California’s Congressional District 17 encompasses a large part of Silicon Valley: Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, part of San Jose, all of Milpitas, Fremont and Newark. It’s a large, diverse and technologically adept region that has enjoyed economic success that other parts of the country can envy. Our current incumbent, Mike Honda, has been in office for 8 terms, some of it representing other parts of the Bay Area before redistricting but I am increasingly concerned about his overall lack of effectiveness as our representative.
In fact, if you Google “least effective congressman”, you’ll find lists of the 35 least effective congressmen, out of 435 nationwide, at Scribol and Insidegov. Our current representative rings in at #31 in the 35 least effective in both lists. In 16 years Honda has authored, and passed by both houses, only one bill: for a name change of a post office in San Jose.
In fact, it was widely broadcast—not just on some backwater corner of the Internet, but on the mainstream nightly news in the Bay Area—where Mike Honda was caught sleeping on camera during a meeting dealing with Homeland Security funding. We need a representative that is active and engaged and not content to “just phoning it in”.
In contrast, challenger Ro Khanna, also a Democrat who edged out Honda in the primary, has the drive and the intelligence that would bring fresh energy, new ideas and a vision of how to empower more people in the region to share in the success and prosperity that many here, but not all, have enjoyed.
Ro Khanna, who was tapped by President Obama a few years ago and appointed as Assistant Deputy Secretary of the Commerce Department to improve America’s manufacturing competitiveness, recognizes how automation and globalization has drastically altered our economy. For us to be competitive in this new 21st century economy—one that is more knowledge-based—it requires a higher overall level of education and a wider skill set by people.
Some people prospered greatly but others have not. That is why improving education is a key component of his agenda. And because education starts early, this means supporting things like expanding Headstart for preschool, for improving curriculums and providing technology in schools to prepare kids for a 21st century world, and providing opportunities where getting a college education can be view as something attainable even by families that think they can’t afford it.
Although Ro Khanna is one of several federal candidates listed on CleanSlateNowAction who has not taken a dime from PACs, lobbyists or corporations, unlike Mike Honda who has, the Honda campaign has railed on about how many wealthy tech leaders have supported or endorsed Ro Khanna. Mike Honda would have you believe this is for sinister reasons but, as a San Jose Mercury News editorial pointed out, tech leaders are hesitant to criticize a sitting congressman but privately these leaders say that Honda doesn’t get the valley and that their go-to reps are Zoe Lofgren and Anna Eshoo. That is the real reason why many tech leaders are supporting Khanna: they, like the rest of us, want someone to represent the district who understands the valley and is technologically and economically savvy. Ro Khanna even wrote a book on why manufacturing is still key to America’s future. He called early on for abolishing superdelegates echoing Bernie Sanders’ call for reforming our party. In contrast, Honda was a pledged superdelegate before the first vote in Iowa was cast.
Adding insult to injury, Mike Honda is now embroiled in a House ethics investigation. A bipartisan ethics committee saw potential violations dealing with improprieties on how he used his office and staff for campaign purposes. More troubling was his so-called “1000 cranes” program where top donors were given special VIP treatment, which flies in the face of helping the little guy. The bipartisan committee unanimously recommended that the House take up the ethics probe which is still underway. President Obama withdrew his endorsement of Mike Honda, which is quite unprecedented to do for a long-standing Democratic incumbent, but probably did so because of Honda’s current ethics issues.
The cities of Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Santa Clara, Milpitas, Newark, Fremont and the parts of San Jose within CA17 can do better than we are doing now. We deserve better representation than we’re getting now. Ro Khanna can and will indefatigably provide us with that representation we need.