Sam Liccardo

Sam Liccardo represents California's 16th Congressional District covering Silicon Valley, including San Jose, Palo Alto, and Mountain View. The first Latino to represent Silicon Valley in Congress and the first Latino to represent Northern California in over 120 years, Liccardo served as Mayor of San Jose from 2015 to 2023. He traces his Mexican heritage through his maternal ancestors: Ramon Aceves arrived from Michoacan around 1846 and worked in the New Almaden mercury mines, while ancestor Maria Clara Ortega lived in Gilroy. His father Salvador Liccardo was a civil rights attorney who represented farmworkers and defended Chicano Movement protesters in the 1970s.

Liccardo is one of five children of Salvador and Laura (nee Aceves) Liccardo. His father worked as an attorney representing farmworkers injured in accidents and bailing Chicano Movement protesters out of jail in the 1970s. His Mexican Californio ancestry traces to the early Californio inhabitants of the Bay Area, including Ramon Aceves who immigrated from Michoacan around 1846 and worked in the New Almaden mines, and Maria Clara Ortega of Gilroy. His father's legal work brought civil rights activists including Dolores Huerta to their family home in Saratoga. Married to Jessica Garcia-Kohl, a nonprofit leader and Executive Director of the Westly Foundation who focuses on child health, education, and leadership development in underserved communities. They reside in Saratoga.