Magdalena Carrasco Opts to Stay Out of 2016 Assembly Race

First-term San Jose Councilwoman Magdalena Carrasco put to rest rumors of a bid for higher office, announcing that she has decided against running for the state Assembly in 2016.

"I am humbled by the loyalty and friendship of so many—and I fully believe that with their support I can be successful in this race—but now is not the right time for me to lead in Sacramento when there is so much left to do in our local community," the East Side Councilwoman said in a prepared statement Thursday. "So, I am announcing that I will not run for state Assembly in 2016 but instead will double my efforts to move San Jose forward as a beacon of hope in this state."

Mayor Sam Liccardo said he's pleased with her decision to stay local.

"Since January, she has hit the ground running to improve East San Jose," he said. "She collaborates with all stakeholders and her strong leadership has been a tremendous addition for our East Side neighborhoods."

Meanwhile, the race for the 27th Assembly District continues to take shape, with Liccardo throwing his endorsement behind the city's former vice mayor, Madison Nguyen, who shares his stance on the city's pension reform efforts.

Councilman Ash Kalra got off to an early start, announcing his AD27 bid back in January with support from the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus as well as Congressman Mike Honda, former Assemblyman Paul Fong and other labor allies.

Once Carrasco told confidantes of her decision not to run, the California Latino Caucus endorsed Santa Clara County Board of Education President Darcie Green, which lends some institutional backing.

Also in the running is human rights leader Cong Do, who was jailed for a month for his activism in Vietnam in 2006.

Jennifer Wadsworth is the former news editor for San Jose Inside and Metro Silicon Valley. Follow her on Twitter at @jennwadsworth.

7 Comments

  1. Told you. None of her people told me one way or another, but the few times I’ve met Magdelena she struck me as a person genuinely concerned for ESSJ. You have some scum like the Campos’s in there, doing god knows what for years, her best revenge is to fix all the things they let fall by the wayside.

    By doing so, she really sets herself up well with the ESSJ voting. She’s well liked on both sides of politics (labor vs commerce) and I’ve been seeing her get really nice and chummy with Chavez lately.

    As far as Ash/Green.. I really wish Ash would drop out of this one, and maybe go to County. Ash, you’re someone I consider a good friend, but I think you could do a better job serving us on the county level. I have no doubt you’d be an excellent Assemblymember, but I don’t see Darcie as being any less effective. It’s probably too late to drop out though.

    * It would reduce the # of candidates down to 1 on the Dem side. Resources would not be divided
    * She’s served on the county, you’ve served the city. She has more statewide exposure

    Nguyen’s got a shot on the conservative vote. I’m not exactly sure where she should fit in though… Maybe with her daughter becoming school age, it might be a good idea to side-step to Green’s current position in the County School Board.

  2. > Also in the running is human rights leader Cong Do, who was jailed for a month for his activism in Vietnam in 2006.

    “San Jose democracy activist Cong Thanh Do — a U.S. citizen jailed for more than a month in Vietnam — pledged Friday to continue to fight for freedom in his homeland.

    “Society is changing a lot in Vietnam, but it is still a one-party system,”

    . . .

    “Cong Thanh Do speaks during a news conference at the office of U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., in San Jose, Calif., Friday, Sept. 22, 2006.”

    . .

    How ironic.

    San Jose, Santa Clara County, and California are all essentially “one-party systems.”

    What’s he doing hanging out with Zoe Lofgren, Congresswoman for Life?

  3. Hasn’t there been some discussion by San Jose Inside of some question about a conflict dealing with Carrasco illegally taking a gift trip to New York? The other issue that has been simmering is an outstanding debt to John Shallman of over 36,000 dollars from Carrasco’s school board race in 2010, which is the exact amount owed Shallman for coordinating the Independent Expenditure Committee done “without Carrasco’s knowledge in 2014.” Now I am sure Darcie would not bring it up.

  4. Never trust anyone, especially a politician, who says he/she is “humbled” about something positive that has occurred in his/her life, like getting nominated or elected. Using the word humbled in that context just shows how ignorant that person is of our language. To be humbled is to be put down, disrespected, abased. Ms. Carrasco said: “I am humbled by the loyalty and friendship of so many…” What she should have said is that she was honored by that support. But the humbled shtick caught on with politicians 30 or more years ago and hangs on like malaria. To be humble, like Gandhi or Mother Teresa for instance, is very different from BEING humbled. This gross misuse of the language is akin to the common misuse of the phrase “pay tribute.” Somebody famous dies and the media says people spoke out or showed up to “pay tribute” to the famous deceased, when they should have said the people paid their respects to the deceased. Paying tribute is what the weak, lazy, and cowardly later Romans did to the Germanic tribes to keep them at bay. Paying tribute is what a kid does when he gives his lunch money to the school bully. Paying tribute is not the same thing as giving praise. But then, these misuses of the English language are what you get from the products of an education system with folks at the top like Darcie Green, Anna Song, and SJI’s own Joe DiSalvo, who let the guy they’re supposed to watch over, Mr. Selfie Gundry, make a mockery of the system. Parenthetically, I tried several times to get on to the SCCBOE website via Google and Yahoo, and got this response: “This webpage is not available.” I guess they’re waiting for their highly paid flack to return from his vacation to figure out what to do about Mr. Gundry. So much for open government.

    • > What she should have said is that she was honored by that support. But the humbled shtick caught on with politicians 30 or more years ago and hangs on like malaria.

      Good eye. One small thrust in the never ending campaign to save literacy.

      I have a similar kvetch over the misuse of the word “congratulate”.

      It’s not completely clear from the dictionaries, but I have always perceived that the latin origin of “congratulate” suggests the meaning of “celebrate with” or “celebrate good fortune”.

      When you “congratulate” someone, you’re saying “we did great” and “aren’t we lucky”.

      The word that people would use is they thought more about it is “commend”.

      It’s meaning suggests that “I honor and recognize your achievement”.

      I “congratulate” you on winning the lottery.
      I “commend” you on winning the spelling bee.

      Hopefully, another small step in encouraging more vibrant use of the language.

      Oooops! My bad.

    • Really, one word and you go all ballistic. You were probably one of those kids who reminded their teacher about assigning homework over the weekend.

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