Caserta Campaign Stumbles Out of the Gate
By Robert Haugh
Dominic Caserta started strong. But now his campaign is stumbling.
Caserta made a big splash by raising $250,000 last year before any other candidate got into the race to succeed termed-out County Supervisor Ken Yeager.
Caserta apparently told supporters that the goal was to scare any other good candidate(s) from getting into the race. That strategy failed. After Caserta’s announcement, at least four other good candidates jumped in: former Campbell Mayor Jason Baker, San Jose Unified School Board Trustee Susan Ellenberg, former San Jose Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio, and San Jose councilman Don Rocha. At least four of the five known candidates are on track to raise the maximum $250,000.
Then, Caserta lost possibly his best endorsement: Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor. She’s the most popular political figure in the Mission City and Caserta needs to win in his hometown to have any chance of getting into the runoff. San Jose registered voters are approximately 60 percent of the district. Santa Clara registered voters are approximately 24 percent. Campbell registered voters are approximately 12 percent. The rest live in unincorporated areas.
The “un-endorsement” was messy. Caserta made a big deal about Gillmor texting him. We criticized Gillmor for texting, rather than talking to Caserta. He has a right to be annoyed. But by highlighting it, Caserta made it a bigger story. Do you really want more people to know that an important top endorser just dumped you?
Maybe not, because the Caserta campaign kept using Gillmor on mailers as Ramona Giwargis of the Mercury News reported yesterday. Bad move. That got him more bad press.
Furthermore, Caserta lost the endorsement of Don Gage who he highlighted on his campaign website. Then, other endorsers that he also highlights have decided to endorse other candidates. We previously reported how former Assemblyman Jim Cunneen is triple endorsing Caserta, Ellenberg, and Oliverio. Now, we’ve learned that another highlighted endorser, former State Senator Elaine Alquist, is dual endorsing Caserta and Rocha. Is this a sign that supporters are concerned about the Caserta campaign?
Other candidates seem to think Santa Clara is up for grabs. Oliverio did a smart thing by taking a position opposing the 49ers push to lift the weekday stadium curfew. That’s an issue that will win a lot of votes in the Mission City. It’s also a major contrast to Caserta, who voted with the 49ers.
We want to see Caserta be competitive. He’s working really hard and walking lots of precincts with volunteers, we’re told. Santa Clara has never elected a County Supervisor to Seat #4. It would be nice for Mission City voters to have a choice. But unless the Caserta campaign gets it’s act together, we won’t.
Dominic is a flaming narcissist. But I’m not voting for him because of he always sells out Santa Clara which is obvious by his voting record.
ABC, that’s for me.
Richard, you don’t even know Dominic, have you ever even had a conversation with him? He has voted plenty of times against development. People that know Dominic have wonderful things to say about him. I have known him for twenty years and love being around him and his family.
Your toxic and mean spirited rhetoric is clearly a reflection of you not Dominic.
The names Diane Peters and K Allman are are so clever James Rowen. Never would have guessed it was you except for Diane and K sharing the same computer, the crazy references you always make and the typos.
http://richmondconfidential.org/2014/10/30/stealth-chevron-consultants-administer-richmond-news-website/
This one did not need advertising either. This guy steers away from looking at Ellenberg with the San Jose Chamber or Oliverio’s money from Federal Realty of Santana Row. Eagle also finds news sites. So please.
We have yet to have a full analysis on candidate fundraising and expenditures. The fundraising has just begun for some.
we will address campaign donations and expenses very soon – it is too early to do a full analysis.
Except for Caserta. Haugh will not cut the pipeline. By the time he reads Ellenberg’s stuff, Robert will have ten posts about Caserta’s contacts,with the Estonians
Who is we?
Oliverio staff?
“We” refers to myself – I.e., this site. It’s a writing style. You know, it sounds better than “I think” … Not even getting into the literary terminology, because you wouldn’t have the slightest idea of column and opinion writing styles anyhow.
