Congressional District 16

When New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg mounted a short-lived run for president in 2020, then-San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo became his campaign co-chair and first major California endorsement. The relationship between the two former mayors has spanned nearly a decade — from Liccardo’s early city hall days to Bloomberg now funding his path to Congress....

A new federal elections complaint accuses congressional candidate and former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo of hiding his affiliation with a super PAC that paid for a controversial recount that narrowed his competition in the November runoff. The complaint filed by Bay Area attorney Brian O’Grady says the super PAC behind the recount — known...

New financial disclosures are peeling back the curtain on who helped fund the recent Congressional District 16 recount — starting with former New York City Mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg. A super PAC called Neighbors for Results, which Bloomberg infused with $500,000 in February, paid $102,000 to another super PAC called Count the Vote between April...

After losing his party’s endorsement by a single vote, congressional candidate Sam Liccardo is taking aim at the California Democratic Party. A lifelong Democrat, Liccardo didn’t mince words criticizing the party’s process and accusing leaders of hijacking votes on Tuesday to endorse his opponent, Assemblymember Evan Low. He criticized Low’s connections in elite Democratic circles and the...

The Santa Clara County Democratic Party has joined retiring Congresswoman Anna Eshoo in demanding transparency behind a controversial recount in the race for her seat. The party’s Central Committee on Thursday voted unanimously for a resolution demanding the identities of donors behind a shadowy super PAC paying for the Congressional District 16 recount. The recount cost...

Assemblymember Evan Low has won a contentious and highly-politicized recount in Silicon Valley’s open congressional race, beating Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian for second place by five votes. Of the 16 challenged ballots in San Mateo County’s portion of the recount, election officials accepted seven and rejected nine. Low picked up one vote and...

The recount to replace Rep. Anna Eshoo’s congressional seat is coming to a close, but it will still be days before results are finalized. Santa Clara County, which represents 80% of Congressional District 16, is almost done rescanning all of its ballots. San Mateo County completed its rescanning on Wednesday. Still, dozens of challenged ballots...

A week after an expensive and highly-criticized recount of ballots began in a tied congressional race, the California Secretary of State says the requester will not get his money back. Santa Clara and San Mateo counties jointly sought guidance from the state about whether the recount requester, Jonathan Padilla, would get reimbursed if the Congressional...

Silicon Valley congressional candidate Sam Liccardo is facing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging his campaign is coordinating a “dark money” effort to fund a highly-criticized recount in the Congressional District 16 race.  Max Zarzana, a 25-year prosecutor and president of the Santa Clara County Government Attorneys Association, filed a complaint with the...

A new political action committee was formed to pay for a recount of the contentious Congressional District 16 race, further obscuring who is actually funding the effort. The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters has been receiving checks from Count the Vote, an independent expenditure committee, or super PAC, to help fund the highly scrutinized...