WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, is calling on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to investigate the federal government’s surveillance of Black Lives Matter protests. Eshoo, along with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Illinois), sent a joint letter to the board last week. “The act of protesting has...
Kathy Watanabe fights for four more years in Santa Clara
Kathy Watanabe has spent much of her first four years on the Santa Clara City Council battling the 49ers, and she does not plan to stop if voters return her to the council for another four-year term representing District 1. The 49ers and the city have clashed over a variety of issues since 2010, including...
Exclusive Q&A: U.S. House District 17 candidate Rep. Ro Khanna
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, is running for re-election against Republican challenger Ritesh Tandon. Khanna was elected to Congress in 2016. He is a member of the House Budget Committee, the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Khanna and Tandon recently were given the opportunity to answer...
Exclusive Q&A: U.S. House District 17 candidate Ritesh Tandon
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republican Ritesh Tandon is hoping to replace progressive Democrat Ro Khanna in November and chip away at Democratic control of the House. Tandon is an engineer and businessman who has worked for Jabra and Cisco. He serves as an advisory board member for Uttar Pradesh Mandal of America, a nonprofit that helps underprivileged...
Assembly candidate Alex Lee promises constituents come before corporations
Alex Lee says working in politics has always been about helping people. “It wasn’t really my dream to become an elected official or anything,” Lee said. “I think it started as early as when I applied to college, and that was during the election campaign of Barack Obama.” That year, 2008, was also the year...
South Bay legislators split on clean energy legislation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House passed legislation this week intended to help the environment by phasing out the use of coolants and promoting the development of renewable energy. H.R. 4447, dubbed the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, passed by a vote of 220 to 185 on Thursday. Democratic Reps. Zoe Lofgren of San Jose...
South Bay legislators weigh-in as latest coronavirus relief measure flops
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a roughly $500 billion GOP coronavirus relief bill, leaving little hope for a bipartisan solution prior to the November election. But Silicon Valley legislators said Democrats had no other choice. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, told San José Spotlight the bill was entirely inadequate. “The Senate waited...
Khanna pressed on protests, coronavirus aid in virtual town hall
Rep. Ro Khanna fielded questions from more than a dozen constituents Tuesday at a town hall, many of which centered around the election, coronavirus relief or the nationwide protests calling for police reform. The virtual event, which was live-streamed on Facebook, garnered nearly 1,000 views. One constituent asked the Fremont Democrat why some politicians who...
Democrats show united front as National Convention begins
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Democratic National Convention kicked off this week with San Francisco resident Kristin Urquiza solemnly telling audiences her father died of the coronavirus in May after he listened to President Donald Trump’s advice and ignored social distancing guidelines. “My dad was a healthy 65-year-old. His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump,...
Khanna pushes $5 billion bill to provide free masks as Biden seeks mandate
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden is urging governors to implement mask mandates to stop the spread of the coronavirus. “Every single American should be wearing a mask when they’re outside for the next three months at a minimum,” he said during a Thursday news conference in Delaware. Biden said wearing masks...