Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo heads to Congress, Assembly member Evan Low concedes

SAN JOSE, Calif. — One of Silicon Valley’s most thrilling congressional races in years has come to a close, and former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo is heading to Congress, delivering a blow to opponent Assembly member Evan Low in the race to replace longtime U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo.

The Associated Press called the race on Wednesday night for Liccardo, who was leading his opponent with nearly 60% of the vote. The former mayor is expected to be sworn into Congress on Jan. 3 and will represent District 16, which includes parts of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Both candidates are Democrats. The Democratic House leadership called Liccardo on Wednesday to invite him to Washington to meet Minority House Leader Hakeem Jeffries and discuss his committee assignments, according to his campaign.

“While we await final results from the County Registrar, I am working to put a strong team of congressional staff in place to serve our district at home and in D.C., because our community deserves a representative who can hit the ground running.” Liccardo said in a statement. “I thank Evan Low for his well-wishes and congratulations earlier this evening, and I was also pleased to receive a message of congratulations and support from Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. I join our community in expressing our profound gratitude for her three decades of leadership and service to our community.”

Liccardo, who will be the first Latino member of Congress to represent Northern California in over 120 years, was first elected to the San Jose City Council in 2010 where he represented the downtown area. He was elected mayor in 2014 and overwhelmingly won reelection in 2018.

Low, who has served in the assembly since 2014, said in a social media post that he had spoken to Liccardo and “thanked him for a hard fought campaign.”

“I want to express my deepest gratitude to every volunteer, supporter and voter who believed in our vision for the Bay Area,” Low wrote. “Although the outcome of the election is not one we hoped for, I am proud of the people-first campaign that we ran, focusing on the very real issues that affect the daily lives of CD-16 voters. I got my start in local politics because I wanted to better the lives of everyday Americans, and I will remain committed to that mission.”

The District 16 race was one of the most high-profile congressional races that Silicon Valley had seen since Rep. Ro Khanna took down former Rep. Mike Honda in 2016. Liccardo and Low collectively spent more than $7.4 million through Oct. 16, while Super PACs shelled out more than $5.5 million on the race ahead of Election Day.

The race for Eshoo’s seat has been contentious at times. Liccardo took first in the primary by more than 8,000 votes, while Low and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian ended in a tie for second. It was a first for a California congressional race since the state moved to a new system in 2012 where the top two vote-getters move on to the general election.

A former Liccardo campaign staffer requested a recount that created controversy over whether it was being orchestrated by the ex-mayor himself — an allegation the Liccardo campaign denied. In the end, Low beat out Simitian by five votes.

Liccardo will face an increasingly divided Congress in Washington D.C. as Republicans took back control of the Senate this week, flipping three seats red. As of Thursday morning, the battle for the majority control of the House of Representatives still hung in the balance.