Otto Lee

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Otto Lee

Nonpartisan

Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors District 3

Tenure

2021 - Present

Term ends

2029

Years in position

4

Predecessor

Dave Cortese

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

March 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of California, Berkeley

Law

University of California, Hastings College of the Law

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Navy

Years of service

1989 - 2018

Personal

Profession

Intellectual Property Attorney, Registered Patent Attorney

Contact

Personal website

Otto Lee is a member of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in California, representing District 3. Lee assumed office on January 4, 2021. Lee's current term ends on January 8, 2029.

Lee won re-election to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to represent District 3 in California outright in the primary on March 5, 2024, after the general election was canceled.

Biography

Lee graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor's degree. He went on to obtain his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Lee's professional experience includes working as an intellectual property & registered patent attorney. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1989 to 2018.

Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in Santa Clara County, California (2024)

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors District 3

Incumbent Otto Lee won election outright in the primary for Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors District 3 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Otto Lee (Nonpartisan)	100.0	42,549

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 42,549
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Lee in this election.

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Santa Clara County, California (2020)

General election

General election for Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors District 3

Otto Lee defeated Kansen Chu in the general election for Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors District 3 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Otto Lee (Nonpartisan)	60.5	85,663
		Kansen Chu (Nonpartisan)	39.5	55,946

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 141,609
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors District 3

Kansen Chu and Otto Lee defeated Magdalena Carrasco and John Leyba in the primary for Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors District 3 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kansen Chu (Nonpartisan)	31.5	24,557
✔		Otto Lee (Nonpartisan)	29.0	22,560
		Magdalena Carrasco (Nonpartisan)	26.0	20,227
	Submit photo	John Leyba (Nonpartisan)	13.5	10,548

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 77,892
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Lee's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

2012

See also: California's 22nd Congressional District elections, 2012

Lee ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent California's 22nd District. He and District 21 incumbent Devin Nunes (R) advanced past the June 5, 2012 blanket primary. They faced off in the general election on November 6, 2012 and Nunes won.

U.S. House, California District 22 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Devin Nunes Incumbent	61.9%	132,386
	Democratic	Otto Lee	38.1%	81,555
Total Votes				213,941
Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Otto Lee did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Candidate Conversations

Moderated by journalist and political commentator Greta Van Susteren, Candidate Conversations is a virtual debate format that allows voters to easily get to know their candidates through a short video Q&A. Click below to watch the conversation for this race.

Otto Lee completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Lee's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Our community faces unprecedented challenges - a pandemic straining our healthcare system, a hampered local economy, and calls for equity and systemic change in our society. As Supervisor, I will work tirelessly to address these complex matters and their specific elements, including housing affordability, homelessness, and neighborhood safety.

I'm an immigrant, veteran, small-business owner, father, and your neighbor for nearly 30 years. During eight years on Sunnyvale City Council, I was the "Green Mayor", balanced eight budgets and we were named one of the safest cities in America. I retired at the rank of Commander after 28 years in the Navy, where I helped bring 150,000 troops home from Iraq and was awarded a Bronze Star.

I am honored to be our community's unity candidate and proudly endorsed by Civil Rights Icon Dolores Huerta, our Democratic Party, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Current, and Fmr. San José Mayors Sam Liccardo, Norman Mineta and Ron Gonzales, State Controller Betty Yee, Assemblymembers Evan Low, and Marc Berman, Fmr. Supervisor & Milpitas Mayor Pete McHugh, East Side Teachers Association, Registered Nurses Professional Association, League of Conservation Voters, SVO Business and Labor organizations, Democratic Party, and our essential workers, working families, and small-business owners. Please visit OttoLee.org to learn more.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Recovering and Rebuilding - This pandemic has devastated our community, leaving our small businesses, schools, and nonprofit organizations with massive budget shortfalls. We need experienced leaders who can do the hard work for rebuilding and recovering. I spent 28 years in the US Navy, as a logistics officer. I was deployed to Iraq in 2008, and helped devise a plan and executed a strategy that brought 150,000 of our troops home safely and earned me a Bronze Star. I am ready to hit the ground running to rebuild our economy while procuring critical resources to protect our communities.
• Children and Families - The pandemic has made it even harder for families to thrive in Santa Clara County. Many parents, like myself and my wife, are struggling to manage remote learning while working. Others face a lack of access to affordable, safe childcare. As supervisor, I will increase funding for early childhood programs, childcare centers, and preschools. I will work hard to close the digital divide so that every child has access to the technology needed to learn in today's world.
• Cost of housing & the unhoused - The cost of housing continues to hurt our young families, seniors, and veterans. The fast-growing number of people forced to live on our streets, creekside, in tents, and in their cars is unacceptable. We need to get people off the streets and into temporary and permanent housing. As Supervisor, I will work with the county, cities, and developers to provide affordable, local housing options while protecting our open and agricultural spaces. I will require new housing projects to provide affordable housing units and low and moderate-income levels and make sure that our decisions are motivated by the fundamental idea that everyone deserves food, water, and shelter.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I'm running for Supervisor to continue my dedication to public service and get real results on the challenges we are facing. I want to take bold and real actions in solving the problems that harm our community, from pandemics to global warming, to public safety, and the rising cost of housing; factors that have all negatively impacted our quality of life and the safety of our neighborhoods. During my term as Mayor of Sunnyvale, we were rated one of America's 10 safest cities and had a culture that vehemently demanded assurance from our public safety officers to never practice racial profiling that intimidates our diverse community. Known as the Green Mayor, I increased solar energy panel installations for our public buildings, increased green LEED commercial buildings, and banned single-use plastic bags that pollute our ocean and sea life. I created the Mayor's Green Ribbon Committee that provided many recommendations for our city to adopt to reduce Greenhouse Gasses, many of which were adopted and led to the establishment of the Sunnyvale Sustainability Commission. I also signed the historic Paris Climate Agreement at the Conference of Mayors in 2007. I immigrated to the United States when I was 15-years-old, a decision that my parents made to improve my quality of life, and ensure my safety. I am motivated by these very same principles, and my 28-years of public service highlight my dedication to leaving my daughters a world that is, safer, greener, and more equitable.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

I Will Survive, by Gloria Gaynor

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2012

Lee's campaign website listed the following issues:

• Veterans Policies

Excerpt: "Service members and military families need all the backing we can offer to them. These “benefits,” however, are really commitments being honored, not government goodies being given out. Our country made promises to our service members for their sacrifices, and reductions and delays in providing them to veterans – such as opening the Fresno veterans home – are unconscionable."

• Jobs

Excerpt: "Leverage the region’s agriculture and related industries and natural competitive advantages to diversify the economy and increase job opportunities. Newer industries, for example, those associated with High Speed Rail or alternative energy which receive billions of dollars of federal funds, offer tremendous job potential as long as the projects are fiscally sound and sustainable."

• Water

Excerpt: "Bringing additional acre-feet of water and increasing the percent allocation in the short-term while exploring long-term storage solutions is the only way to meet the vital needs of agriculture while balancing statewide demands."

• Immigration

Excerpt: "We cannot continue waiting year after year to address this issue. Rebuilding a strong economy on the back of a broken immigration system makes no sense. Immigrants contribute greatly to our economy as workers, consumers, business owners and taxpayers. Our nation deserves a workable program that provides a legal path for immigration that does not sacrifice security."

• Environment

Excerpt: "Our people deserve to breathe clean air and drink healthy water. Fighting for sensible solutions to basic needs for a good standard of living is something we must do for ourselves now and for our children’s tomorrow."

Campaign finance summary

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Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Lee and his wife, Sally, have three children.

See also

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