Livable Sunnyvale State Senate Candidate Forum

A local candidate forum can sound small. But this one lands at exactly the moment when a lot of District 10 voters are trying to figure out a crowded race fast. Livable Sunnyvale says it will host a California State Senate District 10 forum on Tuesday, May 6, from 7:00 to 8:30 PM at Sunnyvale Community Services, 1160 Kern Avenue, with the group’s board elections starting at 6:15 PM. The timing matters because California’s primary is on June 2, and this seat is open after incumbent Aisha Wahab did not make the ballot. ### What is this event, exactly? It’s a public candidate forum organized by Livable Sunnyvale, a local civic group focused on land use, transportation, and sustainability issues in and around Sunnyvale. The group’s event page frames it as a chance to hear directly from the candidates about their positions on — especially for people who care about housing, transit, climate, and city growth. ### Where and when is it? The forum is scheduled for Tuesday, May 6, 2026, from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM at Sunnyvale Community Services, 1160 Kern Avenue in Sunnyvale. One detail that could trip people up — Livable Sunnyvale’s own board elections start at 6:15 PM beforehand, so anyone showing up just for the candidate portion does not need to guess why people are already gathered. ### Why does this forum matter now? Because the calendar is tight. California’s statewide primary is on June 2, 2026, and counties begin mailing ballots to voters no later than May 4. So this forum comes right as ballots are arriving or about to arrive in mailboxes. In other words, it is not an abstract early campaign event — it hits during the actual decision window. ### Why is District 10 getting extra attention? District 10 is one of those Silicon Valley and East Bay crossover seats where local issues pile up fast — housing production, traffic, transit, public safety, and cost of living all collide in the same geography. The district includes Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Milpitas, Fremont, Newark. The district is representing a region with both intense housing pressure and big transportation demands. ### Who is running? The certified field for the June 2 primary includes David Cohen, Anne Kepner, Raymond Liu, Carmen Montano, Scott Sakakihara, and Linda Price. California uses a top-two primary system for this office, so all candidates run on the same ballot and the top two vote-getters move on to the November 3 general election, no matter their party. ### What changed in this race? The biggest change is that this is now an open-seat contest. Ballotpedia’s candidate listing shows Aisha Wahab as a withdrawn or did-not-make-the-ballot candidate, which turns the race from a challenge against an incumbent into a scramble among multiple hopefuls trying to claim the same lane. That usually makes forums more useful for comparing candidates instead of one incumbent record against one challenger. ### What should voters listen for? The useful tells are usually not the slogans. Listen for who can get specific about housing near transit, state help for local infrastructure, and how they talk about balancing growth with neighborhood concerns. District 10 is the kind of seat where broad ideological branding matters less than whether a candidate sounds like land use and Sacramento funding all fit together. That’s an inference from the district’s makeup and from Livable Sunnyvale’s issue focus. ### Bottom line Basically, this forum matters because it drops into the narrow window when voters are finally paying attention and ballots are about to move. If you live in District 10 and want to compare candidates side by side before the June 2 primary, Tuesday, May 6 is one of the clearest chances to do it.