Meet Sam Liccardo Candidate For CA Congress

Sam Liccardo is vying to represent California's 16th Congressional District.

Voters in the congressional district, which spans portions of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, will receive ballots by May 4. This district stretches from the coastal areas of Pacifica and Half Moon Bay south through Silicon Valley.

A significant change under the new Proposition 50 map is the inclusion of Pacifica, a coastal city previously located in district 15.

Learn more about Liccardo’s goals for the region:

Educational background:

Bellarmine College Preparatory; Georgetown University (BA, Government & Economics); Harvard Law School (JD); Harvard Kennedy School (MPP)

Professional background:

Since 2025: Member of Congress representing Silicon Valley.

2023: lecturer at Stanford Law School and Stanford University

2015-2022: two-term Mayor of San José.

2007-2014: San José City Councilmember.

2001-2006: Deputy District Attorney in Santa Clara County, primarily in the Sexual Assault unit

1997-2000: Assistant U.S. Attorney, Criminal Division, Southern District of California

Age: 56

Why are you seeking a seat in Congress?

Since I began serving you in Congress last year, I have pushed to reduce your housing costs, grocery prices, insurance premiums, and utility bills—all while battling the Trump administration’s assault on the rule of law, our Constitution, and our communities.

Despite a deeply divided Congress, I relentlessly worked across the aisle to push for solutions to our painful cost of living. In my first 17 months in office, I led the passage of two bipartisan bills in the House and Senate to accelerate the construction of affordable housing. I authored legislation supported by Democratic and Republican colleagues to reduce health insurance premiums, to reduce bank fees on financial transactions, and to convert vacant office buildings to affordable housing. I have also secured tens of millions in funding for our community in local projects to build affordable housing, reduce homelessness, bolster infrastructure, and improve public safety. I cosponsored measures to eliminate cost-inflating tariffs, and forged partnerships to reduce property insurance premiums with homeowner investments in fire safety. I consistently voted to end this costly, aimless war in Iran, and against this administration’s severe cuts in health and food assistance.

I have also led the fight against the chaos, cruelty, and corruption of the Trump administration. I authored legislation to prohibit President Trump’s crypto corruption, to protect cities from lawless ICE and military enforcement, and to empower veterans, seniors, students, and other Americans against DOGE’s chaotic cuts to services.

As a former criminal prosecutor, I will continue fighting to defend your reproductive rights and voting rights, and to protect funding for Social Security, MediCal, and CalFresh.

In 2027, I will get even more done for our community.

What do you think are the top three issues for voters in this election, and how do you plan to address them?

Cost of housing, groceries and healthcare: Families are struggling with the high cost of housing, healthcare, groceries, utilities, and insurance. We need to build more housing and do it faster. I have authored bipartisan legislation to accelerate affordable housing development, including multiple bills that were recently included in a major housing package passed by both the House and the Senate. I have also led efforts to protect thousands of low-income families from being pushed into homelessness. I also introduced the only bipartisan ACA tax credit extension that lowers premiums while saving taxpayer dollars. I have supported efforts to eliminate price-inflating tariffs. I will continue advancing practical, bipartisan solutions that lower costs and provide relief for working families.

Ending Corruption, Protecting Rights, and Restoring the Rule of Law: At a time of deep division, we must defend our Constitution, our community, and our democratic institutions. I was the first legislator to introduce legislation that would criminalize Trump’s grift through the issuance of cryptocurrency and other financial assets. I have introduced legislation to address many abuses of power, including unlawful military deployment and immigration enforcement in U.S. cities, disregard of Congressional spending mandates, and the use of prediction markets to exploit insider information for personal financial gain. With a Democratic majority in the House, I will push to get these and other similar bills enacted. I will also continue working to protect voting rights, reproductive freedom, and the rule of law.

