Carmen Montano, the mayor of Milpitas, is only three points ahead of Councilmember Hon Lien in the 2024 race.
After being vice mayor, Montano was chosen mayor of Milpitas for the first time in 2022. She was the city’s first woman mayor. Milpitas mayors are only in office for two years, so the 2024 campaign began almost right away.
Councilmembers Lien and Anthony Phan, as well as community activist Voltaire Soriben Montemayor, who is running for mayor for the fifth time, were also running against Montano. As of Wednesday afternoon, Montano has 36.2% of the vote, Lien is in second place with 33.2%, Phan is in third with 20.6%, and Soriben Montemayor is in fourth with 9.8%.
Montano, who was born and raised in Milpitas, handled the celebration of the city’s 70th anniversary earlier this year. He talked about the city’s history of farming and industry, as well as its recent investments in public safety, transportation, affordable housing, and economic growth.
When asked for a response, Montano did not answer. She told San José Spotlight in the past that Milpitas is just like any other city: “It’s growing; that’s part of progress; but it has to be smart progress.”
Lien said she was running for mayor of Milpitas while she was still on the city council. She did community work after retiring from her seafood wholesale business, Sunnyvale Seafood, in 2007 and before joining the council. She was a trustee on the Milpitas Unified School District board for two terms.
She said she was still hopeful that she would win the race and that she would wait until all the votes were counted.
Lien said that if she were voted mayor, her goals would be to make the city safer, build more affordable housing, and help people who don’t have a place to live.
“I’m going to keep a good attitude.” “Until the day of the election, we walked all over the neighborhood, knocked on doors, and worked the phones,” Lien told San José Spotlight. “I hope those who voted late did so for me.”
For 2025, Montano wants to increase the number of affordable homes, give cops and firefighters more money, and be more responsible with taxpayer dollars. Montano wants to start an audit to make sure that taxpayer money is being used wisely.
But her time in office has been marked by a growing feud with Steve McHarris, the former city manager who was fired.
McHarris accused Montano and the city council of firing him unfairly and intimidating him, which Montano and the council members have denied. City officials just put in a protective order to stop McHarris from saying bad things about the city by sharing information he got from his case against the city.