With days left before the Nov. 3 election, the race for San Jose's District 7 City Council seat has turned into a fight over an attack ad.
Challenger Van Le, an East Side Union High School District trustee, held a news conference Oct. 22 accusing incumbent Councilmember Bien Doan of trying to stifle her campaign speech, San José Spotlight reported. Doan called it a manufactured controversy.
The ad
Le's campaign last month issued an ad resurfacing two misdemeanor theft convictions Doan faced about 40 years ago, in his early 20s. Doan says the ad falsely implies he served jail time and threatened a defamation suit. The underlying court records have largely been purged; a criminal law expert who reviewed remaining filings told Spotlight they seem to support Doan's claim that he served community service instead of jail.
The radio letter
After a Le supporter said on an Oct. 17 paid segment on Vietnamese-language station KVVN that Doan "has been arrested and imprisoned," Doan sent the station a cease-and-desist letter. The station then told Le to stop "all personal attacks," according to emails obtained by Spotlight. "That instruction restricted my ability to discuss a public official during an election," Le said.
Le also objected to Doan's campaign representatives hand-delivering a retraction demand to her home; police found no crime occurred. "Van Le has spent this campaign manufacturing controversy instead of offering solutions for District 7," Doan said.
District 7 covers parts of central and East San Jose. The candidates have not debated since before the June primary; two later events were canceled after Doan pulled out, Spotlight reported.