Rose Herrera Shuffles Campaign Staff

July is the political offseason in San Jose, but a shake-up recently occurred in the re-election staff of Councilmember Rose Herrera. Eric Crane will no longer serve as her campaign manager heading into the November runoff for the District 8 seat against surprise challenger Jimmy Nguyen. Herrera was relaxing on vacation when Fly called to ask why, but the councilmember was semi-tight-lipped. Herrera said Crane, who previously worked as a communications director for Councilmember Nancy Pyle, did “a tremendous job” and has been “a great asset” and blah, blah, blah. He will remain on staff, just not as the point man of her campaign. “I don’t think titles are all that important,” Herrera added. It seems unlikely Herrera will keep this attitude. She’ll need a clear No. 2 heading into what will yet again be a fierce battle at the polls. Labor unions—and the Police Officers Association, in particular—put everything they had into getting the Evergreen district race to November by denying Herrera more than 50 percent of the vote. (She came in just shy with 47.87 percent.) Meanwhile, the virtually unknown Nguyen turned heads by garnering more than 28 percent of the vote in June, and he’s starting to pick up support. County Supervisor Dave Cortese recently gave Nguyen his endorsement—although, it’s debatable how much that means after Cortese practically begged voters to pick Patricia Martinez-Roach, who finished a distant third.

The Fly is the valley’s longest running political column, written by Metro Silicon Valley staff, to provide a behind-the-scenes look at local politics. Fly accepts anonymous tips.

15 Comments

    • People should understand, if President Obama or Bill Clinton were Mayor of San Jose, they would have done the same thing as Mayor Reed did. What, are you going to call them “anti-labor”.

      • Hasn’t President Obama been blasted all over the news for wanting more firefighters and cops? Reed wants no protective services for our city! Reed is very anti labor and I hope the citizens of SJ recognize and do not vote for anyone he endorses!

  1. Diablo 3 was released.  Eric is sayonara, Coincidence?  I think not.

    Eric you did a commendable job, here’s hoping you come flying out of the sun yelling, “You’re all clear, kid, now let’s *blow* this thing and go home!”

    Yours Truly,
    Robert Cortese

  2. Not gonna make too much of a difference. D10 will be a Reed ally whether Braunstein or Khamis win. Everything will remain the same with the D8 race no matter whihc way it goes. It’ll either be a 7-4 vote with Rose or remain a 6-5 vote with Jimmy. These races are fairly pointless now…

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