Hon Lien has held an at-large seat on the Milpitas City Council since 2022, after serving on the Planning Commission and the school board, and her council term ends in December 2026. She is running for mayor on the November 3, 2026 ballot, two years after finishing about three points behind Mayor Carmen Montano.
Background
Hon Lien ran a seafood wholesale business, Sunnyvale Seafood, until retiring in 2007, and then turned to community service. She served on the Milpitas Planning Commission from 2012 to 2016 and on the Milpitas Unified School District board from 2016 to 2022, two terms as a trustee. Through the Rotary Club of Milpitas she has raised money for service projects, including STEAM classes at Rose Elementary School, and she chairs the Rotary District 5170 Vietnam Project, which works against child trafficking and organizes volunteers to teach English in Vietnam. She ran for the council in 2020 and was elected in November 2022, leading the early count for two at-large seats.
In office
In February 2023 Lien and Councilmember Anthony Phan voted against the 3-2 decision not to renew City Manager Steve McHarris's contract, and Lien asked for another closed session to discuss extending it. In November 2023 she announced a run for mayor, citing public safety, affordable housing, support for unhoused residents and frequent leadership turnover at City Hall. In November 2024 she finished second with 33.2 percent to Montano's 35.9 percent, in the count of November 8.
On January 7, 2025 she sued former Vice Mayor Karina Dominguez for defamation in Santa Clara County Superior Court, alleging false statements about her during the 2024 campaign. In July 2025 Judge William J. Monahan denied Dominguez's motion to strike the suit under the anti-SLAPP law, and Dominguez's attorney said they would appeal. Also in January 2025, the council voted 3-2 to deny her request for city travel money to the U.S. Conference of Mayors after Montano sought to keep a quorum. Lien and Vice Mayor Garry Barbadillo voted no, and Lien canceled the trip. In October 2025 she started a censure process against Councilmember Evelyn Chua over the scheduling of a closed session, saying that doing nothing would condone the wrongdoing. She withdrew it before an October 24 special meeting and voted against the 2-1 motion for Chua to apologize.
Joseph Weinstein, a community organizer who managed her 2020 council campaign, praised her community service when she entered the 2024 mayor's race, saying "Her service level is unbelievable" (San José Spotlight, November 8, 2023).
On the ballot
Lien launched her campaign for mayor in July 2026, saying she wants to address turnover among city managers and department heads, strengthen the local economy, streamline permitting and make law enforcement more efficient. Her ballot designation is Council Member, City of Milpitas. The other candidates are Mayor Carmen Montano, Voltaire S. Montemayor, a retired geologist, and Santosh Sahoo, a tech entrepreneur. She is not running for her council seat. The winner serves a two-year term.
What supporters say
We have not yet found published praise from a named person that meets our sourcing rules.
What critics say
We have not yet found published criticism from a named person that meets our sourcing rules.
On the ballot
Mayor of Milpitas
- Hon Lien Council Member, City of Milpitas
- Carmen Montano IncumbentMayor/Educator
- Voltaire S. Montemayor Retired Geologist
- Santosh Sahoo Tech Entrepreneur
SFBAYHCC does not endorse candidates in these pages. Every candidate in a contest gets the same fields, listed in the order the official source lists them. How we write these profiles. Profile last reviewed October 17, 2026.
