Candidates vying for Bay Area congressional seat make their case

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OAKLAND, Calif. - The congressional race for retiring Rep. Anna Eshoo's seat in the South Bay and Peninsula is heating up ahead of next month's primary. This week on The Four, KTVU hosted three candidates to learn more about their plans. 

See their full interviews below.

Eshooo, a Democrat, is retiring after more than 30 years in congress. The eleven candidates vying for Eshoo's seat include familiar faces from around the Bay Area such as former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Assemblymember Evan Low and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian. 

Eshoo's district covers part of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. The top two candidates in the March 5 primary will advance to the General Election this coming November 5. 

Sam Liccardo

Former San Jose Mayor Liccardo says that his experience as the leader of a city with nearly a million people will inform the work he hopes to do in congress. 

"Whenever I brought issues like homelessness, the high cost of housing, and high cost of living that so many people are dealing with here in our community… I'd hear from congress, they'd be telling me, 'Oh those are just "local issues" those aren't national issues, those aren't federal concerns. Just, you know, keep working on it back home," Liccardo said. "We need a congress that is focused on these issues because they are of national concern."

Evan Low 

Current Assembly Member and former Mayor of Campbell Evan Low has a historic record here in the Bay Area. At the time of his appointment to mayor, he was the youngest Asian man and openly gay mayor in the country. Low shared the history of how he was outed by a newspaper while running for city council in Campbell in 2009. 

"We are fortunate to live in a strength of diversity in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the most highly-concentrated communities of openly-LGBTQ families. And yet, at the same time, we see over 500 pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislative proposals being introduced across this country, and that is why we must stand up and fight against these different issues," Low said. Low says one way to combat the rise of anti-LEGBTQ rhetoric is to send more gay people to congress. 

Joe Simitian 

Former State Senator and current Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian says his years of service at the city and state level have prepared him well for Eshoo's seat. Eshoo agrees, as she has endorsed him to take her place after retiring. 

"I think things in Washington right now are daunting, I think things in Washington are even a little bit scary for some. And I think someone who can step in and be effective on day one is what the times call for," Simitian said. "I'm not at all naive about how great that challenge is, but I think I am particularly well suited. I have represented 14 of the 15 cities that are in the 16th Congressional District… I know these folks, they know me. I know their needs, their wants, their wishes, and I'm looking forward to representing them."