpacesMV, a local environmental group, and initiated the Cuesta Pollinator Habitat, a native-wildflower project at the Cuesta Annex open space next to Cuesta Park. Her platform, built around what she calls "Safe Streets & a Greener Future," emphasizes transportation safety and Vision Zero, expanded green space and urban tree canopy, biodiversity, clean energy and zero waste, and volunteer-driven community programs; she has also said the city should ensure all residents have access to safe housing, healthcare, and nutrition. She supports allowing more mixed-use zoning and a storefront vacancy tax, and is concerned SB 79 could harm the historic downtown, favoring a local alternative plan instead. At the Aug. 27 forum she said her support for North Bayshore office development would depend on what else a developer offered the city, and she opposed further downtown office development for now. "I'm stepping up because I believe we need transparent, community-centered leadership that prioritizes our children and the environment," she said in a press release announcing her candidacy.

Strengths

A self-organized environmental record predating her candidacy -- she founded GreenSpacesMV and started the Cuesta Pollinator Habitat herself -- plus a detailed sustainability platform.

Trade-offs

She has not served on a city commission, unlike five rivals, and her North Bayshore position depends on what a developer offers, harder to predict than a fixed stance.

Keep in mind

Her campaign site states an FPPC filer ID (#1488605) for her committee; no dollar figures from that filing could be independently confirmed in this pass.

IdaRose Sylvester

IdaRose Sylvester is an entrepreneur and educator who currently serves on the Parks and Recreation Commission and previously served on the Human Relations Commission and the Environmental Sustainability Task Force; she ran unsuccessfully for Council in 2024. She founded Appetite for Good, a nonprofit that supported local restaurants during the pandemic, and Together We Will, a group that organized local demonstrations, rallies, and vigils opposing the Trump administration; she also runs a small-business consulting practice. Her platform covers housing and tenant protections, economic vitality for local businesses, climate action, and community engagement. She is endorsed by State Sen. Josh Becker, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, and former Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian. At the Aug. 27 forum, she said, "We need to be better about getting out of business's way, making things easier and faster for them to succeed," and supported downtown office development depending on project type and North Bayshore development if built as "complete communities." She also backs a local alternative plan to SB 79, saying downtown's local businesses are part of the historic core worth preserving.

Strengths

The broadest civic resume in the field -- three city commissions plus two self-founded groups -- and the only candidate with named state- and county-level endorsements.

Trade-offs

A second Council run after an unsuccessful 2024 bid raises the question of what's different this time; this shard found no reporting that directly addresses it.

Keep in mind

Her organizing work opposing the Trump administration is her own described activism, offered as background on her organizing history, not a 2026 platform position.

Erik Poicon

Erik Poicon is a longtime community organizer who currently serves on the Human Relations Commission, which weighs in on economic, political, and social issues; he ran unsuccessfully for Council in 2024 on housing affordability, climate change, and public services and safety. His 2026 platform focuses on strengthening pre-lease assistance for business applicants and tracking business retention and closure rates more closely; he also supports a storefront vacancy tax. At the Aug. 27 forum, he was among the more development-friendly candidates in the field, supporting both downtown and North Bayshore office development.

Strengths

Current Human Relations Commission service plus a second consecutive Council run, more direct campaign experience in this specific race than all but one rival.

Trade-offs

This shard located no campaign site or independent profile for him beyond Mountain View Voice's own reporting, leaving less depth than several rivals.

Keep in mind

His support for both downtown and North Bayshore office development places him toward the pro-development end of this field on that specific question.

Samuel Ali

Samuel Ali is a security specialist at Google and, per Mountain View Voice's reporting, the last of the eight candidates to enter the race, filing shortly before the Aug. 7 nomination deadline. He has said his family struggled financially when he was growing up, which he cites as motivation for his candidacy: "Those experiences really taught me at a young age what it means to struggle, but they also taught me the importance of community." His three stated priorities are affordable housing, public safety, and helping people find jobs; he has also said he wants to balance adopting new technologies like AI with preserving residents' livelihoods, and favors the city partnering with and promoting local businesses, including through social media. At the Aug. 27 forum, he supported both downtown and North Bayshore office development.

