Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Juan Rodriguez

No. 25 Juan Rodriguez

Juan Rodriguez, a Bearstar partner, has been on a meteoric rise for the last several years. He has worked inside government for Kamala Harris and Antonio Villaraigosa, but made his real bones as a consultant and campaign strategist for both politicians and issue campaigns. In 2021 he was named the American Association of Political Consultants “Campaign Manager of the Year” for his work heading up Newsom’s successful effort against the recall, and in more recent times he has been one of the lead dogs on the successful Prop. 50 campaign among many others. And in keeping with pointing out a few failures along the way, Rodriguez was the campaign manager for Harris’s failed 2020 presidential campaign and was working on a Swalwell IE when that ship went down in flames. Given how folks in the Capitol community view him, those missteps will mean…checks notes….absolutely nothing going forward.

Updated Aug. 11, 2026