Surreal Ending to the #CA17 Race

Mike Honda won his bid for reelection to represent Silicon Valley, but it did not happen without a battle for the soul of the Democratic party. Democracy for America (DFA) and the Democratic party stood by Honda, supporting him in GOTV, social media, and endorsements. Honda, true to his character, ran a positive campaign on his progressive record and achievements until the last two weeks when he slammed Khanna in a revealing and compelling TV commercial. His opponent had no such record to run on, and instead of remaining true to his earlier stated, more liberal ideology, ran a campaign that garnered the support of Republicans and Super Pac money. His supporters fiercely defended him as his campaign carried out an ageist attack on Mike Honda characterizing him as worn out, incompetent and tired.

Honda Campaign staff and supporters had been told not to engage in the negativity on twitter and in the comment threads of the local newspapers. Under attack on social media and with every local editorial board against him, there was no push back to refute the negative and distorted commentary. Except for Josh Richman of the San Jose Mercury News who became a trusted source, reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, and San Jose Metro wrote biased articles at the expense of accuracy and journalistic integrity in favor of Ro Khanna. Silicon Valley Kos was in a unique position to push back and bring truth to CA17, and it gave a needed morale boost as Honda supporters began fighting back. Join me below the Silicon Valley widget to find out how a working class family found their power in a hostile and uncertain political landscape.