Khanna vs. Honda: Why Silicon Valley's marquee Capitol Hill smackdown has just begun
U.S. Congressman Michael Honda represents the 17th Congressional District of California.
Silicon Valley voters aren't done yet with the region's oddball version of a business-versus-labor political smackdown.
Two socially progressive Democrats — seven-term Silicon Valley Rep. Mike Honda[6] and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati[7] attorney Ro Khanna[8] — on Tuesday won the top two spots in a four-person primary election. The candidates will now face off directly in the November general election to determine who will ultimately represent the region in Congress.
However, Tuesday's primary results revealed that Khanna still faces an uphill battle, despite outraising his incumbent opponent[9] roughly $2.5 million to $1.9 million with help from tech-industry backers like Marc Andreessen[10], Sheryl Sandberg[11] and Marissa Mayer[12].
Honda, well known for his support of human rights and labor causes, won 49 percent of primary votes compared to Khanna's 27 percent, preliminary state election numbers showed[13].
The question now is whether new campaign rules, get-out-the-vote efforts and large-scale political donations will do anything to tip the balance by November. Voter turnout for the primaries was relatively paltry, with just over 50,000 votes cast in a district of hundreds of thousands of residents.
The contested 17th California district for the U.S. House of Representatives[14] encompasses Fremont, Milpitas, North San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Cupertino. The area is home to large corporate tenants like Apple[15] Inc., Yahoo[16] Inc. and Intel[17] Corp.
As I have reported[18], the stakes of the election are high for Silicon Valley amid widespread disapproval of Congress and a recalibration of political strategy for the region's tech industry[19]. Corporate issues such as tax reform and immigration loom large as area workers face day-to-day challenges like rapid rent increases and gridlocked traffic.
Lauren Hepler is the economic development reporter at the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
References
- ^ Lauren Hepler (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)
- ^ Google+ (plus.google.com)
- ^ Mike Honda (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Ro Khanna (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ outraising his incumbent opponent (mailbox.amcity.com)
- ^ Marc Andreessen (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Sheryl Sandberg (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Marissa Mayer (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ preliminary state election numbers showed (mailbox.amcity.com)
- ^ U.S. House of Representatives (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Apple (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Yahoo (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Intel (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ I have reported (mailbox.amcity.com)
- ^ amid widespread disapproval of Congress and a recalibration of political strategy for the region's tech industry (mailbox.amcity.com)