New York: A prominent Indian-American lawyer, campaigning for a Congressional seat in the heart of the Silicon Valley, appears to be giving a tough fight to his contenders with support growing for his vision of strengthening the economy and fostering innovation. With US mid-term elections just three weeks away, new poll numbers suggest that Ro Khanna is closing the gaps with his contenders and is currently tied with Representative Mike Honda of San Jose at 38 per cent, Khanna's campaign pollster found in a survey of 400 likely voters. Of those polled 24 per cent were undecided. "These numbers are a clear sign that the more voters hear Ro's vision for strengthening our economy, fostering innovation, and ensuring our children are prepared for the jobs of the future, the more likely they are to vote for new leadership this November," Khanna's campaign manager Leah Cowan said in a report in the San Jose Mercury News.
The new numbers are a big turnaround from the 20-point lead that Honda held in June's primary vote. Khanna, 37, has been mounting an "aggressive campaign" for the seat from the 17th Congressional District in the San Francisco Bay area, challenging and significantly outraising Honda, 72, who was first elected to Congress in 2000 and has the support of the rest of the Democratic establishment. Khanna has received the backing of many of Silicon Valley's top investors and executives, including Yahoo's chief executive Marissa Mayer, Randi Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Zuckerberg Media and the sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen and venture capitalist John Doerr. Silicon Valley venture capitalist and contributor to Khanna's campaign Karl Mehta said Honda used the power of his office to bolster his re-election bid. Mehta in 2012 contributed USD 17,500 to President Obama's campaign and USD 7,500 to the Democratic National Committee, which could have led to his being flagged as a potential donor. Mehta gave USD 2,600 to Khanna's campaign last year, after his invitations to the Honda events.
