A Republican has entered the race to unseat Rep. Mike Honda, changing the dynamic of the second showdown between Honda and fellow Democrat Ro Khanna.
Ron Cohen, 56, a Fremont accountant, filed papers with the Federal Election Commission this month to form a campaign committee for what will be his first bid for public office. In a brief interview Thursday, Cohen said he’s not yet ready to share his entire platform but described himself as a fiscal and social conservative who wants to provide a counterpoint to Honda, D-San Jose, and Khanna.
Cohen said he has never sought public office before because he was too busy building his CPA practice; he’s an international tax partner at a firm in Fremont. But having become a grandfather recently, he’s grown more concerned with federal spending, Cohen said.
“Look into the eyes of your children and grandchildren — we will leave them tied to an anchor of debt,” he said. “The federal government is starting to look like a legal Ponzi scheme.”
Honda welcomes Cohen into the race, campaign manager Michael Beckendorf said.
“Mike has always focused on ensuring that hardworking families aren’t economically left behind, and he looks forward to a spirited dialogue about the issues facing Silicon Valley and our nation,” Beckendorf said.
Given that only one bill authored by Honda has ever become law, and given the pending House Ethics Committee investigation of whether his office and campaign inappropriately shared resources, “it’s not surprising Mike Honda is drawing challengers from all corners,” said Khanna campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan. Voters want someone both with progressive values and the ability to work across the aisle to improve education and strengthen the middle class, he said, and Khanna “is the only candidate in the race to offer that kind of leadership.”
But as another alternative to the incumbent, and one who’ll siphon away voters who probably never would’ve voted for Honda anyway, Cohen’s entry changes the race’s calculus.
The 17th District — a central swath of Silicon Valley and the first Asian-American majority district outside Hawaii — is 43 percent Democrat, 19 percent Republican and 33 percent nonpartisan. Republican Vanila Singh got 17 percent of the vote in last June’s primary, failing to make the “top two” cut and leaving Khanna to challenge Honda in November. Khanna lost by 3.6 percentage points.
“I checked into it with the Republican Party and nobody else seems to be running — it’s a tough district for Republicans, I realize,” Cohen said.
Still, Singh’s presence affected 2014’s race. Khanna spent big before the primary, even airing television ads, in trying to ensure Singh didn’t peel away too many “anyone but Honda” votes. That left Khanna’s campaign practically broke in the general election campaign’s final weeks, though a super PAC pitched in.
Once again this year, any Republican votes going to Cohen are more likely to come out of Khanna’s pocket than Honda’s. But because this is Khanna’s second run, he already has far better name recognition and funding than Cohen can likely muster.
Josh Richman covers politics. Follow him at Twitter.com/Josh_Richman. Read the Political Blotter at IBAbuzz.com/politics.
