| | | | |  | | By Dustin Gardiner and Lara Korte | | Presented by |  | | | |  Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, pictured, and state Assemblymember Evan Low are locked in a tight race for an open House seat in Silicon Valley. | Beth LaBerge/KQED via AP, Pool, File | THE BUZZ: TECH TANGO — One of the toughest Dem-on-Dem House races in the country is in Silicon Valley, and the contest has become a proxy battle for the influence of Big Tech money versus that of traditional Democratic Party forces like labor unions. The two Democrats in the race, former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and state Assemblymember Evan Low, both have a long history of working with the region's key industry. But Liccardo has largely been perceived as the more tech-friendly candidate. A handful of billionaires in the sector have spent heavily to boost him, including through outside independent-expenditure groups. Among his backers: crypto leaders, tech news tycoon Michael Bloomberg, semiconductor pioneer T. J. Rodgers and venture capitalist Chris Larsen. Low, meanwhile, has the endorsement of the California Democratic Party and is leaning heavily on an aggressive ground game powered by the California Labor Federation and local law-enforcement unions. Liccardo finished far ahead of the pack in a crowded primary and earlier polls suggested he might coast to victory in the contest to succeed retiring Rep. Anna Eshoo. But the race has tightened in the past few weeks as Democratic forces rush to Low’s aid. A recent internal poll from Equality California, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group that supports Low, suggests Liccardo is only ahead by 3 percentage points with many voters still undecided. The unexpectedly competitive final leg of the race has put tech’s influence in the spotlight, as Liccardo touts himself as the industry’s clear champion while Low argues he can both be a tech ally and look out for labor interests. Low has criticized Liccardo by portraying him as an industry puppet who will let crypto executives dictate his policies. Low founded the Technology and Innovation Caucus at the state Capitol and has sided with tech on some contentions fights — including by opposing a landmark bill on artificial intelligence safety, SB 1047 — but he argues he has always made the industry come to the negotiating table. “Only a handful of select millionaires and billionaires are trying to buy this election because they know that I fight for people not corporations,” Low told Playbook.
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State Assemblymember Evan Low. | Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for CAPE | Liccardo has jabbed back, accusing Low of lacking substance. The former mayor has released a complex list of policy proposals related to tech, but as The Washington Post recently wrote, Low has offered fewer specifics on issues like antitrust law, data privacy and cryptocurrencies. “Our community rightfully demands solutions — not slogans,” Liccardo told Playbook. He said while he has written a 130-page book of policy prescriptions, Low “relies on a vague bullet list of patronizing and performative platitudes.” Both candidates have also leaned into identity politics — and blistering attacks — in the final weeks of the race. Low, who is of Chinese descent and gay, has emphasized his support from Asian-American groups (the district is nearly 30 percent API), the LGBTQ+ community and prominent Democratic figures like Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Laphonza Butler. Annise Parker , president of the national LGBTQ+ Victory Fund and the former mayor of Houston, was in the district last week to campaign with Low. The Assemblymember has been dwarfed in terms of spending — an outside, tech-funded group backing Liccardo has spent $2.6 million to boost him and Liccardo’s campaign committee has outraised Low by another $2 million — but Parker said Low has a potential path if he owns the ground game. “He has a much broader, more diverse coalition of support,” Parker said of Low. Meanwhile, Liccardo and his allies have accused Low of committing campaign-finance violations by using money from his state campaign account to promote himself through a flurry of recent TV ads. Federal law prohibits spending state campaign money on a congressional race. Low denies any wrongdoing, saying the TV spots were not campaign ads but rather updating his constituents on legislative activity. Liccardo has also emphasized his heritage, saying he would be the first Latino member of the House from Northern California in about 120 years. His campaign said he is descended from Mexican immigrants, as well as Italian and Irish settlers. Rep. Linda Sánchez , a fellow Californian and chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ political arm, campaigned with Liccardo last month. She said it’s very “problematic” that the northern half of the state hasn’t elected a Latino Congress member in over a century. There are ultimately few tech policy areas where Low and Liccardo have publicly butt heads, in part because Low hasn’t put out a more detailed platform. But the perception among Silicon Valley insiders has often been that Low is frequently torn between labor and tech interests, especially when it comes to issues like AI displacing jobs. For example, he backed a bill to ban self-driving trucks in California despite the objections of industry groups. Whereas Liccardo has often tussled with unions in the past. As a City Council member and mayor, he frequently clashed with unions over his plans to overhaul pension systems and other public-worker benefits. Lorena Gonzalez, head of the California Labor Federation, said unions feel like that history of bad blood makes Low a safer bet. She added, “Our local unions had a very contentious relationship with Sam Liccardo when he was mayor.” GOOD MORNING. Happy Monday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? Campaigning for Democrats in Southern California. He will stump for Democratic House candidate Will Rollins in the Corona area of Riverside County.
