Milpitas City Council: Chuan and Barbadillo Lead Two Seats, Kanani Trails Second by 691 Votes

MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA — NOVEMBER 5, 2026. Alongside the closely watched mayoral contest, Milpitas voters had to select two members of the City Council. The Santa Clara County election reporting carried by KQED as of 7:28 p.m. November 4 shows Bill Chuan with 3,914 candidate votes (24.8%) and Garry Barbadillo with 3,684 (23.3%). Seema Kanani, with 2,993 (18.9%), follows in third. The second-to-third difference is 691 candidate selections, but no official result has been certified.

Two seats, not a single-winner race

This is a multi-seat election. Voters could make up to two selections, and the percentages in the tracker reflect all valid candidate selections, not how many individual voters preferred a candidate. That distinction is particularly important when comparing City Council results with the mayoral contest: a 24.8% share in a two-seat election does not mean only 24.8% of voting residents supported that candidate.

What the first three positions mean

Chuan and Barbadillo occupy the first two reported positions, followed by Kanani, but additional eligible mail and provisional ballots can change vote totals. A reported margin of 691 does not describe how many uncounted Milpitas council ballots exist. California58 is not declaring any council seat officially won, because the county has not certified the election.

Milpitas is also counting votes for mayor

Separate from the council race, Carmen Montano has taken the lead in the mayoral returns after an earlier batch had Hon Lien ahead. See the mayoral vote-count story. The latest KQED November 4 report puts Montano on 4,027 votes and Lien on 3,934, an updated margin of 93 in the displayed tally. The mayoral ranking cannot be inferred from council percentages.

Separate school and business-tax decisions

Residents also voted in the Milpitas Unified school-board election and on Measure K, a local business-tax question. KQED’s reported November 4 Measure K tally was 7,085 Yes and 2,734 No, about 72% Yes. The school-board vote has three seats and its own candidate-selection totals; the tax measure is a Yes/No contest. Local reporting must keep these distinct.

What a city council does

Milpitas council members deliberate on municipal budgets, planning, housing, services, and infrastructure. The results therefore matter to households and businesses across the city. But an electoral lead is evidence about votes counted, not a statement of candidates’ performance or the public’s reasons for voting.

Where to find official results

The Santa Clara County figures displayed by KQED are unofficial. For the underlying jurisdiction, refer to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. California counties must complete the canvass by December 3; statewide certification follows December 11. The numbers here remain a November 4 reporting snapshot checked November 5.

Sources: KQED Santa Clara County election results, 7:28 p.m. November 4; Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters; California58 previous Milpitas mayor coverage.

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