A former state lawmaker with East San Jose roots plans to run for her previous post on the City Council.
Former Assemblymember and District 5 Councilmember Nora Campos announced her campaign Tuesday to retake the council seat in next year’s citywide elections. Campos served on the council from 2001 to 2010 — and was succeeded by her brother Xavier – and in the state Assembly from 2010 to 2016. She most recently worked as a consultant for 55 Advisors, a policy advocacy lobbying firm, according to LinkedIn. She previously ran for the seat in 2022 and lost to current Councilmember Peter Ortiz.
Campos said her priorities include affordable housing, investing in parks and youth programs, homelessness and small business support. She said her prior time in office laid foundations for several East San Jose milestones. She points to her role in leading the revitalization of the neglected shopping area at Story and King roads, advocating for VTA’s light rail extension to Eastridge and hiring more police under former Mayor Chuck Reed.
“My leadership shows that I have a proven track record of getting things done because I listen to what people are saying and what they want and what’s missing in their district — and what’s missing in their quality of life,” Campos told San José Spotlight.
District 5 is centered around the Alum Rock neighborhood, bounded by Mabury Road to the north and Reid-Hillview Airport to the south. After its boundaries were redrawn in 2021, the district became home to more than 100,000 people — with roughly 40.5% of voters being Latino and 38.2% Asian. East San Jose is home to some of Santa Clara County’s highest rates of poverty and overcrowded housing, and was hit disproportionately hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Campos is the first to challenge Ortiz for the District 5 seat. Since taking office, Ortiz has helped score immigration defense funding for residents, championed the highest fines in the state for absentee property owners who leave buildings vacant and blighted, pushed to unmask federal immigration agents conducting crackdowns in the city and passed policies combatting suspicious police road closures on Cinco De Mayo that state leaders deemed racist. But he has also taken heat this year after police sources tied him to a private text thread with other city leaders that allegedly used racial slurs. Local community groups stood by Ortiz after he addressed them publicly.
Ortiz did not respond to requests for comment.
After terming out of the Assembly, Campos unsuccessfully ran for state Senate in 2016 and 2020. Her 2020 campaign caught flack for a donation from Chevron, leading opponents to label her as a supporter of the oil industry. Campos denied the charge at the time, noting the $4,700 check was made independently.
If elected to the city council, Campos said she’ll spend her first 90 days stitching the district’s neighborhood associations into one coalition for greater involvement in council decision making that impacts them.
“I’m going to continue to invest in the youth, parks, and community centers so that people who currently live here feel proud about where they live,” Campos said. “If you don’t maintain the foundation, it starts to crumble.”
Mayfair Neighborhood Association President Guadalupe Gonzalez said without Campos, her neighborhood’s community center wouldn’t look the way it does.
“We wanted a splash playground, a pool and a special room for the kids. But when the city first shared their plans with us, it was a just this tiny little space and we said ‘No,'” Gonzalez told San José Spotlight. “Nora at first told us there was no money. I told her, ‘You find the money.’ And she did.”
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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