Sam Liccardo

Sam Liccardo Bio

Samuel Theodore Liccardo (born April 16, 1970) is an American attorney and politician who serves as the U.S. Representative for California’s 16th congressional district. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 65th mayor of San Jose, California, from 2015 to 2023. Before entering elected office, he built his career as a prosecutor in the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office and later represented District 3 on the San Jose City Council.

Early Life and Background

Sam Liccardo was one of five children of Salvador and Laura (née Aceves) Liccardo. He was named for his paternal grandfather, who owned and operated a neighborhood grocery store in downtown San Jose called the Notre Dame Market. Liccardo is of Sicilian and Irish descent, and also of Mexican Californio ancestry, tracing his ancestors to the early Californio inhabitants of the Bay Area and to more recent Mexican immigrants who worked in the Almaden mines.

Liccardo grew up in Saratoga, California, and graduated from Bellarmine College Preparatory in 1987. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in government from Georgetown University, graduating magna cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He later completed a Juris Doctor at Harvard Law School and a Master of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, building the academic foundation that supported his later work in public office.

Path to US Politics

Before seeking elected office, Liccardo served as a criminal prosecutor in the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office, gaining firsthand experience with the region’s justice system. In 2006, he ran for San Jose’s District 3 Council seat and finished first in an eight-candidate June primary with 43 percent of the vote. He then won the November runoff with 61.3 percent, beginning a tenure on the city council that would last until his 2014 mayoral campaign.

On the council, Liccardo championed an inclusionary zoning ordinance in 2008 that required developers to either set aside 15 percent of new units as affordable or pay fees to finance affordable housing elsewhere. The statewide homebuilding industry sued over the ordinance, and implementation was delayed until the California Supreme Court ultimately sided with the City of San Jose in 2015. In June 2010, he won his reelection to the City Council with 80.16 percent of the primary vote, demonstrating broad constituent support for his approach.

Sam Liccardo Career

Early Career (2006–2014)

Liccardo’s early political career was defined by his work on the San Jose City Council, where he represented District 3 from 2006 to 2014. He pushed for more affordable housing and higher-density development in the downtown area, including the construction of the 23-story One South Market high rise. He also served on regional transportation bodies, including the Valley Transportation Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, building a reputation as a reformer focused on fiscal discipline and infrastructure.

As councilman, Liccardo became a leading voice for pension reform, picking up the work begun by outgoing Mayor Chuck Reed. These years laid the groundwork for his later mayoral agenda, positioning him as a Democrat willing to take on employee unions and entrenched spending patterns in pursuit of long-term budget stability.

2014 Mayoral Election Breakthrough (2014–2018)

In 2014, Liccardo ran for Mayor of San Jose to succeed termed-out Mayor Chuck Reed. He placed second to County Supervisor Dave Cortese in a five-candidate June primary with 25.7 percent of the vote. He then placed first in the November runoff with 50.8 percent, winning a contentious race shaped by the city’s chronic budgetary challenges and his support for the pension reforms championed by Mayor Reed.

Once in office, Liccardo moved quickly on fiscal issues, helping guide negotiations with all 11 of the city’s employee unions on an agreement that closed the retiree healthcare plan to new employees, a change projected to save the city $3 billion in retirement costs over three decades. In 2016, voters approved the agreement by passing Measure F with more than 61 percent of the vote, giving Liccardo an early signature win.

Liccardo also took on housing, transit, and innovation. He led efforts to reduce fees on granny units and downtown high-rises, partnered on the $6.3 billion VTA Measure B in 2016 to fund the extension of BART to downtown San Jose, and unveiled a Smart City Vision in March 2016 that led to the creation of the Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation. These efforts earned him broad name recognition ahead of his 2018 reelection bid.

Reelection and San Jose Mayor Era (2018–2023)

Liccardo faced no major challengers in his 2018 reelection bid, with the Mercury News reporting ahead of the June 2018 primary that he was virtually guaranteed to win. He was elected to a second term on June 5, 2018, winning support of 76 percent of the voters. His second term built on the first with deeper investments in affordable housing, climate policy, and digital inclusion across the city.

During this era, Liccardo led the successful 2020 Measure E, a supplemental transfer tax on properties sold for $2 million or more that was projected to generate up to $70 million annually for affordable housing and homeless response. He also launched the $24 million San José Digital Inclusion Fund in 2019, championed San Jose Clean Energy as one of the largest community choice energy programs in the country, and led the council in passing a first-in-the-nation gun owner responsibility ordinance in 2022 that required annual fees and liability insurance.

U.S. House of Representatives Era (2023–Present)

In December 2023, Liccardo announced his intention to run for California’s 16th congressional district, which was held by retiring incumbent Anna Eshoo. He advanced to the general election a week after finishing first in the March 2024 primary, ultimately defeating Evan Low in a race shaped by a contested recount. He was sworn in to the 119th Congress on January 3, 2025, beginning his service in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Notable Events and Milestones

Among the most significant events of Liccardo’s career was the 2017 Coyote Creek flood, which displaced 14,000 people and led Liccardo and other city officials to publicly accept responsibility for failures to warn residents. In May 2021, a mass shooting at a San Jose transit rail yard left ten transit workers dead and prompted Liccardo to push for stricter local gun laws, including ordinances targeting straw purchasers and ghost guns. In January 2019, Liccardo was severely injured in a bicycle accident, suffering a broken sternum and vertebrae that required hospitalization at Regional Medical Center.

Sam Liccardo Career Wins

Sam Liccardo’s career has been defined by a series of high-profile electoral and policy victories at the local, regional, and now federal level. From his 2006 city council win to his congressional victory in 2024, he has built a record of competitive campaigns and ballot measure successes that have shaped San Jose and the broader Bay Area.

San Jose Mayoral Highlights

Liccardo won his first race for mayor in November 2014 with 50.8 percent of the vote in a hard-fought runoff against Dave Cortese. He was reelected in 2018 with 75.8 percent of the vote, an unusually wide margin that reflected his standing with San Jose voters after a productive first term. He served as the 65th mayor of San Jose from 2015 to 2023, two full terms.

Other Wins and Achievements

Beyond his mayoral victories, Liccardo’s signature ballot measure successes include the 2016 passage of Measure F on pension reform with more than 61 percent of the vote, the 2018 passage of Measure T on open space preservation, the 2020 passage of Measure E on affordable housing funding, and the 2018 defeat of Measure B, a developer-led initiative he led the opposition to. In 2024, he won election to the U.S. House of Representatives for California’s 16th congressional district.

Sam Liccardo Family

Family Background and Political Lineage

Sam Liccardo was raised in a large family in Saratoga, California, as one of five children of Salvador and Laura (née Aceves) Liccardo. He is of Sicilian, Irish, and Mexican Californio descent, with family ties to early Bay Area settlers and to more recent Mexican immigrants who worked in the Almaden mines. His paternal grandfather owned and operated the Notre Dame Market, a neighborhood grocery store in downtown San Jose that gave the family deep roots in the city Liccardo would later lead.

Personal Life

Liccardo married Jessica Garcia-Kohl in 2013. He is Roman Catholic. In January 2019, he was severely injured in a bicycle accident, suffering a broken sternum and vertebrae that required admission to Regional Medical Center. He also made a brief appearance in Episode 1 of Season 6 of the HBO series Silicon Valley.