Johnny Khamis is an American politician from San Jose, California and was a member of the San Jose City Council, representing District 10.
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Khamis is a Christian of Palestinian descent.[1] He grew up in San Jose and attended local public schools, graduating from Oak Grove High School. He is a graduate of San Jose State University in Business Management and Communication.[2] He is the former CEO and founder of Western Benefit Solutions, a San Jose-based firm that deals in insurance benefit plan consulting.[3]
He was a member of the Republican Party, until changing his registration to no party preference in protest of the Trump administration family separation policy.[4] City council positions are officially nonpartisan per California law. With his swearing-in on December 31, 2012,[5] he became the first Arab-American to take office for the city of San Jose.[6] He is the former regional director of the California Congress of Republicans,[7] the former chair of the Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission, and the former chair of the San Jose Small Business Development Commission during his time as a councilmember.[8]
Elections
editIn 2022, Khamis was a candidate in the 2022 Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors election for the District 1 seat. He came in second in the primary election and he lost in the general election to Sylvia Arenas.
On March 3, 2020, in the primary election, Khamis lost when he placed 5th place in his race for California's 15th State Senate district behind Republican Robert Howell, Democrat Nora Campos, and the top two vote getters who would move on to general election in November: Ann Ravel who placed 2nd and Dave Cortese who placed in 1st place.[9] Cortese would go on to win the general election.
In the 2012 San Jose city council election, Khamis got the highest vote total of the six candidates in the June primary[10] and won the November general election 52.6% to 47.4%.[11] In his re-election bid in 2016, he received 76% of the vote in the primary election, winning outright forgoing a November general election.[12]
References
edit- ^ Herhold, Scott (January 14, 2013). "Herhold: San Jose Councilman Johnny Khamis battles with police and fire union chiefs". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
- ^ "About Councilmember Johnny Khamis". City of San Jose. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
- ^ "Western Benefit Solutions". Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- ^ Thomsen, Jacqueline (June 26, 2018). "San Jose City Council members leave GOP over Trump treatment of immigrant families". Roll Call. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
- ^ San Jose Mercury News, mercurynews.com. Accessed November 4, 2022.
- ^ Arab American Institute Archived 2013-10-09 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Ex-Mayor skips debate, irks state GOP group". San Jose Mercury News. November 4, 2001. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
- ^ Bryant, Dale (May 10, 2012). "Johnny Khamis, San Jose District 10 council candidate". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
- ^ "Election Night Reporting". results.enr.clarityelections.com. Retrieved 2020-12-24.
- ^ "June 2012 Presidential Primary Election". Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
- ^ "November 2012 Presidential General Election". Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
- ^ "Santa Clara - Election Results". Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. June 30, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2022.