In the race for Congress, the difference between the two candidates is like night and day. Sam Liccardo is prepared, experienced and ready to start on Day 1. His opponent, Evan Low, is a one-dimensional candidate who doesn’t appear to be the least bit ready for what will be a challenging job. This is an easy choice.
We should note that Low turned down our many requests for an interview. It appears that he’s so far behind in this race that he’s given up, which explains why he has made few appearances in Palo Alto or the northern part of the district. It would seem as if he is just going through the motions, perhaps to please his backers at PG&E.
The 16th Congressional District seat is up for grabs in November because longtime Congresswoman Anna Eshoo is retiring. Eshoo previously represented a district with Palo Alto at its center. But redistricting put a sizable number of San Jose and South Bay voters into the mix. As a result, a popular Palo Alto leader, county supervisor Joe Simitian, lost in the primary to Liccardo, former mayor of San Jose, and to Low, former mayor of Campbell. The race was close and if a couple of Palo Alto candidates hadn’t run, Simitian might have ended up in the run-off.
Our first choice didn’t win
Simitian would have been our choice for this job, hands down. He has the accomplishments, experience and knowledge. But since he’s out — and write-ins aren’t counted in Congressional runoffs — Liccardo is our choice.
Liccardo impresses us as being thoroughly knowledgeable about a variety of subjects, and would be able to make alliances in Congress that would give the Mid-Peninsula the clout it deserves.
A lack of clout meant that when transportation dollars were handed out, San Francisco got the money to build a subway from China Basin to Chinatown and San Jose was funded to build an unground BART line from the Barryessa Flea Market to downtown and Santa Clara. The Mid-Peninsula only got crumbs. Liccardo has the potential to bring home the bacon to this district.
He’ll work for us
When he was mayor, it often felt as if San Jose was grabbing for dollars that came from the Mid-Peninsula. He said that if he’s elected, he’ll work for his constituents. His constituents then were San Jose residents. In Congress, he will represent a district that includes Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Los Altos and other cities to the south.
Low has spent most of his campaign lashing out at Donald Trump, which isn’t a controversial stand to take in a dark blue district. It’s one thing to attack the opposition, but Liccardo is realistic in understanding that in a narrowly split congress, anything he wants to accomplish will take a few Republican votes. We applaud Liccardo’s pragmatism. He’s more likely to get things done in Washington than a bomb-thrower who is desperate for attention.
Low’s campaign is focused on his disdain for Trump and his desire to promote the LGBTQ agenda in Washington. Low, a state Assemblyman, doesn’t bring much else to the table in terms of policy. But his heavy campaign is financed through a political action committee funded by PG&E. PG&E wants influence in Washington and Sacramento. The company ought to be focusing its attention on reducing outages and lowering rates. Any politician who hooks up with PG&E is automatically suspect in our book. Low may claim that the political action committee funded by PG&E isn’t coordinating with him, but he could denounce their support. He hasn’t, though, and that’s revealing.
About Stanford
One more thought. We’ve been critical of the fact that Liccardo was on the Stanford payroll as an instructor in the law school when he announced he was running for Congress. It’s well known that top Stanford officials don’t like Simitian because of his efforts to force the university to mitigate the impacts of its development. But Liccardo said he told his bosses at Stanford when he entered the race, and he left the university on amicable terms. We thought we ought to point that out since we’ve raised suspicions about his Stanford employment previously.
Liccardo, a Democrat, offers views on national and international issues that appear to be in line with the opinions of local residents. He’s experienced given his two terms as mayor in San Jose and he’s pragmatic, which will mean he gets things done in Washington. The Post is pleased to recommend Sam Liccardo for Congress.
Liccardo is the obvious choice because Evan Low is an unacceptable candidate.
Low is wholly beholden to PG&E and the hundreds of thousand$ they have given him.