After years on the defensive, the Milpitas mayor is flexing his political muscles, threatening to make good on a threat to oust a political foe.

With 55 percent of the ballots counted Thursday, Milpitas Mayor Rich Tran is on track for an easy victory.

A mailer painting Rich Tran as a communist backfired by drawing fierce condemnation on whoever sent the offending literature.

State political watchdogs unearthed suspicious activity from the 2012 campaign of former Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves.

We’re still 16 months from the 2018 primary, but a huge group is already lining up to run for two county supervisor seats.

The election provided an injection of youth to Milpitas’ elected offices, and the city has a chance to move beyond its entrenched establishment.

Tom Williams, city manager for Milpitas, sent out a navel-gazing press release Monday praising his work following a personnel investigation.

A special election took place in Santa Clara County last week and something unusual happened—it went smoothly. Well, maybe not that smooth for one candidate.

Failed Milpitas council candidate and patent attorney Rajeev Madnawat freaked people out in October when he threatened to leave an outgoing councilman “lifeless” and embarked on a social media rampage. But it appears Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves is willing to look past all of that.

Gadfly
noun ˈgad-ˌflī
1: any of various flies (as a horsefly, botfly, or warble fly) that bite or annoy livestock
2: a person who stimulates or annoys especially by persistent criticism

This story involves definition No. 2, but we’re not here to make fun of a strident citizen in the snarky manner you might expect. No, this Story of the Week focuses on a gadfly getting the best of an elected official. The whole deal is pretty absurd, so, of course, it happened in Milpitas.