It’s really odd that Diane and K Allman share a computer …
Robert you stated just now that Caserta has run an excellent campaign so far. Pls show me one title in any article you have written about him where that is stated pls what am I missing…
It is not there.
How embarrassing!! Caserta aka Lily, Lance, Bob, Lies, Lies, Lies Robert why?, and a few other names is a joke. Voters who keep up with the news and or all his alias names and comments see what a fool he is and will never support him. Caserta as Lies, Lies, Lies Robert why? Was having a serious tantrum while typing todays comment😂😂😂😂😂pitiful
I am sure the next bulletin will be about a confederate monument found on caserta’s lawn. ARE WE EVER GOING TO DISCUSS COUNTY FAIR, VTA, ETC?
Vta has been addressed by this site.
In fact, we were the first to report on the issues with Vta and Levi’s Stadium event needs …
And yes, the county fairgrounds and other issues will be addressed.
We will be asking every candidate a number of questions about many issues.
Dominic has posted on there before, I assume when Dominic posts he does it as Dominic, again falsehoods with know support…
What is PLO???
👉👉You “assume” thats funny😂😂I’ve been reading Santa Clara News posts and I’ve never seen Caserta post with his real name only aliases
Owait…PLO PierreLuigi Oliverio LMAO
I am not PLO. I am a female, a life long santa clara resident and an acquaintance of yours (Dominic). You are a joke.
I would never vote for Pierluigi Oliverio either. He and then Mayor Reed were the authors of an ill-conceived reform measure which decimated the San Jose Police Department, and saw the number of sworn officers go from 1,450 to under 800 in a few short years. Over 500 officers went from San Jose to other police departments, including the Santa Clara Police Department, as a direct result of Pierluigi’s measure that was so poorly written the majority was deemed illegal and thrown out in court. Pierluigi/Reeds measure cost San Jose $80 million dollars in lost training costs to these officers, and does not take into account the cost for hiring new officers. Also, while Pierluigi was great for the very blue blood Willow Glen, he was at best poor for the rest of San Jose. He was not able to form alliances that helped all of San Jose, as he comes across as arrogant and very self aggrandizing. While he views himself as a “maverick,” in reality his attitude isolated and polarized himself from the rest of the San Jose City Council, including the current mayor, and he will do the same if elected supervisor. Those in Willow Glen will love him but he will do nothing for the rest of Santa Clara County. He only speaks up in Santa Clara politics because he wants to get elected, but if you think he really cares about the curfew at Levi’s Stadium, etc, you are fooling yourself.
For Nope, then can you explain why the matter of Don Gage is so important. Santa Clarans remember Don Gage tried to keep the Northside Library from being opened. Yeager, Kansen Chu, Kathy Watanabe fought this.
I am confused as to why this is directed to me? Perhaps as confused as you are to how the comment section works! 😂
If Lisa Gillmor is hated by city staff that’s a good thing. They sold us out. They side with 49ers over the neighborhoods. They are corrupt. Thank God that Jaimie Matthews left. Thank God Julio Fuentes left. More people need to leave. Thank God for Lisa Gillmor.
Gillmor is hated at City hall by numerous employees, she is a tyrant that if does not get her way asks like Trump, a four year old child!
Oh, come on! Lisa Gillmor certainly is not a tyrant. Ok, she should support Caserta. But Lisa is a kind, generous, and thoughtful lady. I think she has made mistakes, but so what? She is,certainly not hated. As for Don Gage, he has long connections to Oliverio’s guy, so this wondrous switch is a sham. Can we talk about issues and end this diatribe about Caserta forgetting to throw away his plastic fork the other day, and Santa Clara News is tracing the DNA to unsolved crimes.
Dominick’s voting record is on par with Kolstad. Perhaps, I can find a place to live in Washington.
