Nora Campos

Nora Campos
Speaker pro tempore of the California State Assembly
In office
2013–2014
Preceded byFiona Ma
Succeeded byKevin Mullin
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 27th district
23rd district (2010–2012)
In office
December 6, 2010 – November 30, 2016
Preceded byJoe Coto
Succeeded byAsh Kalra
Member of the San Jose City Council from the 5th District
In office
March 13, 2001 – December 6, 2010
Preceded byManny Diaz
Succeeded byXavier Campos
Personal details
Born (1965-06-15) June 15, 1965 (age 59)[1]
San Jose, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseNeil Struthers
ChildrenOne
EducationSan Francisco State University
OccupationPolitician
Websitenoracamposforsenate.com/

Nora Campos (born June 15, 1965) is an American politician from California. Campos formerly served as a California State Assemblymember and was the Speaker pro tempore during her tenure. In 2020, she was unsuccessful in her campaign for the California's 15th State Senate district. She served on the San Jose City Council representing District 5 (2001-2010). She was unsuccessful in her campaign for the same seat in 2022.[2] Prior to taking elected office she worked for a San Jose City Councilmember.

Early life and education

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Nora Campos was raised in the Cassell neighborhood in East San Jose. She marched with Cesar E. Chavez and cites her early experience with the Farm Worker Movement as an influence on her decision to enter public service as an adult.[verification needed]

Campos graduated from William C. Overfelt High School in 1983 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Francisco State University.[3]

San Jose City Council

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Campos was elected to represent District 5, representing East San Jose on the San Jose City Council in a special election in March 2001 and served for ten years, winning re-election twice. Campos was elected following the election of Ron Gonzales, the first Latino mayor of San Jose. As a Councilmember, Campos focused on improving opportunities for youth as a counter to gang activities and looked to improve the wages of the working class in San Jose through enforcement of labor laws.[4][5][6][7] She formerly served on the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls and was a member of the Latino Caucus of the League of California Cities.

California State Assembly

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In June 2009, Campos announced her candidacy for the 23rd California State Assembly District. She was elected on November 10, 2010, with 75% of the vote,[8] succeeding term-limited Democrat Joe Coto.[9][10] In August 2012, she was appointed speaker pro tempore in the Assembly.[11]

As an assemblywoman, Campos prioritized policies surrounding civil rights.[12] She sponsored a bill that resolved for the federal government to "immediately halt cases it is pursuing against unrepresented immigrant children until lawyers are made available to represent them."[13] In a disappointing turn during the 2015 session, Democratic Governor Brown vetoed Campos' AB 1017, a bill that would have barred employers from using previous salary information to justify paying women less than their male co-workers.[14] The bill was one of two vetoed by Governor Brown that day that targeted gender equity, the other was by fellow Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and addressed gender parity in workers' compensation.[15] In 2016, Campos authored AB 2393 which improved parental leave for all California K-14 employees. It was enrolled into law when Governor Brown signed.[16]

While a State Assemblymember, Campos was chair of the Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media Committee, and of the Status of Girls and Women of Color Committee. Her committee assignments included Budget Committee, the Business and Professions Committee, the Campus Climate Committee, the Governmental Organization Committee, the Health Committee, the Legislative Budget Committee, the Women in the Workplace Committee, the Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee, the Local Government Committee, and the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. {{cn}}

California State Senate Candidacy

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In 2016, termed out as an Assemblymember and after advancing in the primary with the endorsement of then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton,[17] Campos failed to unseat Jim Beall in the election for the 15th State Senate District by a wide margin.[18]

In 2020, Jim Beall termed out of California's 15th State Senate district. Campos was one of seven candidates competing for the open seat; the others were fellow Democrats: former San Jose city council member and termed-out Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese and UC Berkeley Law School adjunct lecturer Ann Ravel[19] along with Republicans Robert Howell and U.S. Army staff sergeant Ken Del Valle and independents Tim Gildersleeve and termed-out San Jose City Councilman Johnny Khamis. During the campaign, Campos received criticism for receiving aid from oil company including Chevron and a political organizations with ties to similar energy companies that also produce oil and gas.[20]

Campos was defeated in the March 3rd jungle primary by Cortese and Ravel, finishing in third place.[21] Had Campos been successful, she would have been the first Latina/o to hold the 15th State Senate seat (including prior to rezoning the 13th Senate District).

Election results

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2010 California State Assembly

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California's 23rd State Assembly district election, 2010
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nora Campos 58,629 75.1
Republican Atul Saini 19,494 24.9
Total votes 78,123 100.0
Democratic hold

2012 California State Assembly

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California's 27th State Assembly district election, 2012
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nora Campos (incumbent) 34,217 70.6
Republican Roger F. Lasson 14,238 29.4
Total votes 48,455 100.0
General election
Democratic Nora Campos (incumbent) 91,816 77.6
Republican Roger F. Lasson 26,461 22.4
Total votes 118,277 100.0
Democratic hold

2014 California State Assembly

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California's 27th State Assembly district election, 2014
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nora Campos (incumbent) 34,799 69.5
Republican G. "Burt" Lancaster 15,272 30.5
Total votes 50,071 100.0
General election
Democratic Nora Campos (incumbent) 49,416 69.4
Republican G. "Burt" Lancaster 21,779 30.6
Total votes 71,195 100.0
Democratic hold

