Noelia Corzo ready to lead San Mateo County’s 2nd district with unity 

When the San Mateo native threw her name into the race for the District 2 supervisor seat, she was a single mom working full time as a social worker and serving on the San Mateo-Foster City School District Board of Trustees while caring for her father who was suffering from long COVID and experiencing housing and financial insecurity.

She’d been in elected office since 2017, having won a seat on a board overseeing the largest school district in the county. Before then, Corzo had worked her way through school, studying at Cañada College before earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology from San Francisco State University and working as a community organizer with Faith in Action Bay Area, an advocacy group with national reach, all with a baby on her hip. 

Meanwhile, her opponent, attorney and former Belmont Councilmember Charles Stone, had been in the local political arena for about a decade and had earned the support of major legislative leaders in the area including U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo; U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto; former state Assemblymember Jerry Hill; and supervisors Don Horsley, Dave Pine and Warren Slocum. By the end of the race, former District 2 Supervisor Carole Groom had also backed Stone. 

But Corzo said she believed District 2 residents — those living in San Mateo, Foster City and parts of Belmont — deserved options. And despite many hurdles, some she laid out during the campaign and others she kept private until now, Corzo came out on top by about 1,500 votes. 

“My intuition was right,” Corzo said. “My intuition, when I decided to run, was that our community deserved another candidate and that our community would then decide who they wanted to represent them and that they deserve that choice.” 

Being bold 

Corzo’s election to the Board of Supervisors ensures at least one woman will remain a member of the governing body, a point she made while campaigning. She also positioned herself as a voice for working class Latinos and people of color on a largely white, largely male governing board, which she described as bold messaging that needed to be said. 

Like many county residents, Corzo’s life has been affected by some of the top issues facing the region. She grew up working class, largely raised by a mother who worked as a nanny and house cleaner for decades in San Mateo County. She’s experienced housing insecurity that’s forced her to move multiple times, even while campaigning, after rent increases pushed her out. 

Without her support, Corzo doubts her father would have been able to navigate the county’s health system when he contracted COVID. And she’s been candid about how the death of her brother from suicide has influenced her drive for expanding mental health supports for county residents. 

“As someone who has been the most vulnerable, I know what it’s like to work harder and still be told it’s not enough,” Corzo said.

Talking about her hardships and hard work helped the community resonate with her, she said. In turn, winning the supervisor seat will be life changing for her and her family. Her supervisor income of more than $141,000 is more than double what she made as a social worker. What she earns, she said she plans to reinvest in the community to create life-changing opportunities for others in the county too. 

Hidden hardships 

But one issue close to Corzo’s heart but not publicly discussed on the campaign trail is domestic violence. It’s an issue Corzo said she knows intimately and has haunted her through much of the election process. While Corzo was putting on a positive issues-focused campaign, she said she was simultaneously fighting an ugly custody battle behind the scenes with the father of her son. 

That relationship ended years ago, Corzo said. She sought out support from Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse, the county’s only nonprofit focused on providing support to domestic violence survivors, obtained a temporary restraining order and, without the means to hire a lawyer, ended up settling for joint custody. 

A second custody battle took place in early 2022, spurred on by a decision by her son’s father to move out of the area. At one point, Corzo felt certain she would lose her son. In a mediator report, it was suggested the father be given custody, forcing Corzo to go into debt hiring a lawyer to fight for her rights. 

“I felt like I was being revictimized especially because he had always had so much more money than I do,” Corzo said. “I can survive anything but losing my son — I don’t think so.” 

By early July, Corzo was informed she’d won full custody. Just a month earlier, her grassroots campaign proved successful and she earned enough votes to keep her in the race until the November general election despite raising only a third of the donations of her opponent. 

In retrospect, Corzo said she sees similarities between how people are treated in politics and abusive relationships. She’d felt isolated and gaslit in both scenarios and learned that money can go a long way in tipping the scales one way or another.

While she advocated for uplifting marginalized communities, she said she was labeled as divisive and accused of not supporting Jewish or Asian residents despite her public support for San Mateo Mayor Amourence Lee, an Asian and Jewish woman. And she was hit with attack ads accusing her of being bad on public safety despite not being contacted by the group that put out the mailer and ads.

The workload and animosity led her mother to fear for Corzo’s mental health, safety and quality of life, Corzo said. 

“The hurdles and uncertainty and pain I had suffered while also campaigning, while interviewing for endorsements, while being attacked publicly, was so difficult and it’s part of why I will be prioritizing supporting victims of domestic violence in our county. It’s desperately needed and I see opportunities there,” she said. 

Moving forward together 

Corzo said she knew what she was getting herself into when she launched her campaign and though disappointed by the treatment, she’s put it all behind her. Instead, Corzo said she’s ready to listen, learn and lead. 

During the three weeks between leaving her job at Golden Gate Regional Center and being sworn onto the board, she’s held meeting after meeting with different county officials including board President Dave Pine and County Executive Officer Mike Callagy. 

And she’s been building her team. In addition to seeking out two part-time legislative aides, Corzo has also kept on some of Groom’s staff. They have historical county knowledge and she hopes to learn from them.

She’s also eager to meet with stakeholders, including those who were not in support of her race to begin with. Within her first 90 days in office, she plans to hold community meetings with the intention of gathering public input that will influence a District 2 specific plan, which will become a guiding document for how she and her constituents approach local issues together.

“I believe in the community having a voice. It is our district and their money, not mine to do with it however I want,” Corzo said. “I am 100% dedicated to really prioritizing community engagement in my role as supervisor and that’s how we’ll start.”