A crowd forms around Sam Liccardo in Palo Alto. In a few moments, beaming volunteers will deploy to knock on doors and make the case for San Jose’s former mayor as their next congressmember. But the microphone is on the fritz when it’s time for Liccardo to give a pep-talk. He doesn’t need it anyway....
Fact check: San Jose congressional candidate’s cop claims disputed
San Jose police staffing levels have become a key dispute in Silicon Valley’s hottest and most unusual election. In a recent campaign TV ad, Congressional District 16 candidate and former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo boasts of adding 200 police officers while representing the city. But the city’s police union and state Assemblymember Ash Kalra,...
Former San Jose mayor gets big boost from Bloomberg
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has dropped $1.5 million into a super PAC supporting his friend Sam Liccardo’s run for Congress. Bloomberg’s recent contributions appeared in the committee Neighbors for Results’ September filings, posted Friday afternoon, bringing his total donations to $2 million. The large contribution adds to the piles of special interest...
San Jose congressional candidate hit with federal complaint
A federal elections complaint against state Assemblymember Evan Low is intensifying Silicon Valley’s hottest congressional race and putting attention on the political role of nonprofits. A complaint filed over the weekend by former Federal Elections Commission Chair Ann Ravel alleges Low, who is running for Congressional District 16, used the email server and contact list...
How progressive are Silicon Valley congressional candidates?
Santa Clara County’s hottest congressional race may come down to which of two establishment Democrats can expand their base and capture more young progressive voters. While former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo hasn’t exactly branded himself a progressive, his opponent in the race for Congressional District 16, state Assemblymember Evan Low, has made some issues —...
Silicon Valley female candidates could see boost from Harris campaign
LaNiece Jones first met Vice President Kamala Harris in the 1990s, when they were chapter members of Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA). The BWOPA executive director and chief operating officer said Harris always had a certain spark about her. “She was very focused and very determined and thoughtful about her work… and conscientious...
Silicon Valley congressional candidates clash on poll results
Two new polls in one of the Bay Area’s hottest congressional races favor San Jose’s former mayor over a Silicon Valley state lawmaker. But both campaigns differ on how close the race really is. Poll findings released by Assemblymember Evan Low’s campaign on Monday cast the race as a “dead heat” — putting Sam Liccardo...
Silicon Valley lawmaker running for Congress doesn’t live in his district
Assemblymember Evan Low is living outside his state legislative district in Campbell, raising questions about whether the lawmaker — and now congressional candidate — has turned his back on the people he was elected to serve. Campaign finance and voter registration records reviewed by San José Spotlight link Low to a condo on Campisi Way...
Silicon Valley campaign contributions expose financial loophole
Money pouring into a tight Silicon Valley congressional race is drawing attention to a loophole in campaign finance rules that obscures the influence of special interests. Three political action committees — Equality PAC, Equality California Federal PAC and Voter Protection Project — have spent a combined $221,233 in independent expenses to support Assemblymember Evan Low in...
Silicon Valley Democrats rally around Kamala Harris after Biden drops out
President Joe Biden’s stunning decision to drop out of the presidential race Sunday has put the Bay Area’s own Kamala Harris at the forefront of the country’s most critical race this November. Silicon Valley leaders on both sides of the aisle saw it coming. Biden had faced intensifying pressure in the last few weeks to...