Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Juan Rodriguez

75. Juan Rodriguez

Juan Rodriguez, one of the Democrats’ top political consultants, came out of Los Angeles, where he cut his teeth handling a 2003 school board race. He later joined up with former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, first as an intern and then serving five years as the mayor’s director of state relations. Rodriguez also served as an interim chief of staff to then-state Attorney General Kamala Harris, and later handled her winning U.S. Senate campaign. In 2017, Rodriguez joined forces with Ace Smith, Sean Clegg (No. 81) and Laphonza Butler at what became SCRB Strategies – a firm that has changed its name and personnel several times over recent years and is currently operating (sans Butler, who is now head of EMILY’s List) as Bearstar Strategies. Rodriguez was a senior adviser to Gavin Newsom on his 2018 campaign for governor, and played a key role in helping Democrat Newsom beat back the recall. For that, he won the 2022 Campaign Manager of the Year Statewide, from the American Association of Political Consultants.

Updated Aug. 9, 2022