State Senate Candidate Forum in Sunnyvale

A local candidate forum can sound small. But this one matters because California State Senate District 10 is open, the June 2, 2026 primary is close, and Sunnyvale voters are getting one of the few chances to compare contenders side by side. Livable Sunnyvale is hosting the forum tonight, Wednesday, May 6, from 7:00 to 8:30 PM at Sunnyvale Community Services, 1160 Kern Avenue, with board elections starting at 6:15 PM. The setup is broader than a simple room event — there’s also a Zoom option and live translation. (livablesunnyvale.org) ### What is happening tonight? Livable Sunnyvale says the event is a candidate forum for California State Senate District 10, built around hearing candidates’ priorities and giving attendees a chance to ask questions. The organization lists the in-person location as Sunnyvale Community Services, and it also posted a Zoom link and a Wordly translation (livablesunnyvale.org) room itself. (livablesunnyvale.org) ### Why does District 10 matter? District 10 is a big Bay Area seat, stretching across parts of Santa Clara and Alameda counties. The district includes places like Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Milpitas, Fremont, Hayward, Newark, Union City, and parts of San Jose. Basically, it covers a chunk of Silicon Valley and the East Bay where housing, transit, public(livablesunnyvale.org)ivn.us) ### Why is this race suddenly more open? The race is open because Aisha Wahab is listed as a withdrawn candidate, which changes the shape of the primary in a real way. Instead of an incumbent-style contest or a field built around one dominant name, voters are looking at a broader scramble for attention and support in the final weeks before the June 2 primary. (ballotpedia.org) ### Who is running? Ballotpedia lists six candidates in the nonpartisan primary for District 10: David Cohen, Anne Kepner, Raymond Liu, Carmen Montano, Scott Sakakihara, and Linda Price. That’s a crowded field, and in California’s top-two system, the immediate goal is not winning outright in June — it’s making the November ballot. (ballotpedia.org)are easiest to pin down right now? Two of the clearer public campaign profiles belong to Carmen Montano and David Cohen. Montano, the mayor of Milpitas, is running on public safety, insurance, and local control themes, while Cohen frames his campaign around housing, safety, schools, immigrant families, and environmental stewardship. (ballotpedia.org) but it does show the policy lanes already taking shape. (carmen.vote) ### Why does a forum like this help? In a six-candidate race, voters can get buried in mailers, endorsements, and vague branding. A live forum forces comparison. You get to hear who answers directly, who dodges, who actually understands district-level problems, and who has a coherent theory of what Sacramento should do for communities like Sunnyvale and Milpitas. That’(carmen.vote)ut the contrast. ### What should people listen for? Housing is the obvious one in Sunnyvale, but not the only one. Watch for how candidates connect housing to transit, schools, neighborhood change, and public safety. Also listen for whether they talk like city officials solving local problems or like statewide politicians chasing slogans — because District 10 voters are probably deciding between those two styles. ### Bottom line Tonight’s forum is not just another civic calendar item. It’s an early sorting mechanism in an open June 2 primary, in a district big enough to matter and crowded enough that one strong performance can still change the race.