SAN JOSE – Democrat Sam Liccardo won the race for California’s 16th congressional district against California Assemblymember Evan Low, the Associated Press (AP) called on Wednesday night.
Liccardo, the former mayor of San Jose, is ahead by nearly 20 percentage points. Just over 59 percent of the total votes have been reported so far.
In the county breakdown, Liccardo is up by 17 percentage points in Santa Clara county. In San Mateo County, he is up by 26 percentage points.
The state’s 16th district is open for the first time in three decades following Rep. Anna Eshoo’s retirement announcement last year. The district includes parts of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
Recent polling from the California Elections and Policy Poll projected Liccardo 11 percentage points ahead of Low. As of Nov. 8, Liccardo is nearly nine points ahead of his projected lead.
At his watch party on Tuesday evening, Liccardo said his first priority is to build out his congressional team in the district and in Washington.
“You’ve got to have bright, energetic, committed people,” Liccardo said Tuesday evening. “And so that’s going to be really important for me if I’m elected over the next couple of weeks. That’ll be my primary focus.”
Navigating a Republican-Controlled Government
On Tuesday night, the AP called that Republicans won control of the Senate.
“As you can imagine, I’m praying that we will have, uh, a Democratic president,” Liccardo said Tuesday night. “So that’s going to change a lot of what this strategy might be.”
Former President Trump was re-elected for a second term, the AP called early Wednesday morning. As of Friday afternoon, the House is still up for grabs, but leans in the Republicans favor.
“I’m going to find those opportunities to get things done about what I care about,” Liccardo said about entering a Republican-controlled legislature. “Resolving a housing crisis, addressing a climate crisis, protecting reproductive rights. Anybody on the other side who wants to work with me to get something done that is going to help our community and our country, I’ll work with them.”
Kathy Hall and Leslie Murdoch, a couple from Mountain View, were guests at Liccardo’s watch party, constantly eyeing the television as election results rolled in over the course of Tuesday evening. Hall and Murdoch are optimistic Liccardo has the demonstrated skills from his tenure as mayor of San Jose to reach across the aisle in Congress.
“He’s used to working with everybody,” Murdoch said. “The reason he won today was because he got votes from both the Democrats and the Republicans … he is a middle of the road Democrat.”
Murdoch segued into how Liccardo compares to Low, a fellow Democrat. “His opponent is probably more progressive and it would’ve been a lot harder for him to reach across the aisle,” Murdoch said.
Evan Low spent Tuesday evening at a watch party at the Democratic Volunteer Center in Mountain View. Low was endorsed by the California Democratic Party and California Governor Gavin Newsom. Prior to running for the open CA-16 congressional seat, he served in the California State Assembly for 10 years.
“The night is still young,” Low said around 9 P.M. on Tuesday evening. “If anything shows us from our primary election experience, it is that every vote counts. “At that time, about 20 percent of the votes were counted.
In the March primary, Low won a recount against Joe Simitian, the Santa Clara County Supervisor, breaking an unprecedented 30,249-vote tie.
The Interns for Liccardo and Low
At Liccardo and Low’s watch parties, interns fluttered the scenes, whether it meant running quick errands for the candidates, watching results roll in, or just reveling in the moment.
Two of Liccardo’s interns, Andrew and Vincent, are from Saratoga, California and are students at Prospect High School in San Jose. Both of them are 17-years-old, rendering them ineligible to vote in this election.
“We discovered the internship through our AP government teacher, Mr. Schwart… we sort of both looked into it at the same time,” Andrew said at Liccardo’s watch party. “We figured, you know, we both couldn’t vote, but… we both have a passion for politics.”
Andrew and Vincent were drawn to Liccardo as a candidate because of his proven success in local government. “He had the lowest crime rate in San Jose when he was mayor,” Andrew said. “He was a really effective leader, and you know, when we get to meet him and talk to him as interns, you just get to see he’s a really great guy.”
Aaron Lim, Low’s god brother, ran Evan Low’s internship program, and said that his team of interns made “meaningful impacts” to the campaign.
“Let’s fast forward 20 years, I know that these are gonna be leaders,” Lim said about Low’s team of interns. “They already are leaders. They’ve stepped up. Like, I’ve literally seen them mature and take on leadership roles within the campaign. And I’m so proud of, like, the work that they’ve done.”
Pam Salvatierra is the campaign manager for the Democratic Volunteer Center, and has been involved with the center since its founding in 2010. The Democratic Volunteer Center has more than 9,000 volunteers across the country. She said that this year in particular, she is “inspired” by how many young people want to be involved.
“I mean, let’s face it, who has time to do this kind of work – retired people,” Salvatierra said. “But when there’s been a big upswell of young people coming in to volunteer… [that] is so great because that’s where we’re turning it over.”
Liccardo’s Policy Priorities
Federal housing legislation, AI regulation and reproductive health protections are among Liccardo’s top policy priorities, according to an exclusive interview with the Peninsula Press on Oct. 17.
“There has been no significant federal housing legislation in probably three decades,” Liccardo said to the Peninsula Press on Oct 17. “ This has been a policy backwater in Congress, and so first we need to make it a federal priority.”
During his campaign, Liccardo published a book on his policy proposals that aims to provoke “more substantive conversations about solutions.”
“Keeping Silicon Valley competitive,” Murdoch said, is a top priority as a Santa Clara resident.
“Because of high housing costs a lot of tech workers can’t afford to live here anymore,” Murdoch said. “So if they can’t afford to live here, they’ll do the startups elsewhere. So we need a way to keep the startups here and to keep the entrepreneurial economy here and not drive it outta the area.”
Bernadette White, the former Chief Development Officer of the City of San Jose, worked alongside Liccardo when he was mayor on youth education and workforce development issues.
“I’ve been able to see the way Sam works firsthand,” White said. “[Liccardo] is just constantly moving, constantly thinking, always trying to understand, like trying to think about how he can address some of the most pressing issues we’re facing.”
“I think it’s been really amazing to see. I mean, I don’t think the man’s mind ever stops. Like, seriously,” White said.
