The South Bay Labor Council and its legions were out in full force in the lobby of the swank California Theater for political siblings Xavier and Nora Campos. Familiar faces sampled the fancy spread of sesame chicken, quiche, brie and fruit while watching results roll in around a large computer screen mounted by the entrance.
At 10:30pm, the mood was celebratory, despite the fact that what once seemed like a safe dynastic succession had turned into a November runoff and some candidates, like Forest Williams, fared worse than expected.
Xavier Campos, the only District 5 candidate not holding his election night celebration on the East Side, was all smiles when he pulled ahead with 36.7 percent of the vote. Nora, the winner over long-shot Patricia Martinez-Roach, couldn’t help but keep repeating the word “excited” numerous times when chatting to Metro about winning her lopsided battle to represent Assembly District 23 in Sacramento.
Downright scary – the job does require the capacity to think.
“Xavier Campos, the only District 5 candidate not holding his election night celebration on the East Side, was all smiles when he pulled ahead with 36.7 percent of the vote.”
That guy has a Joker smile. Too good to be in Eastside San Jose? WHy didn’t the dynamic duo hold their celebratory event in their own district? Both Campos’ want to represent the eastside people yet want nothing to do with them. Nora & her union spouse live about as far up on the Alum Rock hills as you can get and still be considered San Jose city—all their neighbors are County property.
Xavier is about as in touch with the “people” as his fancy corvette in his driveway is with the eastside crowd.
Leave ‘em downtown in all that fancy building and fancy food. We have real options now! Thankfully the voters have a chance to get it right in the runoff.
I’ll vote Republican in the Assembly race before I vote for Campos.
It does seem odd that this Assembly seat has effectively been given to Nora Campos. Everyone knows that if you win the 23rd Assembly District Democratic Primary (like most of the state Legislative & Congressional districts in Santa Clara County), you’ve won the seat. She’s going to face no substantial opposition in November, and she faced no substantial opposition last Tuesday. Its one thing for an incumbent to get a free ride, but its highly unusual for an open seat to just be gifted to some City Council member. Most peculiar, and frankly a little unsettling. Democracy doesn’t mean anything, if the leaders are just free to select themselves.
> Most peculiar, and frankly a little unsettling. Democracy doesn’t mean anything, if the leaders are just free to select themselves.
It’s very distressing that so many people, including many on this forum, complain so much about “partisan bickering”, and claim to yearn for a world of “bipartisanship”, and a political system where political parties are irrelevant.
Many people on the globe actually live in societies that have solved the problem of “partisan bickering”. They live in one-party systems that suppress political dissent.
Sad to say, bay area politics are largely a one-party political culture. There is virtually no examination of important policy questions at an intellectual level.
Voters are largely irrelevant to politics in the bay area. All the important decisions are made behind closed doors by the oligarchs of the permanent one-party establishment. The oligarchs direct the dispositon of political funds from government grants and subsidies, and involuntary assessments on purposely overpaid government union members.
A little gerrymandering, a tranche of campaign funding from the oligarch’s warchest, and presto, the next oligarch clone is put in the legislature.
Yes, that’s exactly what happens. There are parts of the country, however, where the Democratic Party is just as dominant as it is here, yet the Democratic primaries are heavily contested by ambitious politicians. But here we get…Patricia Martinez-Roach. Much too weak to actually beat Nora Campos in the primary, but just strong enough to remove any oxygen from a potential outsider’s campaign. I strongly suspect it was arranged that way on purpose.
Then why don’t you stop whining about it, step up and run against her?
I don’t live in her district, I don’t have any money, I don’t have any friends or other connections that I could raise funds from, and my political views would preclude me from being taken seriously in a Democratic primary (leaving aside the fact I’m not a Democrat, and that the primary has already been held). And no Republican could ever get so much as 35 percent of the vote in her district.
Its not “whining” to point out that there are problems within our society, despite the fact that I lack the ability to solve them.
Why don’t you stop being such an obnoxious jerk?
I heard about the comments being made regarding the 23rd AD race and wanted to set the record straight.
No, I was not part of the plan for Nora Campos to win. I decided to run at the last minutes knowing she had all the endorsements and Indian Casinos, interest groups and the status quo supporting her. My point was to demonstrate that I could run against any hand-picked candidate and get many votes. I was right; I received almost 28% of the vote and spent $1300.00. I did not campaig except for a few signs. Nora Campos raised over $400,000.00 and had a lot of help.
NORA CAMPOS
72.20% 19,533
PATRICIA MARTINEZ-ROACH
27.80% 7,520
I lost the race but I didn’t buy my votes. I earned them. I am ready for the 2012 race.
http://www.LatinasNow.Com
> NORA CAMPOS
> 72.20% 19,533
> PATRICIA MARTINEZ-ROACH
> 27.80% 7,520
> I lost the race but I didn’t buy my votes. I earned them. I am ready for the 2012 race.
> http://www.LatinasNow.Com
Patricia:
I would say that you’re probably off to a great start.
That is, if your goal is to be the Empress of Latinas Land.
What do the rest of us who are not “Latinas” have to look forward to if we don’t share your obsession with your ethnicity or your gender?
If that’s the case, then I humbly suggest you seek another office in 2012. Once Campos has the power of incumbency behind her, she’s going to be unbeatable. At this point, the only question is whether she’ll get to serve in the state Senate, after her time in the Assembly is up.
I am not looking for a job sir, I have a job and have worked since I was 13 years-old. I worked my way through college and raised two sons. I run to serve and help others.
It’s easy to take the easy way out and write in a blog-take a chance and throw your name in a race and learn something about politics in San Jose.
Maybe I’ll run for Congress…
Patricia Martinez-Roach said, “I lost the race but I didn’t buy my votes. I earned them. I am ready for the 2012 race.”
You go girl! Your dedication and hard work in our community is something you can be very proud of! Thank you for your service to our community.
> My point was to demonstrate that I could run against any hand-picked candidate and get many votes.
I don’t know that I have ever heard a politician make this argument after losing by 44 percent of the vote.
At what point does a politician say: “Holy cow, I got my clock cleaned”?
Orack Bahama,
At what point do you stop and appreciate people like Patricia for serving our community? Do you have any idea of the contributions she’s made to our City? Read her bio before you start attacking her for her willingness to serve the ungrateful public.