Two Democratic candidates are up for election for Congress on Nov. 5 in California’s 16th Congressional District, which spans from S.F. to San Jose. In this article, El Estoque explores their backgrounds, political viewpoints and visions for Congress.

Sam Liccardo

Former mayor of San Jose Sam Liccardo says he wanted to go into politics ever since middle school, when he would read Newsweek magazine in the back of class, soaking up its news and politics coverage. The Saratoga native was driven by a desire to learn about and shape the course of the world around him, a motivation that sticks with him today.

After briefly working with children in orphanages in Mexico and Belize after college, he started his political career by joining Rep. Anna Eshoo’s campaign in 1992. Afterwards, he went to Harvard Law School and later began working as a prosecutor on sexual assault cases. With encouragement from friends, Liccardo was elected to the San Jose City Council in 2006 and was later re-elected in 2010. In 2015, Liccardo ran for mayor and won, to his own surprise. He served as mayor from 2015 to 2023. Now, he is running for Congress to represent California’s 16th District.

“People deserve to know what exactly I’m going to be pushing for before they vote or before they get involved,” Liccardo said in an interview with La Voz. “The idea is, ‘what are the areas where I think there are opportunities?’”

According to Liccardo’s 80-page book “Let’s Get it Done: Moving a Divided Congress Toward Solutions,” which he wrote to explain his in-depth plans for Congress, legislators tend to dismiss national issues like homelessness, cost of living and crime as “local concerns.” With his experience as mayor, Liccardo aims to respond to such issues in Washington D.C. “Let’s Get it Done” contains detailed plans for addressing nine pressing national crises, including the high cost of living, homelessness, climate change and reproductive rights. For example, in order to mitigate climate change, Liccardo aims to halt oil drilling entirely and take steps to expand access to solar panels and heat pumps to small businesses and homeowners.

Liccardo’s deputy campaign manager Gil Rubinstein joined Liccardo’s campaign after the primary elections, in which he came in first out of 12 candidates with 21% of votes. Rubinstein believes Liccardo differs from other politicians in Congress due to his willingness to discuss difficult issues and create realistic policies as solutions. 

“His book is not really a set of dreams, it is a set of policies that might actually get passed in a divided Congress with slim margins,” Rubinstein said. “He is willing to have detailed conversations, despite it inviting a lot of criticism. I think it takes a certain level of courage to be honest with voters.”

Rubinstein is currently focusing the efforts of Liccardo’s campaign on reaching out to undecided voters through meet and greets as well as door-to-door conversations. In Rubinstein’s experience, this allows the campaign to discuss pressing issues directly with voters and let them know their voices are heard.

According to SFGate, Liccardo is endorsed by the Sierra Club, a major environmental organization, because of his pledge to turn down donations from fossil fuel companies. However, he is not endorsed by the powerful landlord group, California Apartment Association, unlike his opponent, Evan Low. In 2012, Liccardo backed Measure B, a proposal that lowered police officer pensions, leading to lawsuits and an exodus of police officers.

Ultimately, Liccardo says he is motivated by the same desire to make a difference in his community that first sparked when he was in middle school and has guided his career and policies ever since. If elected to Congress, his ultimate goals are transparency in politics, unity across party lines and solving what he sees as America’s most pressing issues, such as the high cost of living and climate change.

“I have loved the path that I’ve had in public service,” Liccardo said. “Whether I was trying to help support sexual assault survivors as a criminal prosecutor, or as a city council member in downtown San José working on affordable housing and transit issues and leading climate initiatives, I’ve enjoyed it all.”

Evan Low

Evan Low is a born-and-raised Silicon Valley politician with a long history in civic engagement, fueled by a love for his community. After attending De Anza College and San Jose State University, Low was elected to Campbell City Council in 2006 and became the youngest mayor of Campbell in 2009. Since 2014, he has been a member of the California Assembly.

During his time as California Assembly Member, Low sponsored and authored legislation that fights for LGBTQ rights and protection for the Asian American community. By authoring Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5, Low ensured that same-sex marriage is recognized as a fundamental right in the California Constitution. In addition, Low sponsored Assembly Bill 1064 as a part of his fight to provide justice for the victims of hate crimes and has publicly supported fights against homelessness, restrictions on abortion rights and gun violence.  

Low plans to continue to focus on these issues if he gets elected to Congress. His deputy campaign manager and the current Chief of Staff for the City Council of San Jose, Lam Nguyen, believes that Low’s eagerness to learn from a variety of viewpoints is necessary for bipartisan Congressional agreements about issues that the U.S. faces. 

“The best thing about Evan, as a candidate, is that he’s always willing to listen,” Nguyen said. “He wants to talk to everybody, and he wants to have conversations with people whose perspectives he doesn’t understand.”

Low’s campaign tackles issues that voters in District 16 resonate with, such as public safety, housing affordability and climate change. Nguyen emphasizes the personal importance these issues — especially public safety — hold for Low, who is an openly gay man. 

“He’s a gay man in a very progressive area, but when it comes to areas that are not as progressive, there’s a challenge of fighting the good fight, for lack of a better way of saying it, you know, it’s part of the reason why he fought for marriage equality,” Nguyen said. “It’s part of the reason why he fought to stem the tide of Asian hate.”

In addition to his work in public safety, Low, who is endorsed by the Democratic Party, has a lengthy plan for addressing climate change, which includes working towards carbon neutrality, evolving infrastructure and analyzing energy sources and distribution systems. Nguyen explains that Low will approach authoring climate change legislation by uniting members of Congress from both parties. 

“There’s always a fight on both sides of the equation, having to make what is legally possible, and then having to continually push the envelope to nudge us more towards a direction where the lofty goals that we have are more attainable,” Nguyen said. “It doesn’t do us any good to write legislation that doesn’t pass and is not executable.”

Low’s website states that his goals are motivated by the passion has for his community and especially for fighting to preserve the rights of those he cares about – Silicon Valley residents, Californians and Americans.

“Low is one of the reasons I’m in politics,” Nguyen said. “He is the guy who represents my principles the most. He comes from where we come from. It kind of bums me out, but he’s the only congressional candidate who’s Asian, running in a very underrepresented population of Congress. A young perspective like Low’s, and very specifically, a progressive mindset like his, is really important to have in Congress.”

Evan Low could not be reached for comment.