2016 California State Senate

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California's 15th State Senate district election, 2016
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jim Beall (incumbent) 97,948 49.4
Democratic Nora Campos 53,250 26.9
Republican Chuck Page 40,783 20.6
Republican Anthony Macias 6,147 3.1
Total votes 198,128 100.0
General election
Democratic Jim Beall (incumbent) 196,089 62.5
Democratic Nora Campos 117,442 37.5
Total votes 313,531 100.0
Democratic hold

2020 California State Senate

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2020 California's 15th State Senate district election[22][23]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Dave Cortese 79,507 33.9
Democratic Ann Ravel 51,752 22.1
Democratic Nora Campos 39,683 16.9
Republican Robert Howell 23,840 10.2
No party preference Johnny Khamis 23,747 10.1
Republican Ken Del Valle 14,280 6.1
No party preference Tim Gildersleeve 1,635 0.7
Total votes 234,444 100.0
General election
Democratic Dave Cortese 212,207 54.8
Democratic Ann M. Ravel 175,203 45.2
Total votes 387,410 100.0
Democratic hold

2022 San Jose City Council District 5

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2022 San Jose City Council District 5 election[24]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Peter Ortiz 8,733 54.83%
Nonpartisan Nora Campos 7,194 45.17%
Total votes 15,927 100.00

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Official Statement for Nora Campos
  2. ^ "2022 Final Candidate List". City of San Jose. November 3, 2022.
  3. ^ "Hall of Fame: Nora Campos". East Side Union High School District Education Foundation. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
  4. ^ "Panel discussion organized by City Councilwoman Nora Campos to discuss statistics from the National League of Cities on wealth, which indicate a persistent gap between 'haves' and 'have-nots'", SJSU News Archive, October 25, 2004.
  5. ^ Healthier Kids Foundation, Hon. Nora Campos accomplishments.
  6. ^ City Peace Project, San Jose, California
  7. ^ Monica Luhar "Bill Seeks to Improve Futures of Young Boys and Men of Color", KCET, February 4, 2015.
  8. ^ "November 02, 2010 Statement of Vote -- State Assemblymember by District" (PDF). California Secretary of State's office. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 18, 2012. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  9. ^ Francine Kiefer "California's Latino voters helped turn state blue. Will others catch the wave?", The Christian Science Monitor, November 1, 2019.
  10. ^ Michelle Gilchrist. [https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/data-watch/sd-me-ca-legis-demographics-20170112-story.html?_amp=true "California Legislature shifts but remains largely male, white", San Diego Union-Tribune, January 12, 2017.
  11. ^ Koehn, Josh (August 8, 2012). "Campos Appointed Speaker Pro Tempore". San Jose Inside. Metro Silicon Valley.
  12. ^ "NORA CAMPOS A HOME GROWN LEADER FOR WOMEN, LATINOS AND SOUTH BAY FAMILIES," Latin Live, 2016. https://www.wearelatinlive.com/article/3561/nora-campos-for-senate-2016
  13. ^ CA SJR28 Immigrant children: legal representation (2016)
  14. ^ "Brown's signing tsunami: A rundown of bills the governor has made law this week," KPCC, 2015. https://www.scpr.org/news/2015/10/11/54949/brown-s-signing-tsunami-a-rundown-of-bills-the-gov/
  15. ^ "Brown's signing tsunami: A rundown of bills the governor has made law this week," KPCC, 2015. https://www.scpr.org/news/2015/10/11/54949/brown-s-signing-tsunami-a-rundown-of-bills-the-gov/
  16. ^ "All K-14 education employees to receive up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave," Pleasanton Weekly, October 2016. https://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/2016/10/03/all-k-14-education-employees-will-receive-up-to-12-weeks-of-paid-parental-leav
  17. ^ Our Campaigns
  18. ^ Kaplan, Tracey (November 9, 2016) [November 2, 2016]. "Beall coasts to victory over Campos, winning his 20th election". San Jose Mercury News.
  19. ^ The Left Hook, "Beall's open senate seat attracts political heavy weights, Feb 02, 2019. http://thelefthook.com/2019/02/21/bealls-open-senate-seat-attracts-political-heavy-weights/
  20. ^ Lauer, Katie (2020-01-24). "San Jose: Senate candidates launch attacks over campaign funding". San José Spotlight. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  21. ^ "Election Night Reporting". results.enr.clarityelections.com. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  22. ^ "Statement of the Vote - State Senators by Districts (odd-numbered districts only)" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  23. ^ "November 3, 2020, General Election-State Senate" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  24. ^ "City of San Jose, District 5 Council Member - Election Night Reporting". Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. 16 Nov 2022. Retrieved 16 Nov 2022.
[edit]
California Assembly
Preceded by Speaker pro tempore of the California Assembly
2013–2014
Succeeded by
Preceded by California State Assemblywoman, 27th District (23rd district 2010–2012)
December 6, 2010 - November 30, 2016
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by San Jose City Council Councilwoman, 5th District
March 13, 2001 – December 6, 2010
Succeeded by
Xavier Campos