Nora Campos

Nora Campos (born June 15, 1965) is an American politician from California. Campos is a 2020 candidate to California's 15th State Senate district. She served on the San Jose City Council and then in the California State Assembly. She is a representative on the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls and a member of the Latino Caucus of the League of California Cities. While a State assemblywoman, Campos was chair of the Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media Committee, and of the Status of Girls and Women of Color Committee.

Nora Campos
Speaker pro tempore of the California State Assembly
Preceded by	Fiona Ma
Succeeded by	Kevin Mullin
Member of the California State Assembly from the 27th district 23rd district (2010–2012)
In office December 6, 2010 – November 30, 2016
Preceded by	Joe Coto
Succeeded by	Ash Kalra
Member of the San Jose City Council from the 5th District
In office March 13, 2001 – December 6, 2010
Preceded by	Manny Diaz
Succeeded by	Xavier Campos
Personal details
Born	June 1965 (age 55)[1] San Jose, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Neil Struthers
Children	One
Education	San Francisco State University
Occupation	Politician
Website	noracamposforsenate.com/

Prior to taking elected office, she worked as Community Relations Coordinator and then as Chief of Staff for a San Jose City Councilmember.

In addition to her role as chair of two committees, Campos was a member of the 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.

Early life and education

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.

Campos graduated from William C. Overfelt High School in 1983 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Francisco State University.[2]

Political philosophy

Throughout Campos' political career she has adhered to five pillars of public policy: 1) High performing public K-14 education. 2) Affordable post secondary education. 3) Affordable dependent health care. 4) Equality and civil rights against injustices. And 5) High-skill, high-wage, apprenticed careers.

Campos has been honored for her public service by groups such as the Clean Water Coalition, the California Latino Legislative Caucus Institute for Public Policy, and the Lupus Foundation of Northern California.[3]

San Jose City Council

Campos was elected to represent District 5 on the San Jose City Council in a special election in March 2001 and served for ten years, winning re-election twice. As a San Jose City councilwoman, as of 2015, Campos (2001) was one of only six women that have served in that role since 1998; the others are Madison Nguyen (2005), Nancy Pyle (2005), Judy Chirco (2003), Cindy Chavez (1998), and Linda J. LeZotte (1998).[4]

As a councilwoman, Campos struggled as a Latina with a council steeped in white patriarchy.[5] Campos was elected following the election of Ron Gonzales, the first Latino mayor at the time in the one hundred and fifty year U.S. history of San Jose; a region predominantly Latino. As a councilwoman, 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.[6][7][8][9]

California State Assembly

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,[10] succeeding term-limited Democrat Joe Coto. As an assemblywoman and a Latina, Campos alongside other Latina policymakers like Lorena Gonzalez, represented her constituents in the lopsidedly white male demographic of the California assembly.[11][12] Campos prevailed in that role, in August 2012 she was appointed speaker pro tempore in the Assembly.[13]

As an assemblywoman, Campos upheld civil rights.[14] 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."[15] As a champion of workers, Campos balanced social justice with environmental justice, it is jobs or health, for workers, both are important and Campos maintained a lifetime Eco score of 87%, [16] which only a third of state assembly members achieved. In a disappointing turn during the 2015 session, Democratic Governor Brown vetoed Campos' AB1017, a bill that would have barred employers from using previous salary information to justify paying women less than their male co-workers.[17] 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 addessed gender parity in workers compensation.[18] In a win, with AB 2393(2016) Campos gained the right to parental leave for all California K-14 employees; this time Governor Brown signed.[19]

California State Senate

In 2016, termed out as an Assembly member and after advancing in the primary with the endorsement of then presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, [20] Campos failed to unseat Jim Beall in the election for the 15th State Senate District by a wide margin.[21]

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 councilmember and termed-out Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese and UC Berkeley Law School adjunct lecturer Ann Ravel[22] 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.[23]

Campos was defeated in the March 3rd jungle primary by Cortese and Ravel, finishing in third place.[24] 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

2010 California State Assembly

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

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

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

References

1. Official Statement for Nora Campos
2. "Hall of Fame: Nora Campos". East Side Union High School District Education Foundation. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
3. Just Facts, votesmart.org https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/biography/70451/nora-campos
4. "San Jose vice mayor: We need more women on council," Internal Affairs, September 10, 2015. http://blogs.mercurynews.com/internal-affairs/2015/09/10/san-jose-vice-mayor-we-need-more-women-on-council/
5. the San Jose Spotlight "Ballard: Step aside, white men. It’s time for women of color to lead." April 14, 2019. https://sanjosespotlight.com/ballard-step-aside-white-men-its-time-for-women-of-color-to-lead/
6. " 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, 10/25/2004. http://www.sjsu.edu/news/archive/964.html"
7. Healthier Kids Foundation, Hon. Nora Campos accomplishments. https://hkidsf.org/hkf_bods/hon-nora-campos/
8. the City Peace Project, San Jose. http://www.thecitypeaceproject.org/index.php/about-us/awards-accolades
9. Monica Luhar "Bill Seeks to Improve Futures of Young Boys and Men of Color," KCET, February 4, 2015. https://www.kcet.org/agenda/bill-seeks-to-improve-futures-of-young-boys-and-men-of-color
10. "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.
11. Francine Kiefer "California’s Latino voters helped turn state blue. Will others catch the wave?" The Christian Science Monitor, November 1, 2019. https://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/USA/Politics/2019/1101/California-s-Latino-voters-helped-turn-state-blue.-Will-others-catch-the-wave
12. MICHELLE GILCHRIST "California Legislature shifts but remains largely male, white." The San Diego Union-Tribune, JAN. 12, 2017. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/data-watch/sd-me-ca-legis-demographics-20170112-story.html?_amp=true
13. Koehn, Josh (August 8, 2012). "Campos Appointed Speaker Pro Tempore". San Jose Inside. Metro Silicon Valley.
14. "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
15. CA SJR28 Immigrant children: legal representation (2016)
16. EcoVote scorecard https://scorecard.ecovote.org/2016/assembly/campos/
17. "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/
18. "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/
19. "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
20. Our campiagns, https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=131905
21. Kaplan, Tracey (November 9, 2016) [November 2, 2016]. "Beall coasts to victory over Campos, winning his 20th election". San Jose Mercury News.
22. 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/
23. Lauer, Katie (2020-01-24). "San Jose: Senate candidates launch attacks over campaign funding". San José Spotlight. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
24. "Election Night Reporting". results.enr.clarityelections.com. Retrieved 2020-12-25.

External links

• Campaign website
• Ballotpedia
• Legislative record