Scott Sakakihara

Background

Scott Sakakihara grew up in Union City and attended its public schools, the Rafu Shimpo reported. All four of his grandparents were incarcerated in World War II camps for Japanese Americans, including Manzanar. He earned a political science degree at UC San Diego in 2005 and a law degree at Harvard in 2008. He worked in the Obama White House during the push for the Affordable Care Act, then spent nearly 14 years at Palantir Technologies, rising to chief of staff of its finance department. He has been a U.S. Navy Reserve intelligence officer since 2017, and in 2021 he led an intelligence team supporting special operations in the Middle East for eight months. He and his wife, Melinda, a public school teacher, have three children.

In office

Sakakihara joined the Union City Planning Commission in 2017 and won the District 4 council seat in November 2022. He has served as vice mayor. He is also an elected member of the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee and sits on a League of California Cities policy committee.

He left Palantir in December 2025. He told the East Bay Insiders newsletter that he disagreed with the company's work supporting federal immigration enforcement, saying "I think what the company is doing right now is not okay." The newsletter's author, Steve Tavares, reported that the Senate seat looked likely to open only that December, when Senator Aisha Wahab began exploring a run for Congress. Sakakihara seeded his campaign with $250,000 of his own money, largely from Palantir stock. IVN reported that before the primary he had raised $399,003, including $299,000 of his own funds, more than anyone else in the field.

Endorsers listed by the Rafu Shimpo include Representatives Mark Takano and Jill Tokuda, former Representative Mike Honda, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, Alameda County Supervisor Lena Tam and Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii.

On the ballot

Sakakihara's ballot designation is Councilmember/Navy Officer. In the June 2 primary he placed first with 52,762 votes (29.1 percent). Linda R. Price, a Sunnyvale businesswoman and Republican who has not held office, placed second with 42,079 (23.2 percent), ahead of four other Democrats. The seat has been vacant since Wahab resigned on September 1, 2026, after winning a special election to Congress, and the winner takes office in December. The district includes all or parts of Fremont, Hayward, Milpitas, Union City, San Jose, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara. Four candidates are running for his District 4 council seat.