Our Children, and Their Future: We are spending our children’s money for them, particularly as this administration accelerates the accumulation of the more than $38 trillion in U.S. debt. We are destroying our children’s planet for them, as climate change accelerates with the continued subservience of science to politics. Our youth and young adults decreasingly see a future for themselves in an economy where they believe they will never afford a home, and AI rapidly threatens to displace them from their careers. I am committed to push in every way to create a future about which our children can feel optimistic. I will oppose Congress’ and this Administration's continued fiscal irresponsibility, and steadfastly oppose irresponsibility in my own party. I am authoring legislation to incentivize renewables and batteries for data centers, chip plants, and other large energy users to satisfy our economy’s rapidly growing demand for energy. I have drafted legislation to incentivize companies to invest in our community colleges and state universities, to co-create curriculum that ensures that our young adults will have the skills that will actually land them jobs. Above all I will continue pushing a chronically myopic Congress to focus on the future, and on our responsibility to our progeny.

Why are you a better choice than your opponents?

More than anyone in this race, I understand the imperative of accountability to the public we serve, and I have demonstrated an ability to deliver results–as a criminal prosecutor, as Mayor of San José, and now in Congress. No other first-term member of Congress has better demonstrated how to work with colleagues in the opposing party, move legislation, build and drive an agenda, and support battleground colleagues–against very adversarial headwinds created by the opposition party in power.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

In my first year in Congress, I’ve focused on delivering tangible results for our community, even in a brutally difficult legislative environment. I’ve led bipartisan bills to expand affordable housing supply. I’ve secured more than $14 million in federal funding for projects in our local cities and neighborhoods, despite a Congress dominated by the opposing party. I've introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen our innovation economy, reduce cost burdens for families, and keep talented immigrants here in the United States.

That work builds on what I’ve done throughout my career—taking on complex challenges and delivering practical solutions. I came into office as Mayor of San José in 2015, facing billions in pension debt that was rapidly depleting our budget, away from critical police, fire, infrastructure, and other services. I led the City through a long, contentious, and complex series of negotiations capped by a successful 2016 ballot measure that saved taxpayers $3 billion over three decades, and has enabled the City to rebuild its workforce and basic services. I left the Mayor’s office in 2022 to my successor with the lowest homicide rate of any major U.S. city, with 200 more cops, an 11% reduction in street homelessness, its first comprehensively paved streets in two decades, and with a $30 million surplus. I accomplished those things through innovative and pioneering approaches to expand housing supply to the homeless (by pioneering motel conversions and quick-build communities that helped thousands come off the streets), launching major workforce training, tutoring, and scholarship programs that connected thousands of young people to jobs and educational opportunities. I also led efforts to launch a clean energy public utility that delivers 100% GHG-free electricity to our 1 million residents, to preserve thousands of acres of open space in our hillsides and Coyote Valley, expand major transit systems, and–for the first time in a quarter century, repave every San José street.

As a criminal prosecutor in Santa Clara County, I prosecuted sexual assailants and child molesters, securing convictions in every jury trial, and seeking appropriately severe sentences to ensure the safety of survivors and potential victims.

In each role, I have consistently worked to bring people together to solve real problems and deliver results. That same approach guides my work in Congress today, and it’s how I’ll continue delivering results for our community.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No family members work in politics or government.

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?

I currently serve as the U.S. Representative for California’s 16th Congressional District. I previously served as Mayor of San José from 2015 to 2022 and as a member of the San José City Council from 2007 to 2015.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know?

It has been my honor to serve our community in Washington, D.C., despite the most divisive and darkest national moments in our lifetimes. President Obama observed that the most important word in the language of any democratic nation is “we.” We the People. We Shall Overcome.

I have dedicated my career to public service because I still believe in the power of “we.” We need to restore “we” to its prominence in our republic. Together, we can solve real problems, deliver real results, and improve the lives of our neighbors and community members.

I will continue working to bring people together, and ensure our community’s voice is heard in Washington. Learn more at SamLiccardo.com.