Robert there you go AGAIN. Fake news, half truths. Facts:
1) Cunneen and Alquist did not endorse Caserta first and then endorse others because a weakness of his campaign as you indicate, they endorse at the same time just like many donors give to multiple candidates. That is common in races with multiple candidates, why again do you tell lies to narrate that the Caserta campaign is stumbling, just not the truth. Why did you report inaccuracies?
2) You also indicate that Caserta was successful in raising money early but did it to scare people out of the race, that is inaccurate and why do you say that when Caserta never said that is why he raised money early, again trying to make Caserta look weak. He just raised money beacuse that is what successful campaigns do! Why do you lie again?
3) You hint that Caserta does not have the volunteers he claims nor that he is walking so much. He has walked over 75% of the district, no other candidate has walked ONE. Why do you imply he hasn’t? Lies…
4) If Caserta has sexual allegation charges like Oliverio or caught stealing lawn signs like Oliverion you would crucify him on that, but you don’t with Oliverio why?.
5) If Caserta’s webesite was as poor as Rocha’s you would crucify him for that but you don’t with Rocha why?
6) Ellenberg has endorsements on her site that have not endorsed her and/or pulled their endorsement of her and you crucify Caserta for that why?
7) Baker is struggling raising money, if Caserta was in last instead of first you would crucify him on that why not Baker?
8) Yes, Gillmor pulled her endorsement by that is a reflection of Gillmor. You never satte that he has the endorsement of ALL of the remaining Councilmembers. Why don’t you do that?
9) Gillmor voted for Julio then tried to remove me, she was the co chair of Measure J now is at war with the Niners, he loved Nofsky and then ran him out of town, she pushed for Batra now wants hem out, she praised Ameling then pushed him out, she is unbalanced and her pulling her endorsement is what she does unless you agree with her 100% of the time ALL the time, you are in her cros shairs, she is not a united she is a divider.
9) She wasted tax payers dollars for an audit of the convention center years ago and nothing was shown for it and soon her wasting over $200,000 of our money for the stadium audit will embarass her soon.
10) You claim Gillmor is so popular, she lost her last contested election in a landslide in 1994, she was APPOINTED as a Councilmember and as Mayor. She is dividisve and very unpopular. She would have never ever been elected to council in 2011 without her inside dealings. She will have a brutal election next year when she runs for Mayor like she did in 1994.
Those are the FACTS! As Caserta has said he could a scholarship to ten public school students and you would write that Caserta hates private school students.
Caserta’s campaign is going so well: Most endorsement, most volunteers, most precincts walks, most contributions received, and most family legacy and educational experience in the District, you want him to be competitive, he is and he will WIN!
Was Dom’s blood boiling when he was writing this? There are tons of mistakes in his reply!
Bwahahahaha! posts like this make Dom’s campaign comical and leadership questionable!
Haugh likes cherries, he cherry picks all day. For twenty years, Democrats have dually endorsed candidates in the primary. Happens all the time. But that factoid is a Brown cherry. Robert does want it. Factoid two, Don Gage is not a friend to Santa Clara, but Gage has a connection to Oliverio managers. Not something for Haugh to pick. Santa Clara elected Diridon before he moved to the city, santa clara elected native Vasconcellos.
Actually Lisa Gillmor has a contested election in 1996 and won. Why is,Ellenberg hiding coverage of her job at the Chamber in San Jose?
Good points, Robert. I’d like to see the Caserta campaign give us Santa Clarans a real choice too. Here’s my advice for Mr. Caserta to turn things around and rescue his campaign —
1. Don’t print fake endorsements.
2. Don’t put fake endorsements on your website.
3. Don’t vote for developers over neighbors because they give you money.
4. Don’t support the 49ers over residents because they give you money.
5. Renounce Satan.
Gee, that means you not voting for Rocha, Oliverio, or Ellenberg. They all get money from developers and are connected to 49ers. Baker is connected to Evan Low, money from 49ers, Wiener. As for Satan, well you read this site.
