Money flows into ex-San Jose mayor’s bid for House seat in Silicon Valley

Campaign cash is surging in a race to fill a Silicon Valley House seat held for nearly three decades by Democratic Rep. Anna Eshoo.

Sam Liccardo, a Democrat and former mayor of San Jose, reports raising $1.65 million in the fourth quarter — just weeks after announcing his entry into a crowded field to replace Eshoo in a rare open Bay Area seat.

Liccardo has the benefit of name recognition and at least one lucrative fundraiser hosted by a prominent valley figure — LinkedIn co-founder and prolific Democratic donor Reid Hoffman.

“Whatever we fundraise is really less about me and much more about where I think voters, donors and the entire community are here in Silicon Valley and throughout the country,” the former mayor told POLITICO. “They want to see real federal engagement in tackling homelessness and crime and rising costs of living, and they're tired of folks saying it's somebody else's job.”

Eshoo is retiring after serving in Congress since 1993. Those seeking to replace her include Assemblymember Evan Low; Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian; former Saratoga City Council member Rishi Kumar; Palo Alto Councilmember Julie Lythcott-Haims; and tech executive Peter Dixon. Two Republicans have also filed to run for the seat in the solidly blue district.

A full scope of fundraising won't be available until the end of the month, when campaign finance reports are due. But Liccardo, the first to announce his total for the quarter, has set a high bar.

Low has said he raised $300,000 in the first 48 hours of his campaign. Dixon announced that he brought in $350,000 in the first 24 hours of his bid, and Lythcott-Haims said she raised $250,000 in the first weekend of her candidacy.

Simitian, meanwhile, entered the race with more than $680,000 at his disposal.

In 2022, Kumar was the highest fundraiser behind Eshoo, bringing in more than $700,000. (Eshoo handily defeated him in the general). Liccardo’s haul — achieved in less than a month — is double that amount.

Candidates don't have much time to introduce themselves to voters ahead of the March 5 primary. Liccardo said that his campaign chest will give him more flexibility to knock on doors and connect with voters rather than working the phones to fundraise.

Liccardo is a well-known figure in the area, serving as mayor of the state’s third-largest city for nearly a decade, and he previously considered taking on Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren in a neighboring Silicon Valley district.

The campaign did not provide a specific breakdown of small-dollar donors, but Cooper Teboe, a senior adviser on the campaign, noted that many of his past supporters are accustomed to a lower contribution limit versus the higher federal cap.

Still, Liccardo does have some notable high-dollar backers. Hoffman hosted a fundraiser for Liccardo in December, which brought in six figures for the campaign.

Teboe said the campaign has 10 grassroots house parties planned for this month, an event hosted by John and Sandi Thompson, as well as another hosted by Chris Kelly, Dave Wehner and Mike Callahan.

California — which has a handful of competitive congressional races this year — will be in the spotlight as Democrats battle for control of the House. CA-16 is a deep blue district, so it’s not necessarily going to determine control of the upper chamber, like CA-27 or CA-41, held by Republican Reps. Mike Garcia and Ken Calvert, respectively.

But Liccardo said “there aren't many places in the country that feel more acutely the housing crisis that so many metros are struggling with or the challenges with homelessness.”

“These are not local issues. They're national issues. They just happen to be the problem of nearly every local community in the country,” he added.