November 18, 2004

De La Rosa concedes race for San Jose City Council’s only open seat

Pyle upset big surprise during election, wins with 51 percent

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

In the end it was a harsh and cruel defeat for Republican San Jose businessman Rich De La Rosa, who ended his campaign for the San Jose City Council District 10 seat Monday formally conceding the election to Democrat Nancy Pyle more than two weeks after the polls closed on Nov. 2.

But the candidate who had been endorsed by most media outlets in the valley and who had the blessing of termed-out Vice Mayor Pat Dando, could not catch up to Pyle’s growing lead in the narrow election.

With the fire in the belly that put his name on the map after his fight to save the old Tropicana Shopping Center in East San Jose from a hostile takeover by the city’s Redevelopment Agency, De La Rosa would not go down silently.

Especially when Pyle had been reprimanded by a neighborhood campaign ethics committee for engaging in negative campaigning at the end that he believed misled voters and impugned his character.

The 52-year-old Almaden Valley insurance agent said he was not bitter, but wanted to hold Pyle accountable for her actions. “It’s wrong to lie about your opponent,” he said. “It’s a shame. People got cheated. I have a great life and I have a lot of things to look forward to. I’m upset that candidates who run for office think that they have to win at all costs, but I’m not angry.”

In a prepared statement, De La Rosa thanked his staff and the hundreds of people who donated time, money and ideas to his campaign.

Admitting defeat, De La Rosa offered a strident concession message saying, “She did whatever was required to get over 50 percent of the vote.” He would not congratulate his rival on the campaign she ran.

“While I was 100 percent committed to winning, I cannot sanction the win at any cost campaigning or the politics of deceit and manipulation—our city and the voters, deserve better,” the statement said. “I am proud of the campaign we ran—we ran an honest, positive campaign that offered real ideas for San Jose and helped define the debate about issues critical for the future of District 10 and the City.”

De La Rosa’s announcement ended one of the district’s tightest races in recent history, with Pyle narrowly winning by 368 votes, edging out De La Rosa by receiving 16,107 votes or 51 percent compared to De La Rosa’s 15,739 votes, or 49 percent. There were 40 write-in votes. A total of 31,886 people voted in the election. It was a stunning upset victory for Pyle, who during the March primary election trailed behind De La Rosa who had a 12 percentage-point lead over Pyle finishing with nearly 49 percent of the vote and narrowly missing the majority needed for a win. De La Rosa and Pyle spent about $180,000 in both campaigns.

“Running for city council has been a wonderful adventure and I treasure the opportunity to meet and talk with so many people throughout District 10 and the city. I learned a lot about where the city has been and where it needs to go and I will continue to be involved in whatever way I can to make District 10 and San Jose better,” he said.

The challenges facing San Jose are serious, he warned, and he promised to continue to be involved to ensure that the issues raised and the promises made during the campaign are pushed with equal fervor after Pyle takes office Jan. 1, 2005.

De La Rosa doubted he would ever run for office again. “I gave it an opportunity. I did it for 18 months and I don’t know that I could put my family through it again,” he said. “I don’t know that they would be for that another time. I don’t know if I would want to subject myself to the same dirty political games that are played. I don’t know if it’s really worth it. It’s felt good to not have to campaign for two weeks. I’m not a career politician.”

Ana Maria Rosato, Pyle’s campaign manager, was relieved by De La Rosa’s concession even though she was not surprised by the tone of his remarks. She again claimed victory, just as she had from the beginning, for the 66-year-old college trustee and career educator who she said won the race by working hard and simply out-campaigning her opponent doing heavy precinct walking.

Pyle was unavailable for comment as she left on Nov. 7 for a cruise to the Panama Canal. She’s expected to return Nov. 21.

“We were smashed during the primary, but it’s a big victory for us now,” Rosato said. “Nancy looks forward to working on behalf of the Almaden and Blossom valleys, its wonderful neighborhoods and families.”

Rosato said Pyle is conciliatory toward De La Rosa and willing to work with him to improve the lives of voters in District 10. “She fought hard for a position that she wanted. She doesn’t need this position and that’s the big difference. That’s an asset in a public official. She wants to serve the people and the residents in the community.”

Rosato said Pyle would unite the community through a strong constituency outreach program. “She will continue the good traditions from outgoing Vice Mayor Pat Dando. It will be easy for Nancy to bring people together. That’s what she does,” she said.

“We’re savoring this wonderful victory,” she added. “We won because we used many effective campaign strategies. We had lots of community support particularly in the ethnic communities. We had seniors behind her. We had Republican women behind her. We reached across party lines and we had many people working hard to ensure that we have a woman of Nancy’s integrity on the city council. There was no magic bullet.”

Rosato also said voters and volunteers who supported Assembly District 21 Democratic candidate Ira Ruskin crossed over to Pyle’s campaign. “Many people who voted for Ira helped Nancy get over that line. It worked. It was an important election nationally and people took that importance to heart here on the local level and that’s why they voted for Nancy.”