WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Ro Khanna’s message throughout his congressional campaign rang true to his central theme — jobs. Now a Representative-elect, taking over for the seven-term veteran Rep. Mike Honda he ousted, Khanna hopes to relay that message from California’s 17th Congressional District to Washington D.C.
The 40-year-old intellectual property attorney previously served as deputy secretary of commerce in the Obama administration, and ran as the candidate best equipped to guide Silicon Valley through the complexities of professional politics. Among his donors were multiple tech companies from across the valley.
Khanna’s district, which spans throughout Sunnyvale, Fremont, Cupertino and the northernmost parts of San Jose, includes the headquarters of several of the tech world’s most elite names — Apple, Google, Yahoo, LinkedIn and Tesla. And according to the U.S. Census, more than half of the residents of the California 17th are of Asian American.
“It’s an extraordinary time to serve and an extraordinary responsibility,” Khanna said in an interview with NBC News. “I particularly represent the only Asian majority district in the continental United States, and it’s the heart of Silicon Valley.”
Khanna’s November victory came on his second try for the seat. Honda, his opponent, previously served as chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Khanna lost his first election against Honda by five percentage points — this year, he won by 20. His campaign additionally garnered support and contributions from Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, Wendy Schmidt, the wife of Google’s Eric Schmidt; and PayPal founder Peter Thiel — who was thrust into the national spotlight for endorsing president-elect Donald Trump during the Republican National Convention — according to Federal Election Commission filings.
“I was criticized during the campaign for having supporters on both sides. But I think it’s going to be a big advantage,” Khanna said. “It will help me work across the aisle when there are issues on the economy to get something done. We all know we have to care about how we’re going to create new jobs in this country and prepare people for those jobs. And on those type of issues, those aren’t Republican or Democratic issues.”
His arrival on Capitol Hill comes as civil rights concerns are running high because of the anti-Muslim rhetoric President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign was built upon, specifically because of his campaign promises of immigration reform and a Muslim registry list. At a Dec. 4 town hall meeting with his constituents in San Jose, some of the 250 people in attendance asked how he would deal with the idea of a Muslim registry.
“I will oppose a Muslim registry with every fiber of my being. That is not the American way of conducting affairs and violates every principle we stand for,” Khanna said. “And it’s going to be increasingly important at this time in history to make the case that our very founding principles mean that every person should be judged on their merits not based on their race, religion or their last name.”
Information from NBC News contributed to this report.