Strengths

A tech-sector day job (Google security) directly relevant to his own stated priority of balancing AI adoption against preserving residents' livelihoods.

Trade-offs

As the field's most recent entrant, he has no prior city-commission service, unlike six rivals, and this shard found no campaign site or added profile.

Keep in mind

His account of childhood financial hardship is his own framing for why affordability is his top priority -- his words, not independently verified detail.

Alexander Amoroso

Alexander Amoroso is a U.S. Army officer serving in an adjutant general role, which he describes as giving him human-resource-management experience. He is active in the Mountain View Rotary Club and Friends of Stevens Creek Trail, and volunteers for Hope's Corner and The United Effort Organization, both of which provide meals and assistance to people who are unhoused or at risk of homelessness. His stated top priorities are job creation, environmental stewardship and conservation, and expanding access to education; he has specifically pointed to employee turnover at local businesses as an issue he'd address by supporting workforce housing. "I live to serve," he has said of his motivation for running. At the Aug. 27 forum, he supported downtown office development but opposed North Bayshore office development, the only candidate to take that specific combination of positions.

Strengths

A volunteer record centered on direct services to unhoused residents (Hope's Corner, The United Effort Organization), distinct from most rivals' commission service.

Trade-offs

He is new to local politics with no city-commission service, and this shard found no campaign site or independent profile beyond Mountain View Voice's reporting.

Keep in mind

His military HR background is his own stated basis for calling himself qualified in personnel management; this shard found no independent verification of it.

