Nora Campos weighs City Council return

Former Assemblywoman Nora Campos might challenge San Jose Vice Mayor Magdalena

Carrasco’s re-election next year, setting up East San Jose voters for another showdown between two political powerhouses with years of bad blood.

Campos, who termed out from the state Assembly last year, was the East Side council member from 2001 to 2010. After she won an Assembly seat, she was succeeded in City Hall by her brother, Xavier Campos.

His narrow win over Carrasco was marred by a scandal over illegal campaign mail, and Carrasco defeated him in his June 2014 re-election bid. But Nora Campos, who still lives in the district, said Carrasco “has yet to take a leadership role.”

Campos said community leaders are urging her to run again — to “come back home” — and represent San Jose’s District 5. She hasn’t ruled it out.

“I started receiving those calls in November,” Campos told IA. “I’m not going to take anything off the table. A lot of people have approached me. I’m concerned about the fact that our district is not getting the attention it deserves.”

Carrasco said it seems Campos “needs a paycheck, but the end of the Campos era has long passed us.”

“Over the past few elections, voters have continued to reject Nora and Xavier,” Carrasco said. “During the past few years, it is evident that she sold out to major corporate interests, including Big Oil, against the will of her community and to the detriment of their health.”

The District 5 election in 2018 may turn into a crowded race: Plata Arroyo Neighborhood Association Director Danny

Garza and Santa Clara County Planning Commissioner Aaron

Resendez both indicated they’re interested in running. Resendez also ran in 2010 and 2014.

But if a bid for City Council isn’t in the cards for Campos, she might run again for state Sen. Jim Beall’s seat — she lost to him last year — when he terms out in four years. A campaign committee raising money for her run for Senate remains active.