Sorry about I meant Robert does want Brown cherries. His analysis is centered in IHC I HATE CASERTA
That’s simply funny.
I don’t hate Caserta.
I have friends who had him as a teacher.
I think teaching is a noble profession, as is coaching tennis.
Caserta may want to weigh in on what some of his supposed friends and allies say about him though.
Santa Clarans deserve truth.
Sometimes truth hurts.
Dominic Caserta is a bad … no … terrible … no … horrible campaigner. He will make lots and lots and lots of mistakes. He’ll embarrass the campaign. He already has. He’ll embarrass you too. The more he campaigns the more support he loses. This article hit the nail on the head.
I received a brochure at my door from Caserta campaign with Lisa Gillmor photo. Now that I know they lie, I will never vote for him.
I like Elaine Alquist. But the graphic is funny.
You did not mention how Caserta takes developers’ contributions then votesfor their projects. The timing of contributions and votes is obvious. We can document with a website that will go up during the campaign just like we did when he ran for Assembly — and lost.
Will the same website document Rocha with Siemens for lighting then switching to Phillips after their lobbyist pouring a 1000 into his campaign, or Ellenberg’s oil company conaultant?
“You’re gonna trip, stumble, and fall.
Although I know you’re having a ball,
You’d better listen my friend …”
Interesting and creative visual for Alquist.
The patronizing attitude of this blogger permeates through the ether of his disdain for Caserta. Onr, he ignored that Santa Clara elected Diridon even when he,was from Saratoga, and it was one of the reasons he moved here. Don Gage is hardly an important figure. He actively blocked funding for Santa Clara libraries. Caserta does deserve a massive amount of criticism for bad judgement here. No question. He blew it. I would have preferred an early mailer on the county fair issue. Is it a fatal error, who knows. If Dominic gets a dog, my advice is walk him with a massive amount of eco friendly doo doo bags, because if the dog messes once, this blogger will swoop in with photos.
I think if you aren’t on Dom’s payroll or a big time fan this blog is relatively fair. I believe the author focuses on Dom’s campaign because his blog is about santa Clara not San Jose. Like he states in this very article he would like to see a Santa Clara rep take the spot. If you are on Dom’s payroll or a big fan of his I can see why these articles are frustrating as they are magnifying his/your mistakes and that can feel personal.
Haugh is a biased blogger…he cherry picks perceived shortcomings of Caserta and never mentions the amazing wins like the endorsement from the Santa Clara police Officers Association or the California Nurses Association which will be HUGE endorsements in District 4. It is easy to cherry pick but be balanced and cover the solid wins by the Caserta campaign. Haugh never mentions Caserta’s endorsement by the rest of the council why not?
Haugh is a nothing not getting paid for his work and biased clearly.
If Gillmor’s campaign had the most endorsements, contributions, best website be most volunteers he would be praising the campaign but because it is Caserta he is stumbling. A joke!!!
There’s a Gillmor campaign???
I linked readers to direct endorsement pages to each candidate, where applicable, and highlighted five major endorsements from every candidate. I even mentioned Dominic’s alleged 2,000 endorsements. I criticized Rocha’s website.
FYI, I have refused advertising on this site. I can place ads and have had several advertising inquiries – I have turned such ads down. Advertising equates to media bias, in my opinion.
Funny how the same people comment religiously any time anything critical of Caserta is mentioned here, but don’t mention criticism of others. Hmmmmmm. How many licks does it take to get to center of a Tootsie Roll pop?
Are you all calling The Merc, since they are who reported the Caserta mailer issue? I simply linked to, and referenced that article. Oh, I criticized Mayor Gillmor for the way she handled her pulling her endorsement.
And some folks could use a comprehension lesson – I clearly stated Caserta has had a good campaign thus far – but the public sees these huge blips in his campaign and reacts …
Caserta Campaign Stumbles Out of the Gate (Opinion) – you are supposed to read the parenthetical. All opinion is biased, regardless (sadly for you and Dom) facts are facts.