# San Jose City Council, District 9 Compare records and positions simply between Gordon Chester or Genny Altwer for San Jose City Council, District 9 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on San Jose's 10-member City Council. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. - Jurisdiction: City of San Jose - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/san-jose-council-9 - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: October 6, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 92 out of 100 (Very strong), across 5 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Gordon Chester** - **Genny Altwer** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. An open-seat runoff: Genny Altwer, a licensed marriage and family therapist, took 35.5% of the June vote and Gordon Chester, a longtime city Public Works employee, took 22.2% (per San Jose Spotlight's report on the certified count). The winner holds one of ten district seats on the San Jose City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside a citywide-elected mayor. The term is four years. The Spotlight frames the pairing as the city's familiar axis: a business-aligned candidate against a labor-backed one. With no incumbent, District 9 voters are choosing which coalition's theory of the city gets a council vote — and June's split leaves plenty of unclaimed voters for both. ## Genny Altwer A licensed marriage and family therapist, described by the Spotlight as the business-aligned candidate in the runoff. Their 35.5% led June's field. In their Vote411 questionnaire they describe master's degrees in criminal justice and psychology, a career as a sworn police officer who worked as a hostage negotiator and sexual assault detective, and work as a therapist and small business owner. They say they serve on the city's Appeals Hearing Board, which oversees blight cleanup, and that they were raised in the district. Their three stated priorities are housing development, ending street homelessness and public safety. They want more housing at every affordability level, especially downtown and near transit; streamlined interim housing sites with more county and federal funding; and a plan to hire more than 100 police officers alongside programs aimed at the root causes of crime. **Strengths:** June's clear first-place finish and, by their own account, a career as a police officer, detective and therapist. **Trade-offs:** Their one public role is, by their own account, a seat on the Appeals Hearing Board, so council readiness rests on profession and platform more than a legislative record. **Keep in mind:** "Business-aligned" is the coalition label the press applies (per the Spotlight) — test it against their actual positions. Their career details are their own account in a candidate questionnaire. ## Gordon Chester A longtime San Jose Public Works employee with labor backing (per the Spotlight). He took 22.2% in June to reach the runoff. In his Vote411 questionnaire he describes growing up in the district, starting in childcare and youth-sports work at 17, and eleven years with the city, beginning in the Building Department and working closely with Planning. His priorities answer runs to eight paragraphs rather than three items; grouped by theme, it covers streets and sidewalks designed for people walking, biking and rolling, not just for cars; housing and affordability, with a faster permitting pipeline, renter protections, homelessness treated as a housing and services issue rather than only enforcement, and Measure E funding shifted toward permanent affordable housing; and a larger tax base from new homes and neighborhood businesses, with simpler permitting for small businesses. **Strengths:** Years of city employment, by his own account in the Building Department and alongside Planning, plus organized labor's support (per the Spotlight). **Trade-offs:** A June share thirteen points behind, and no elected or policy-making record in the race's coverage. **Keep in mind:** A public-works insider on the council is an unusual proposition: operational knowledge in exchange for the outsider perspective councils more often add. His account of his work is his own. ## Sources 1. [Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters — Official results certified, June 2, 2026 primary (certified June 30, 2026)](https://vote.santaclaracounty.gov/official-results-certified-june-2-2026-statewide-direct-primary-election) 2. [Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters — Official Final Election Results, June 2, 2026 primary](https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/CA/Santa_Clara/126487/web.345435/) 3. [San Jose Spotlight — Six council candidates advance to November (July 2, 2026)](https://sanjosespotlight.com/six-san-jose-council-candidates-advance-to-november/) 4. [City of San Jose — eDisclosure, the City Clerk's own electronic campaign-finance filing system (distinct from the state's NetFile network): each candidate's most recent 2026 semi-annual FPPC Form 460 summary (period 06/01 or 06/02/2026-06/30/2026, filed late July/early August 2026), read directly off the rendered filing pages for contributions to date, expenditures, ending cash on hand, and outstanding debt](https://efile.sanjoseca.gov/public/search/campaign) 5. [League of Women Voters -- Vote411 voter guide, 'San José City Council, District 9' race (statewide All Races list): each candidate's self-submitted ballot designation and campaign contacts, plus answers to the League's two questions -- top three priorities and qualifying background. Both candidates answered both. Capture in data/nov-2026/sources/vote411/san-jose-council-9.json.](https://www.vote411.org/plan-your-vote) ## The rest of the ballot San Jose City Council, District 9 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "San Jose City Council, District 9 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/san-jose-council-9 (sources last retrieved October 6, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.