Sam T. Liccardo

DemocratU.S. Representative, CA-16

Age	56 (b. 1970-04-16)
Gender	Male
In office since	2025-01-03 (~1 yrs)
Race / ethnicity	Sicilian (Italian), Irish, and Mexican Californio descent
Education	A.B. in Government (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), Georgetown University, 1991; M.P.P., Harvard Kennedy School, 1996; J.D., Harvard Law School, 1996
Prior occupation	Attorney; Assistant U.S. Attorney (San Diego, 1998–2000); Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney (2001–2006)
Military service	No
Birthplace	Saratoga, California
Marital status	married — Jessica García-Kohl
Residence	Saratoga, California

Wikipedia · Ballotpedia · OpenSecrets · Official site

Pending research: religion · languages · children · notable relatives · openly lgbtq.

Career & politics

First elected	2006
Previous offices	San Jose City Council, District 3 (2007–2015) · Mayor of San Jose, California (2015–2023)
Committees	House Committee on Financial Services · Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence · Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions
Caucuses	New Democrat Coalition · Congressional Hispanic Caucus · Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC)
Leadership	Chair, New Democrat Coalition Innovation & Technology Working Group
Ideology	Centrist Democrat; member of the New Democrat Coalition; self-described pragmatist and coalition-builder; pro-innovation on AI and technology policy
Signature legislation	BUILD Housing Act (bipartisan housing reform, passed House) · Unlocking Housing Supply Through Streamlined and Modernized Reviews Act (passed House) · UNLOCK Act (affordable housing federal funding reform) · SAFER Act (anti-escheatment for securities and digital assets, with Rep. Lawler) · Keep Innovators in America Act (KIAA) – codifying Optional Practical Training (OPT) program

Financial

Net worth: estimate

No holdings recorded yet (from official Financial Disclosure filings).

Top donors: Michael Bloomberg · John Sobrato (developer/philanthropist) · Hewlett Packard Enterprise PAC ($5,000) · Citigroup ($1,000 (2025 re-election))

Top industries: Finance, Insurance & Real Estate (57% of PAC contributions in early 2025) · Technology · Real Estate

Scandals & crimes ledger

dismissed — Common Good Silicon Valley PAC Fundraising Ethics Complaint (San Jose Board of Fair Campaign and Political Practices)

campaign-finance · 2021-10 · In May 2022, Santa Clara County Democratic Party volunteer Judy Pipkin filed a formal complaint with San Jose's Board of Fair Campaign and Political Practices alleging then-Mayor Sam Liccardo violated state and local campaign rules by opening and personally fundraising for a political action committee, Common Good Silicon Valley, while serving as a sitting elected official. The complaint alleged the PAC (opened in October 2021, before the official December 9, 2021 fundraising period) raised roughly $500,000-$550,000, with 48 of 49 contributions exceeding San Jose's local per-candidate contribution caps, and that Liccardo failed to timely disclose the contributions as required. The PAC spent about $298,000-$730,000 supporting city council and mayoral candidates, primarily Matt Mahan's mayoral bid. An outside law firm retained by the board investigated the allegations. In September 2022 the five-member citizen board voted unanimously to dismiss the complaint, finding three of the four claims lacked evidentiary support and did not constitute violations of the city's ethics and open-government rules; on the disclosure claim, investigators found reports were not timely posted to the city's website but concluded Liccardo had otherwise appropriately complied. Liccardo had stepped away from managing the PAC in March 2022. · Complaint dismissed by unanimous board vote; no violation found (though investigators noted late posting of some disclosure reports).

A citizen ethics board formally investigated and then dismissed a 2022 complaint alleging Liccardo improperly formed and personally fundraised for a PAC (Common Good Silicon Valley) that exceeded local contribution limits and evaded disclosure rules while he was a sitting San Jose city officeholder; no violation was sustained.

Sources: San José Spotlight · San José Spotlight

adjudicated — California Public Records Act Violation — San José Spotlight v. City of San Jose

ethics-violation · 2022-02-03 · Santa Clara County Superior Court, Judge Thomas Kuhnle · Court ruled that Liccardo and the City of San Jose violated the California Public Records Act (CPRA) by failing to adequately search Liccardo's personal email and text accounts for public records and by being too vague in submitted declarations. The city was ordered to release previously withheld records and paid approximately $500,000 in attorney fees to prevailing plaintiffs San José Spotlight and the First Amendment Coalition.

San José Spotlight and the First Amendment Coalition sued Liccardo and the City of San Jose in February 2022, alleging he used personal email and text accounts to conduct official city business and directed a constituent to email him at a private address while stating he would delete the message from his government account. In August 2023, Judge Kuhnle found both Liccardo and the city violated the CPRA, ordering disclosure of hundreds of previously withheld records. The city subsequently paid $500,000 in attorney fees to the prevailing parties.

Sources: San José Spotlight · First Amendment Coalition · San José Spotlight · KRON4