| | | | A message from Uber: Uber Expands Safety Features For Drivers. Uber’s CEO met with drivers and couriers to unveil new updates to make their experience safer and fairer. Among them, Record My Ride lets drivers use their phones as a dashcam on trips. Uber also revamped its deactivation processes, enabling drivers to appeal decisions directly in the app. Learn more. | | | |  | CAMPAIGN YEAR | | | 
Republican Rep. Michelle Steel. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo | SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY — For months, Democrats have tried to brand GOP Rep. Michelle Steel as a corrupt politician. Now, they’re eagerly jumping on a recent LAist investigation into how Steel directed some pandemic relief funds during her time as Orange County supervisor to make their point. The story examines how Steel authorized a $1.2 million contract to provide meals to needy constituents to a marketing and printing company that she was using at the time for campaign mailers. The meals, which came from local restaurants, cost more than triple the amount of other meal distribution programs in other parts of the county. The Steel campaign contends the company was qualified through its experience in logistics and events management and that an audit did not find any deficiencies with the company’s follow-through on the contract requirements. (That audit did not examine other elements of the program, such as whether the cost per meal was appropriate.)The pandemic meals program is already a touchy subject, given that Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do just pleaded guilty to a felony bribery charge related to the program and resigned from the board. Allies of Derek Tran, Steel’s Democratic opponent, had already been linking the two OC pols in digital advertising for weeks. Now, Oscar Lopez , political director of SEIU California, which is funding those ads, said the investigation “adds another layer that we’ll communicate to the public.” The Tran campaign is similarly hoping to capitalize. Tran appeared at a Sunday rally with the LAist headline blown up on posterboard behind him. His campaign quickly blasted out text messages with a link to the story, saying it showed Steel was “engaging in the same kind of grift that landed OC Supervisor Andrew Do a 5-year prison sentence” — a characterization that goes further than what the story actually says. “If [Steel] wants to prove her innocence, she and her campaign’s print shop should release the receipts and the meal signatures, explain why each meal cost taxpayers triple what they should have, and justify why they refused to deliver these meals to the homes of needy seniors like every other comparable meal program did,” said Paul Iskajyan, a campaign spokesperson for Tran. Steel’s campaign said her pandemic meals program “successfully fed 50,000 OC seniors and helped restaurants during Covid” and described Tran as “a liar and desperate,” whose campaign had unsuccessfully pitched the story elsewhere. “In what can only be deemed election interference, he found a willing participant in the left-leaning LAist who after a month of silence curiously decided to publish this garbage 4 days before an election,” said Lance Trover , a campaign spokesperson, in a statement. Megan Garvey, LAist’s executive editor, said the outlet publishes stories “when they’re ready” and noted they have had a long-running investigation into how Covid relief funds were rewarded. “This contract was among many reviewed by LAist,” Garvey said. “It became particularly newsworthy last week when Rep. Steel's former colleague on the OC Board of Supervisors, Andrew Do, was indicted and pleaded guilty to misusing public funds from the same pot of federal Covid relief money." — Melanie Mason
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Rep. John Duarte, right. | Kent Nishimura/Getty Images | VALLEY OF THE BRAWLS — California’s Central Valley is home to two of the most contentious House races in the country and a microcosm of a bigger problem facing the Democratic Party: Latino voters shifting right. As Lara reported over the weekend, Democrats are working furiously to flip the seats held by Republican Reps. John Duarte and David Valadao. To do so, they’ll need to boost turnout — a perennial problem in the region. For Republicans, it’s a chance to prove a point about their opponents’ waning clout with Latinos while bringing more of these voters into the fold. For Democrats, it's a test of their ability to prevent a major part of their base from drifting away — an issue the party will increasingly face as Latinos are one of the fastest growing demographics nationwide. “The Republican Party changed in that we used to sort of see Latinos as someone that we talked to at the very end, and hope to get some,” said Duane Dichiara, a spokesperson for Duarte’s campaign. “Now, we talked to them from the beginning, and we put