No less than 10 candidates are vying for U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo’s seat in the 16th Congressional District. Eshoo has presided over the sprawling district, which includes Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View, for 32 years. That’s changing this year. Eshoo announced in November she will not be seeking re-election when her current term ends this year.
The issues of the district are as varied as the communities themselves. District 16 includes the coastal San Mateo County communities of Pacifica and Half Moon Bay, as well as Silicon Valley, Stanford University and the tiny bedroom communities of Woodside and Portola Valley, Saratoga and Los Gatos.
All but the top two candidates will be eliminated after the March 5 primary election. The winning candidates will face off in the Nov. 7 general election.
Housing affordability, homelessness and the environment rank among the biggest issues. But immigration, technology, mental health and yes, airplane noise, are concerns as well.
For an overview of each candidate, read on.
Joby Bernstein
Bernstein, a 28-year-old Stanford MBA student, is new to running for office but not new to the hill. In addition to his experience in the financial sector as an investor, he interned for Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican from Ohio, as an undergraduate at Dartmouth.
“I am a Democrat, and I will always be a Democrat, but I do think working across the aisle is a key trait of mine,” Bernstein said.
Curbing climate change is at the forefront of Bernstein’s campaign messaging. As a congressman he aims to eliminate some of the bureaucracy involved in developing and adopting climate solutions, looking to support the private sector’s innovation in climate technology. Bernstein pointed to the large amount of wind and solar farm projects that have fallen through due to the average 5-year waiting period to be added to the power grid.
“We put forth these ideas, but we don’t actually build the infrastructure, create the jobs and actually put it into practice,” he said.
The young Democrat cited the border crisis as another top priority, but his advocacy is more tied to easing the progress of immigration for high qualified, highly educated workers than it is addressing the issue of migrants seeking refuge at the Mexican border. To the latter, he suggested bettering the humanitarian conditions of the border and funding the court system to reduce wait times while boosting security.
“I’m not a fan of building a wall, but with 48 ports of entry with pretty outdated infrastructure, we probably do need to have more investment, more thoughtful security and a better plan in place,” he said.
Sam Liccardo
The Harvard-educated, former San Jose mayor wants to put his policy expertise into solving what he sees is his Congressional district’s biggest issues: The high cost of living, homelessness and crime.
The problem he hears from Congress is that such issues are “local” and don’t warrant national focus.
“These are the issues most people are concerned about,” he said. “I am running for Congress so I can get them moving onto those issues,” he said.
He’ll also be advocating for high-tech as well as solutions for global warming.
Liccardo noted homelessness is a national problem with 44 cities having at least 1,000 unhoused residents, 653,000 nationwide and rising.
“What we tried to do in San Jose was to look for any way possible to build housing faster, cheaper … so we tried converting hotel rooms into housing in 2015-16. “The one that we landed on most successful, was taking prefabricated housing and putting it on public land,” Liccardo said. “We found we were able to reduce homelessness in San Jose by 11% in 2022.”
The problem, he said, is getting the federal government involved in funding and cutting through the red tape to make more innovative housing happen.
He pushed back against the premise that he was San Jose-centric, noting his involvement in several regional organizations. But being the mayor of a million people, he said, commands “a certain amount of accountability” that will translate to effectiveness in Congress. He noted frequent instances of reaching out to opponents to negotiate agreements such as police pension reform, experience that he sees working on Capitol Hill.
Evan Low
Low, a well-spoken and knowledgeable state assemblymember, is passionate about the issues facing District 16 constituents, particularly the area’s high cost of living and public safety. The fourth-generation Californian said he will look out for the region’s most vulnerable and has a history of reaching “across the aisle” for support.
At 40, he has youth on his side. He made a splash when he was elected as the mayor of Campbell at only 23 years-old. In his time in the state assembly, Low has been named one of the most “prolific lawmakers.” He prides himself on the amount of bipartisan work he has accomplished while in the state body.
In 2015, he founded and chaired the nation’s first bipartisan Technology and Innovation Caucus to modernize the government’s approach to a rapidly changing economy.
As a gay, Asian-American man, Low promises protection for both demographics in the face of the harrowing amount of anti-LGBTQ legislation last year and hate crimes against Asian people.
Low, whose brother is a police officer, also pledges support for law enforcement to make for safer communities.
Julie Lythcott-Haims
New York Times bestselling author and current member of the Palo Alto City Council Julie Lythcott-Haims is the only woman running for the seat occupied by Eshoo for over three decades. In a race against ten men, she thinks that 2024 is not the time to have less representation of women in congress.
For her, representation of marginalized identities in government is not a symbolic effort – it’s about having a diversified range of lived experiences that better inform policy choices.
“Representation matters not as a tokenism or ‘wokeism’ or anything like that, but actually as evidence that we make better decisions when we’ve invited more people to the table,” she said.
Despite openly speaking about her identity as a mixed-race African American, queer woman, Lythcott-Haims’ candidacy is certainly not squarely focused on identity politics. Much of Lythcott-Haims’ tenure on the Palo Alto council has focused on housing, climate and youth mental health advocacy, all of which she aims to build upon if elected. She approaches many of these issues from the angle that millennials are the first generation that is economically worse off than their parents, and things don’t seem to be looking up for zoomers.
To fund these initiatives, Lythcott-Haims is in support of taxing high-earners and having billionaires pay their “fair share.”
“We have this systemic set of failures in place that our career politicians have presided over and it’s time for brave, bold, unflinching leadership – head and heart – to really get us back on track and renew America’s promise to its children,” she said.
