EDITORIAL: David Cohen, state senatorial candidate, answers Bay Area News Group's primary questionnaire

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Ahead of the June primary election, the Bay Area News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates for California State Senate District 10. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires may have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and clarity.

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Name: David CohenCurrent job title: Councilmember, City of San JoseDate of birth: June 28, 1968

Political party affiliation: DemocratOther political positions held: Berryessa School Board / San Jose City CouncilCity where you reside: San Jose

What are the top three problems you're seeking to solve if elected SD 10 Senator?

1. Housing affordability: Help make it less expensive to build housing

2. Accessible health care: Address the gaps in service that are caused by the federal cuts of H.R. 1, which put hospitals and community health centers at risk

3. Climate change: Electrify our economy to reduce carbon emissions

Why are you uniquely qualified to address the three problems you've identified above?

Over 20 years of elected service, I have brought people together to address the biggest needs in our community. I built bridges as a school board member, developing relationships that resulted in the creation of the East Side Alliance. For 13 years, I visited one school per week and had lunch with staff and visited classrooms so I knew what the needs were on the ground. During my first year on council, I brought the city together with Santa Clara County to settle the lawsuit that had stalled housing development in North San Jose for nearly a decade.

What differentiates you from your most serious competitors for this seat?

Serving on the city council and school board has helped me bring reforms and meaningful change. It's also made me a target of several powerful groups, who now support my opponents. I can take the heat. I'm doing this to solve problems, not to be popular. I have experience at multiple levels of government, bringing both education and municipal governance to the Senate. As an engineer, I worked at major companies in both San Jose and Fremont. My experience as a senior manager in tech gives me a deep understanding of the primary economic engine of this district.

What Senate committee would you most like to chair, if given the opportunity? And how would that position serve your constituents?

There are several committees I would like to chair that are all important to Senate District 10. Energy, Utilities and Communications is important in addressing cost-of-living issues, since high utility costs are squeezing many of our residents. I have served on various water boards as a council member and chairing the Natural Resources and Water Committee would allow me to address the issues with water management and availability. Finally, the Privacy, Digital Technologies and Consumer Protection Committee is key to this region as we work to balance the explosion of AI with our safety and the future of our workforce.

You're running to be a lawmaker. If you were going to be remembered for writing and passing one law, what would it be?

If I were to be remembered for one law, it would be the Local Flexibility and Housing Accountability Act, designed to address our housing crisis with both urgency and realism. This law would shift the model by setting clear statewide housing goals while giving local governments the flexibility to determine how best to meet them. Accountability would remain strong, but the approach would emphasize incentives over punishment. Communities that meet or exceed their housing goals would receive infrastructure funding and planning support, while those that fall short would face state intervention.

You're running to replace Sen. Aisha Wahab. What has Sen. Wahab done right while representing this district?

Addressing the needs of the most disadvantaged members of our community.

How has Sen. Wahab failed this district? And what would you do differently?

I think our differences are more stylistic than anything else. Sen. Wahab in my experience tends more toward strict, progressive decision-making, and I tend toward principled, relentless and imperfect progress. I have also heard that several cities in the Senate district haven't felt as if Sen. Wahab has delivered for them. It will be important to me to be a visible partner in every city from Sunnyvale to Hayward and deliver state assistance tailored to their local needs.

What solutions would you support to reduce housing costs in your district? If that's increasing supply, explain the policies you'd support.

The state should make sure that local governments don't have overly burdensome planning processes that delay projects from moving forward. I will look for ways to create standards that put limits on the permitting timeline, improve the efficiency of the California Environmental Quality Act for infill projects and make sure that impact fees are set appropriately to support local services without making housing too expensive to build. I will also support programs for the state to offer low-interest financing for developers so they can move their projects forward in a difficult cost environment.

Why should renters who live in your district vote for you? (If you think you've addressed this in prior answers, then note that.)

At the city level, I've worked to unlock long-standing gridlock with the county that was holding back housing development. We've been able to clear a path for new housing projects to move forward. That progress is critical because increasing housing supply is the key to easing pressure on rents and giving renters more choices. I've consistently supported strong renter protections, including the legal right to counsel. My approach is straightforward - protect renters today, while building the housing we need to make our communities more affordable tomorrow.

Why should first-time homebuyers vote for you?

I'm the only candidate with a record of significant results in expanding housing opportunities here in this district. The State Capitol could use more expertise and more independence. Those qualities are essential for achieving real progress on California's most pressing issues, especially housing affordability. In addition to expediting the building of new housing, I support state programs to provide down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers.

What actions would you take to tackle homelessness? Do cities and counties need more control over the problem or does the state need to demand more coordination and accountability? How are your policy prescriptions different than what's already been done?

As a senator, I will advocate for the state to provide consistent and significant Homeless Housing and Assistance Program (HHAP) funding, so that local governments know they have a reliable revenue stream to provide services. The state should also help developers move housing projects forward by offering low-interest financing and streamlining permitting. A comprehensive solution also includes making sure the state, counties and cities are aligned to collectively offer physical and mental health care, addiction services, case management, transitional housing and job training. The state should define the roles and encourage better cooperation between different levels of government.

Bay Area counties will lose billions in coming years as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. These federal cuts, particularly to health care, are expected to hit Alameda and Santa Clara counties' residents hard. What actions, if any, would you support to protect these counties' budgets, in general, and health care services, in particular?