a lot of time and effort into them. That pays off, man. It pays off huge.” The majority of Latino voters in California still favor Democrats, according to recent polling, but in these races that could come down to a few hundred votes, the party is taking no chances. It has spent nearly $35 million on advertising between the two districts, leaning heavily on Spanish-language TV, mail and digital ads; hosted community events, like a “Noche de Peleas” (Fight Night) watch party for Mexican boxing legend Canelo Álvarez; and trotted out big-name politicians like Rep. Adam Schiff, who is running for Senate, to door-knock in the region. “I think our theory has long been that boosting turnout is the path to victory in this district,” said Kyle Buda, campaign manager for Democrat Rudy Salas, who is running against Valadao. “Much of the campaign has been oriented around that.” Early statewide ballot returns indicated that Latinos could continue to underperform their registration numbers. But a boost in turnout, even a slight one, could mean a win for Democrats in the Central Valley. A recent poll of Latino voters in the swing districts found both Salas and Adam Gray (running against Duarte) had significant leads over their Republican opponents — 36 points and 20 points, respectively. Read more about what’s motivating the Central Valley’s Latino voters this cycle. CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF US? From Prop 36 to Alameda's recall vote, don't miss out on major state news this Election Day: Download the POLITICO app , for iOS or Android, and turn on California notifications to get breaking news alerts about the Golden State.
| | | | A message from Uber:   | | | | | FOR GOOD MEASURE | | BALLOT GUIDE — As the days tick down toward Nov. 5 — and your friends and family continue to bug you about what any of these ballot measures actually mean — we hope you consider sharing our California ballot-measure voter guide. If we can briefly brag, it’s a fun read for both the uninitiated and people who like and care about politics. Please share the politico.com/caballot link with your community, and we hope you learn something new.
| | CLIMATE AND ENERGY | | IN HOT WATER — State water regulators will vote Jan. 7 whether to take over groundwater planning for another region that has failed to protect aquifer levels. But Aaron Fukuda , general manager of the Tulare Irrigation District, said local water officials are taking aggressive measures to regain control, including by enacting pumping limits and penalties on irrigation wells. Read his interview in Friday’s edition of California Climate.
| | TOP TALKERS | | |  Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | BABS IN THE MIX — Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee is signaling she would be interested in serving as Housing and Urban Development secretary in Kamala Harris' administration if the vice president wins the election. “Let’s get past Nov. 5 first,” Lee told our colleague Eleanor Mueller. But “I'm excited about what she's doing, I think that I know these issues — and naturally, I would be interested in working with her administration on these issues.” The HUD gig is one of several potential next acts rumored to be on the longtime congressperson’s radar, along with Oakland mayor. MUM IS THE WORD — Speaking of Harris, the presidential nominee cast a mail-in ballot in her home state of California. But as our colleague Myah Ward reported , the VP avoided answering a question about whether she voted for Proposition 36, a high-profile ballot measure that would increase penalties for some theft- and drug-related crimes. “I’m not going to talk about the vote on that because honestly, it is the Sunday before the election and I don’t intend to create an endorsement one way or the other around it but I did vote,” Harris said.
| | | | A message from Uber: Uber’s Latest Updates Put Drivers First
At an in-person event with drivers, Uber’s CEO announced updates to give them more peace of mind. Uber has started sending warnings to riders who drivers reported for inappropriate behavior. The Record My Ride feature allows drivers to capture video and audio during trips, improving accountability and safety. Plus the app also got more hands-free with Siri voice commands, letting drivers focus on the road while staying connected. Learn more. | | | | | AROUND THE STATE | | — Despite all the heated rhetoric around immigration this cycle, illegal border crossings have plunged to a four-year low. (KQED) — You don’t have to drive that far out of San Francisco to find a MAGA-leaning retirement community. Discovery Bay is the Bay Area’s land of conservative politics, big homes and fancy boats. (San Francisco) — The number of inmates dying in Riverside County detentions has surged, making it one the deadliest jail systems in the country. (The New York Times)
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