What they say they stand for
Their own words. Claims, not verified facts.
- Affordable housing.
- Climate resilience, including accelerating clean energy investment and wildfire prevention funding.
- Public safety.
- Barring public officials, including the president, from promoting stocks and cryptocurrency ventures they stand to profit from; and restricting congressional stock trading.
- Pro-innovation technology and artificial intelligence policy.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
- U.S. Representative for the 16th District since January 2025; first term.
- Mayor of San Jose, 2015 to 2023, and a San Jose city councilmember and prosecutor before that.
- Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- Author of legislation to bar public officials from promoting securities and cryptocurrency they stand to benefit from.
- Has authored bills to accelerate clean energy investment and expand wildfire prevention support.
- Led the June 2, 2026 primary field.
Arguments in favor
A former federal prosecutor, he legislates against political self-dealing: he introduced a bill to bar elected and other federal officials from issuing digital assets and securities — "let's make corruption criminal again" — and pressed the SEC and CFTC over large crude oil and S&P 500 futures trades placed just before the president announced action in Iran.
— Office of Rep. Sam Liccardo, and CNBC's report on the trades letter
He has put himself at the centre of the national argument over who should regulate artificial intelligence, a question that matters more in this district than almost anywhere.
— Local News Matters
Arguments against
San Jose's firefighters and police union say his account of his mayoralty is the opposite of the truth: the department is down 500 officers and he laid off 49 firefighters, and state Assemblymember Ash Kalra blames him for hundreds of officers leaving over slashed pensions.
— San Jose firefighters, the police union and Assemblymember Ash Kalra, reported by NBC Bay Area
A judge ruled that he and the city violated the California Public Records Act by failing to search and release records from his private email account as mayor — a failure that cost taxpayers $500,000.
— Santa Clara County Superior Court ruling, reported by San José Spotlight and the First Amendment Coalition
What we couldn’t verify
- Liccardo's response to the Public Records Act ruling was not established from the sources found.
- A Federal Election Commission complaint alleging his campaign coordinated a dark-money recount effort was filed by Max Zarzana in the 2024 cycle; its disposition was not established from the sources found and it is not presented as an argument here.
- The district's boundaries changed under Proposition 50, approved in November 2025; how that changes his position was not established from the sources found.