We need to be extremely careful and disciplined about our budgets, making sure that core sectors like health care are properly supported and protected. That means safeguarding funding for public hospitals, clinics and safety net programs that our most vulnerable residents rely on, even if it requires scaling back or delaying spending in other areas. We have to be willing to make hard decisions. That could include reallocating local and state resources, strengthening regional collaboration between counties and finding efficiencies wherever possible. The goal is clear - to preserve access to healthcare and ensure that our communities can weather this moment.

Should California have a single-payer universal health care system? Explain.

In an ideal world, yes. I have long believed that a single-payer system would be a promising way to boost health care efficiencies and bring overall costs down. I will continue to explore what paths forward there might be, but I recognize that we do not live in an ideal world and it will be very complicated to make the transition. It's also very hard for California to go it alone if there is no support from the federal government.

Why should your district's commuters vote for you?

I sit on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and Caltrain boards, and I bring that experience into the decisions that shape how people move through our region. With environmental stewardship as a top priority, I believe investing in reliable, efficient transit is essential not just for reducing emissions, but for improving quality of life. At the same time, we must address the challenge of affordability. Too many commuters are paying more than they should, and we need to find ways to use and strengthen our existing systems rather than relying on costly external solutions.

Do you think BART has made enough of the difficult financial choices to right-size the agency? Do you support the proposed sales tax on the November ballot? If not, what should BART be doing to stabilize the transit system?

While it is important that BART show fiscal restraint in order to keep the system solvent, I also believe that public transit can only be successful if the systems have enough frequency and convenience to serve riders well. So there is a crucial balance between cost-saving cuts and the creation of a death spiral. With less service, ridership drops, exacerbating the financial distress and eventually leading to the failure of the system.

Please list Bay Area transit governance reform legislation that you would support?

We have to consider some level of consolidation across the Bay Area to more efficiently manage and coordinate the systems. Programs like Seamless Bay Area are important in order to make sure fare structures, schedules and transfers are convenient enough. I am open to discussions about electing boards, but I don't think that is a panacea, as it is clear that BART's elected board doesn't insulate it from financial distress. And VTA is more responsive to all communities in the county by virtue of a board structure that guarantees representation from all portions of the district.

Explain your position on California's High-Speed Rail project.

For a litany of reasons, Californians need high-speed rail to succeed. It is sad that the United States is so far behind the rest of the developed world in providing fast, clean, electrified transit options for our residents. California can set a national model for how to modernize our transportation infrastructure. Our urban centers have run out of capacity for significantly expanding our airports and freeways. We need this transportation option to keep our people and our economy moving far into the future.

Joint Venture Silicon Valley estimates 400,000 Bay Area jobs are at risk of being replaced by AI. What role should the state play, if at all, in regulating AI to protect Bay Area workers and/or consumers?

California must facilitate the job transition by establishing regional training partnerships and worker retraining. If done right, workers will benefit from the transition. Our community colleges will play a lead role in offering programs that prepare workers for the tech jobs of the future. As the adoption of AI technology increases, we must be ready to act quickly and put in place reasonable regulations to protect workers from abuse and preserve privacy. We were not ready for the social media explosion. We must be ready to react nimbly to AI, without overreacting and stifling innovation.

Would you support legislation to curb children's use of social media?

Research is making it more clear that social media can have a detrimental effect on children's developing minds. I believe California must join other countries around the world and implement policies to protect them from the negative effects of social media use.

What actions would you support to help California balance its chronic deficit? If that's by raising revenues, explain how. If that's by cutting spending, explain how.

During my time on the school board through the 2008-09 recession, I faced difficult budget decisions and learned how to protect core priorities even in tough times. That experience shapes my belief that we can navigate this moment responsibly while still planning for the future. We rely too heavily on volatile sources like income tax, making it harder to plan and invest consistently. We should move toward a more stable system that supports essential services without increasing the overall tax burden on most Californians, while also prioritizing core services and strengthening reserves to better prepare for future downturns.

In what ways, if at all, would you support modifying Proposition 13?

Prop. 13 provides important protections for homeowners and those protections should be preserved. However, over time, the property tax burden in the state has shifted more onto homeowners whose properties change hands more frequently and less on businesses who hold properties for many decades. I believe we should discuss small reforms that might improve our revenue streams in the state.

What are the biggest challenges facing your district's public schools? What actions would you take to improve them?

During my 14 years on the school board, I saw firsthand how flaws in funding formulas and mechanisms create real disparities for students, from access to counselors to classroom resources. I believe it is time to shift from attendance-based funding to enrollment-based funding. Schools staff based on enrollment and should be funded that way. Also, there should be a state reserve built up over time that can supplement low-funded Local Control Funding Formula districts so that every student in the state has an equal opportunity to succeed.

What do the biggest contributors to your campaign expect from you?

I believe my biggest contributors expect me to be a thoughtful legislator who listens to input from all stakeholders to make thoughtful policy decisions. I have built a coalition of supporters who appreciate my independence and willingness to compromise and craft better policy.

What more should we know about you that might inform our board's judgment of your capacity to serve this district's constituents?

I've run twice for city council. The first time, organized labor supported me. After making several policy decisions based on my principles, not their politics, they opposed my reelection. I truly believe cooperation and collaboration yield results, not cronyism and fealty. I'll be an independent voice for California focused on results. From the East Side Alliance to the League of California Cities, people I work with recognize my ability to solve problems collectively. That's why all of my colleagues on the city council support my campaign for Senate, regardless of their political persuasion.

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