Source review: Strong (82/100) · 11 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: Silja Paymer's own 2026 campaign site (siljapaymer.com): self-description, attributed in text -- her 19 years as a Mountain View resident and career as a teacher, her Cuesta Pollinator Habitat volunteer work, her FPPC filer ID (#1488605), and her detailed "Safe Streets & a Greener Future" platform (Vision Zero, green space and biodiversity, clean energy and zero waste, volunteer engagement, and access to safe housing and basic necessities for all residents). and IdaRose Sylvester's own 2026 campaign site (idarosesylvester.com): self-description, attributed in text -- her decade of Mountain View commission service, her founding of Appetite for Good (a pandemic-era nonprofit supporting local restaurants) and Together We Will (a pro-democracy community organizing group), her small-business consulting practice, her stated platform (housing and tenant protections, economic vitality, climate action, community engagement), and her named endorsements (State Sen. Josh Becker, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, former Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian). may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • mv-voice.com (opens in a new tab)Mountain View Voice -- "First contenders enter race for Mountain View City Council" (by Emily Margaretten, Mar. 18, 2026), read in full: the first three candidates to file campaign-finance paperwork -- Robert Cox (retired Intel project lead; Rental Housing Committee; formerly Environmental Planning Commission 2013-2020; Mountain View Historical Association, Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter, Livable Mountain View), Silja Paymer (Los Altos High School physics teacher; GreenSpacesMV founding member; Cuesta Pollinator Habitat initiator), and Erik Poicon (longtime community organizer; Human Relations Commission; unsuccessful 2024 Council candidate) -- with direct quotes from Cox and Paymer, plus the seat count (three), the incumbents' term-limit status, and confirmation that the winning three council members elected in 2024 were Emily Ann Ramos, Chris Clark, John McAlister, and Pat Showalter.
  • mv-voice.com (opens in a new tab)Mountain View Voice -- "Three new contenders enter Mountain View City Council race" (by Emily Margaretten, Apr. 29, 2026), read in full: IdaRose Sylvester (entrepreneur and educator; Parks and Recreation Commission; formerly Human Relations Commission and Environmental Sustainability Task Force; unsuccessful 2024 Council candidate), Paul Donahue (microprocessor engineer; Environmental Planning Commission; formerly Parks and Recreation Commission, Downtown Committee, and Board of Library Trustees over nearly two decades), and Alexander Amoroso (U.S. Army adjutant general officer; Mountain View Rotary Club, Friends of Stevens Creek Trail, Hope's Corner, The United Effort Organization) enter the race, with direct quotes from Sylvester and Amoroso and each candidate's stated top priorities.
  • mv-voice.com (opens in a new tab)Mountain View Voice -- "Another candidate joins crowded race for Mountain View City Council" (Jul. 17, 2026), read in full: profiles James Kuszmaul (software engineer; Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee; Mountain View YIMBY member) and his three stated priorities -- street safety and the city's "Vision Zero" goal, housing affordability including strong SB 79 support, and opposing federal immigration enforcement and Flock surveillance cameras in the city -- with a direct quote, plus the Aug. 7 nomination deadline and the seven-candidate field as of that date.
  • mv-voice.com (opens in a new tab)Mountain View Voice -- "Eight candidates hit the campaign trail for Mountain View City Council seats" (by Emily Margaretten, Aug. 11, 2026), read in full: confirms the nomination period closed with eight total candidates, profiles Samuel Ali (Google security specialist), the last to enter, with a direct quote on his family's financial hardship growing up and his stated priorities (affordable housing, public safety, jobs), and recaps the other seven candidates already covered in this shard's earlier-dated articles.
  • mv-voice.com (opens in a new tab)Mountain View Voice -- "Here's who Mountain View will vote for on Nov. 3" (by Christina Casillas, Aug. 18, 2026), read in full: the post-filing-deadline roster of all eight qualified City Council candidates (Ali, Amoroso, Cox, Donahue, Kuszmaul, Paymer, Poicon, Sylvester) with each one's current city-commission service, confirming Sylvester and Poicon as the only two with a prior (2024) Council run and the other six as newcomers, plus confirmation that outgoing Councilmembers Hicks, Kamei, and Ramirez are barred by term limits from running again until 2028.
  • mv-voice.com (opens in a new tab)Mountain View Voice -- "Mountain View City Council candidates square off at business forum" (by Emily Margaretten, Aug. 31, 2026), read in full: coverage of the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce's Aug. 27 candidate forum (50+ attendees, moderated by Chamber CEO Peter Katz), with each of the eight candidates' own stated position -- several by direct quote -- on small-business permitting, a storefront vacancy tax, SB 79 and a possible "local alternative plan," downtown office development, and North Bayshore office development; also notes all eight candidates' support for a hotel-tax ballot measure.
  • mv-voice.com (opens in a new tab)Mountain View Voice -- "Mountain View City Council member runs for school board seat" (Aug. 5, 2026), read in full: confirms Councilmember Ellen Kamei, first elected to Council in 2018, is term-limited after two consecutive four-year terms and is not eligible to seek Council reelection in November 2026 -- she is instead running for the Mountain View Los Altos High School District's Area 2 trustee seat -- independent confirmation of both the city's two-consecutive-term council limit and that Kamei's seat is genuinely open.
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)The City of Mountain View's own NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal (netfile.com/public/mountainview/campaign, HTTP 200): a client-rendered single-page app that returns no filer or election data to a plain fetch. Its own downloaded JS bundle confirms a JSON API exists (api/elections, api/SearchCampaignTransactions) but builds the actual request host/path at runtime from application state this pass's tools could not reproduce; several direct API-endpoint guesses (aid=mountainview) all 404'd or returned the SPA shell rather than JSON. Documented as a negative, honest finding -- no dollar figure for any candidate was located anywhere in this pass.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia's Mountain View, California article -- 2020 census population (82,376) and the city's 7-member Council, elected at-large, with the Mayor position appointed by fellow councilmembers each year.
  • idarosesylvester.com (opens in a new tab)IdaRose Sylvester's own 2026 campaign site (idarosesylvester.com): self-description, attributed in text -- her decade of Mountain View commission service, her founding of Appetite for Good (a pandemic-era nonprofit supporting local restaurants) and Together We Will (a pro-democracy community organizing group), her small-business consulting practice, her stated platform (housing and tenant protections, economic vitality, climate action, community engagement), and her named endorsements (State Sen. Josh Becker, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, former Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian).
  • siljapaymer.com (opens in a new tab)Silja Paymer's own 2026 campaign site (siljapaymer.com): self-description, attributed in text -- her 19 years as a Mountain View resident and career as a teacher, her Cuesta Pollinator Habitat volunteer work, her FPPC filer ID (#1488605), and her detailed "Safe Streets & a Greener Future" platform (Vision Zero, green space and biodiversity, clean energy and zero waste, volunteer engagement, and access to safe housing and basic necessities for all residents).

Last updated September 1, 2026.