Congressional voter guide

candidates

2022 DISTRICT 18 ELECTION GUIDE

anna eshoo greg tanaka

about me top issues

I love public service. … local government shaped me as a legislator, and then in 1992, I was privileged to be elected to represent this congressional district, the first woman in the history of the district ... The work that I've done in the community with nonprofits … those are the things that have shaped me. I grew up very poor … with my single mom ... in a really rough area ... very unlike Palo Alto. I wasn't a political kid. I'm not like a professional politician ... I was running a small startup and a software development and the mayor at the time was trying to ban software… that's why I ran for city council.

The very top of the list is to protect our democracy by protecting the vote ... The vote is sacred in a democracy, and the threats are coming from state legislatures ... to manipulate votes that are cast by the voters. And the challenges have to be met certainly to address climate change, my record is replete on that ... my voting record has earned the support of all organizations that have endorsed my candidacy for many cycles and national organizations as well. We need a legislator for the digital age, especially for Silicon Valley … the country's losing a lot by not having a good grasp of technology … If you don't have good policies, it's gonna be tough to have a robust economy. Without a robust economy, it's going to be really hard for a lot of those that are disadvantaged. So it's important that we remain at the forefront, that we have tech-forward policies, that we are supportive of entrepreneurs.

message to youth

I hope that along the path of life that you will always have a devotion to our democracy, because our democracy needs you … and make time in your lives to always give back to your community. If we have strong communities, we have a strong democracy. It's important to get involved … If you look, the average age of people in politics is … 30 years more than the average age of the private sector. The average age in Congress is ... like 66 to 69 years old. The retirement age is 65. And so it is so important that the youth get involved.

for congress

ajwang rading peter ohtaki rishi kumar

The first night that I was actually born … we actually stayed in a shelter … Living in a car gives you a unique perspective as to how people ... are suffering ... I know firsthand what it takes to actually have to survive ... besides all that I had some unique privileges to actually write legislation in Congress. I grew up here … [and went] to Woodside High School … [I] worked in New York in finance for several years which has given me a lot of understanding both about government budgets and ... the deficit and how that's causing inflation ... I served two … rotations as mayor [of Menlo Park] in 2013 and 2018.

You need a generational shift in terms of treating this [climate change] as an emergency. And it's incumbent upon us as younger folks to understand that this is the greatest challenge we face ... I don't get why Democrats or Republicans are still trying to act like we can talk about carbon taxes as though it's 2002 ... And these are issues that we need to fight upon. Now. And we need big, big reimagination and the [Green] New Deal to try and tackle those issues. The problem is that big government ... has a lot of unintended consequences. And a good example is housing legislation ... that has now basically banned single-family zoning across California … cities all try very hard to maintain the character of our neighborhoods … and the state mandates can triple, quadruple the number of units that can be built in these neighborhoods … but there's no funding for the additional classrooms that are going to be required. Silicon Valley has never sent a tech-savvy representative ... As a tech executive who works in ... Analytics and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning vertical, my plan is to grow our innovation economy ... [and] bridge income inequality, while ensuring that tech does not trample upon people’s rights.

I will not sell out. On the city council, I rejected land-developer campaign money. In Congress, I will continue to reject all Corporate PAC money, and will never sell out to the special interests ... We need to bring fresh voices into our government. Our elected leaders stay too long, and do very little. That's why I have been an advocate for term limits for all elected positions ... [they] will bring new energy, new leadership, and alleviate corruption.

No one will fix this problem if it's not you. And throughout history, we have seen that it has always been the energy, the organization, the power of young people ... to rise to the greatest moment and challenge of that generation ... right now it's climate change. Every election is important, and this midterm election is no less important ... Even if ... you can't vote, helping ... your parents, your families, ... friends, helping candidates or helping folks understand the issues ... will help to encourage a better turnout in this election. America has a crisis with teenagers who are vulnerable to social media algorithms and facing depression ... Instagram has been in the news ... but nothing has been done ... We need tech-savvy energetic elected leaders who will be able to truly address the angst of the youth.