In the 60 minutes that former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and Assemblymember Evan Low spent answering questions tonight about their 16th Congressional District battle in front of a regional television and online audience, they offered up competing endorsements and resumes – while agreeing on most issues.
The debate at the end of the first week after ballots were mailed to 448,470 registered voters was combative but offered voters few real differences of opinion between the progressive Low and the moderate Liccardo.
Perhaps because they were facing two Democrats, the moderators – Raj Mathai of NBC Bay Area, Guy Marzorati of KQED and Dayana Monroy of Telemundo – didn’t ask about abortion rights, inflation, tariffs or taxes.
When they asked about other issues – homelessness, immigration, the Middle East, small businesses, crime, social media, the environment – major policy differences weren’t apparent.
The candidates differed on California Proposition 36 on the November ballot. Liccardo, a former prosecutor, said he will vote for the measure that allows stiffer penalties for drug and theft crimes. Low said he was opposed to the measure, saying “I refuse to go back to the era of mass incarceration.”
Liccardo did say that the Biden administration “was too slow to respond to the crisis on the border,” but both he and Low called for a comprehensive immigration reform that recognized the importance of immigrants as well as border safety.
And Liccardo differed with Low – whose brother is a San Jose police officer – when the former mayor called for tough measures to hold police more accountable for their actions.
Liccardo made one surprise prediction – while explaining the importance of working with Republicans – that “it’s likely that Republicans will win the Senate and Democrats will win the House.”
In his answer to five separate questions, Low made a point of identifying himself as being on the Kamala Harris ticket, implying an endorsement from the Vice President. Low has been endorsed by the California Democratic Party, but not by the party’s presidential candidate.
And in his answer to another half dozen questions, he repeated his endorsements by the local police officer and firefighter labor unions. He said Liccardo’s support as a city council member for pension reform cut officers’ pensions and forced many to quit.
Liccardo touted his support from the Sierra Club and other environmental groups and most of the Bay Area state Assembly delegation – Low’s colleagues.
Both candidates thanked Rep. Anna Eshoo in their closing minute, perhaps hoping for an 11th-hour endorsement. Eshoo announced her retirement in December after more than 30 years in the House, and has made no endorsement in the General Election battle for her seat.
She had endorsed Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian in the primary; Simitian lost to Low in a dramatic recount after an unprecedented tie for the ballot spot behind Liccardo.
Each candidate has filed Federal Election Commission complaints against the other. Most recent polls made public by Liccardo showed double-digit leads over Low.
Final campaign fundraising reports out next week are likely to show if Low has the resources to close the gap. The race could be close because of the uncertain impact of major labor unions and the state and national Democratic Party on the 16th District vote.
Low’s constant name dropping of Harris, Eshoo) and reminders of his Endorsements convinced me I am definitely voting for Liccardo, Mayor of 3rd largest in CA. former prosecutor, Georgetown Law, Sierra Club endorsement; no contest.
No questions to these two tyrants about whether they are proud of why they did during Covid?
Low sponsored a bill to muzzle doctors which Newsom signed into law but never went into effect because it was repealed in the face of a lawsuit challenging its blatant unconstitutionality.
Liccardo authored the only municipal booster mandate in California, to coerce an experimental jab in contravention of the Nuremberg Code, which his city council colleagues passed unanimously but lasted only a month because the San Jose Sharks complained that banning a third or more of its season ticketholders would drive the team out of San Jose.
Are they each proud if their dubious achievements? Naturally, neither wants to discuss the subject, and no one in the media is interested in asking.
None of the above is a better candidate.
By the way, hockey players — but not pregnant women — were exempted from Liccardo’s coerced jabs.
Because “The Science” says hockey players are incapable, unlike others, of being disease vectors. And pregnant women don’t need to be concerned about forced injections.
While “none of the above” is a better option, it’s not an option.
Liccardo, if elected, would be an effective member of the current DNC regime and will have access to significant donors, especially as Pelosi’s sun sets. His moral and ethical bankruptcy is slightly below the median level of character for any national politician. Low, on the other hand, is true believer who not only will chaff the power brokers in DC. Additionally, Liccardo is essentially a non-factor locally, that is, unless you have some sort of moral expectation of him. He just keeps the status quo. Low, just the opposite, is extremely effective herding the clueless progressive cats that have infested Sacramento to vote for outrageously dumb state legislation.
Getting Low out of California and sitting at the deep end of the bench in DC is the best available option.
That’s the issue with progressive CA politics – there’s no variation in opinion/ideology. So, you’re voting for these two based on a popularity contest, and it’s a fact both have been and will be ineffective in their role. I am not voting for either.
Still nothing on former San José Mayor San Liccardo’s Twitter feed calling for his former council colleague Omar Torres to resign despite Torres’ (per his own attorney) role-playing fantasies about underage homies.
He also hasn’t returned billionaire Reid Hoffman’s campaign contributions despite Hoffman’s expressed political assassination role-playing fantasies.
Sam did absolutley nothing for San Jose as mayor. And now he wants to be a Congressman?!?