Ahmed Mostafa
Mostafa is another political newcomer seeking to offer an alternative to career politicians. The domestic abuse survivor’s attorney and former Google tech policy advisor distinguished himself early on in the campaign as the first to call for a permanent humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
When asked why he chose to run for congress, he shared a personal story about his Egyptian grandfather being admitted to the hospital while visiting him in the U.S. three years ago. His travel insurance was rejected because of preexisting conditions, so his family was given a $300,000 estimate for full treatment. As an attorney, he was able to figure out a way to get the care he needed, but he thought about all the undocumented people finding themselves in an impossible situation of choosing death or extreme debt, or any of the other impossible situations undocumented people or people in poverty find themselves in.
“Nobody should have to choose between financial distress and life,” he said. “Nobody should sleep on the streets because they’re in a mental health crisis, or in a financial deficit. I’m running a campaign on human dignity to ensure that those who are most vulnerable are treated as human beings and get the care that they need and deserve.”
As a congressman, Mostafa sees himself fitting in well with “The Squad” – or the unofficial group of progressive congress members including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri. He shares many of their chief concerns, which include healthcare, homelessness, public transportation and housing affordability.
Peter Ohtaki
The former Menlo Park city council member is the only serious Republican candidate in the 16th Congressional District race.
“I’m running because I’m fed up with Congress because it’s been broken for the past 20-plus years – its devolved into this preoccupation with making the other party look bad rather than work on constructive solutions that might address some of the major issues facing the country,” Ohtaki said. “The senate immigration bill compromise is a perfect example – (it failed) out of not wanting the present administration to get a win.
Ohtaki considers himself a fiscally conservative, moderately social Republican in the model of past legislators like Ed Zschau.
How will he succeed in Congress?
“I’m a numbers guy – I developed credibility with my fellow council members over my ability to analyze an issue,” Ohtaki said. “You hear a lot about ideology in Congress, not enough about, is this program working, is it not working?”
He sees himself providing leadership in the 64-member problem solvers caucus. “That caucus can have a much greater role,” he said.
Joe Simitian
Simitian’s long political career has taken him from Palo Alto school board to the state legislature and Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Don’t let his silver tongue fool you: He has a strong track record of legislation reflective of his ability to listen and respond to constituents. In fact, as state senator in the early 2000s, Simitian began his popular “There Oughta Be A Law” contest. Eighteen entries were actually signed into law, including one, from a Los Altos Hills resident, that created outreach programs for veterans with brain injuries and PTSD.
Simitian offers a tight grin when reminded that other candidates boast about not being “career politicians.” Asked if there is an advantage, he said, “I think it helps if you know what you’re doing. It helps if you have a demonstrated track record of being able to actually deliver results.”
Simitian’s bottom line is improving the lives of others. “Then the question is, have you done that. And I think the answer is pretty clear, yes I have.”
Among his accomplishments, Simitian wrote the bill for transitional kindergarten and authored one requiring hands-free cell phone use while driving. He opened the first county health clinic in district five, created a local teacher housing project and brought COVID testing and vaccinations locally at the height of the pandemic. He also negotiated a binding agreement to end production at the high-polluting Lehigh cement plant and quarry.
Simitian would rather be labeled “thoughtful, compassionate and effective” than “progressive” or Democrat.
In a congress mired by inaction and divisiveness, Simitian said he would reach out to members also interested in being effective and find common ground. At the very least, Simitian said “I won’t add to the crazy.”
Simitian, who just turned 71, remains energetic and ready to make things happen. He quoted Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who said, “It’s not your age that matters, it’s the age of your ideas.”
Greg Lin Tanaka
Another Palo Alto city council member, Greg Lin Tanaka, is seeking the congressional seat, but his chief priority differs from any of the other candidates. Excessive airplane noise has plagued the region in the past decade thanks to the Federal Aviation Administration’s NextGen program. After years of failed efforts on the part of Anna Eshoo and other lawmakers to address high levels of airplane noise in the region, Tanaka seeks to finally quiet the skies, he said.
The Democrat lamented politicians who only vote along party lines and like many other candidates, boasted his ability to “reach across the aisle” to work with Republicans and Democrats alike. Tanaka points to his solid line of communication with constituents through his council member office hours as something he would like to continue as a congressman.
Kumar, Dixon and Ryan
Of the 11 candidates, three did not respond to the Town Crier’s interview request – Rishi Kumar, Peter Dixon and Karl Ryan.
Kumar is a current Saratoga city council member who challenged Eshoo in the last two election cycles, garnering 42% of the vote in 2022, the closest match Eshoo had in recent decades. One of the cornerstones of the former tech executive’s campaign is that he has pledged not to accept donations from super PACs and vows to push for a cultural change in Washington by banning congressional insider training and establishing age and term-limits for seat holders. A poll by the San José Spotlight put him as the current 3rd most favored among district voters.
The Saratoga city council member has not been without his share of controversies in his political career – during his 2020 congressional run, residents found lawn signs promoting Kumar they did not consent to being placed in their yards; in December 2020, Kumar was denied his ceremonial turn as mayor for 2021 on the Saratoga City Council (which rotates annually among council members, as in Los Altos); and in 2021 he was publicly confronted by a group of activists asking him to answer for the enthusiastic support he showed for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been accused of eroding Muslims’ human rights in India.
Dixon is a tech executive and veteran running for office for the first time. He is the co-founder and former CEO of cybersecurity company Second Front System, which provides software for national security tasks and is expected to start selling its software to local and state agencies this year. He aims to make government processes more efficient and put money saved into initiatives that support housing, education and ending homelessness in the Bay Area.
Karl Ryan, the only other registered Republican in the race besides Ohtaki, has made no public outreach effort in his campaign. He has seemingly not responded to any publications’ request for an interview and has not attended any public debates. His website contains mostly AI-generated material with little to no information about his policy positions.
Keep up with the Town Crier’s 2024 election coverage by visiting losaltosonline.com/elections.
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