District 3 in Santa Clara is an open seat this year. San José Spotlight reports that Councilmember Karen Hardy terms out in December and is running for mayor. Two candidates want the job. (The city’s other council race is covered in our District 2 story.)

Eric Crutchlow

Crutchlow, 66, has lived in Santa Clara since 1984, Spotlight reports. He is a cybersecurity product manager at Lumen with about 25 years in the field. He chairs the city’s Planning Commission and served on the Charter Review Committee. He says his top priority is city finances and infrastructure.

In his Silicon Valley Voice Q&A, Crutchlow calls for a full inventory of city assets and says “another bond cannot become our maintenance plan.” He notes that data centers use more than half of Silicon Valley Power’s electricity and that residents have seen six rate increases since January 2022. He wants a cost-of-service study to check whether homes are subsidizing big users. At a September forum, he proposed a standing council finance committee and a report on data centers’ diesel backup generators.

Kyle Madej

Madej, 45, is a Santa Clara native whose family has lived in District 3 since 1969, Spotlight reports. He is CEO of Sentinel Holdings, which owns security firms. He has served 12 years on the Briarwood Little League board and has been its president since 2023, and he sits on a youth soccer board.

In his Voice Q&A, Madej says the city should have turned the Super Bowl and World Cup into a citywide celebration, with a watch-party zone along Lincoln and El Camino. He also wants a regular maintenance schedule, suggests learning from Sunnyvale, and proposes affordable housing on city land through nonprofit leases. On data centers, he wants a “fair trade” that brings residents lower bills.

At the forum, Madej called for separating the Stadium Authority board from the City Council, saying the current setup is a “huge conflict of interest.” He also talked about blight along El Camino Real, including two empty shopping centers, and suggested food trucks at Homestead and Lafayette.

Where they agree

The Voice’s forum report found few sharp differences. Both candidates said they support a hard cutoff time for council votes so decisions aren’t made late at night. The forum was co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters, the Silicon Valley Chamber and San José Spotlight.

How to vote

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls and vote centers close at 8 p.m., and mailed ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and arrive within seven days. You can check your registration and ballot status at sos.ca.gov/elections. California lets you register and vote the same day at a vote center. For more local races and measures, see our 2026 Bay Area election hub.