Democrat · California's 17th District · 2026
Ro Khanna
Khanna grew up in Pennsylvania with Indian immigrant parents: a chemical engineer father and a mother who taught school.
Biography
Ro Khanna remembers a father who left for his engineering job before dawn so he could be home for dinner, and a mother helping with homework at the kitchen table.1 The Philadelphia native's parents immigrated from India, and his grandfather participated in India's independence movement.2 He and his wife Ritu live in Fremont with their two children.2
Khanna studied economics at the University of Chicago and law at Yale.2 Before Congress, he practiced technology law and taught economics at Stanford.1 He also served as a deputy assistant commerce secretary in the Obama administration.3 His books address American manufacturing and how communities can participate in the digital economy.3
Now in his fifth House term, Khanna serves on Armed Services.3 He leads its Democratic work on the cyber and emerging technology subcommittee.2 He helped write the Endless Frontier Act, a precursor to the CHIPS and Science law's research and technology provisions.2 His oversight work has included hearings on fossil fuel companies, aviation fuel and wildfire preparation.2
Khanna advocates Medicare for All, affordable childcare, free public college and trade school, and greater investment in American manufacturing.1 He supports congressional stock trading restrictions and a foreign policy emphasizing diplomacy and military restraint.12 Republican Ritesh Tandon is his November challenger.4
Record and controversies
2016 donor database lawsuit
In 2016, Mike Honda's campaign sued over allegations that Khanna's campaign manager accessed its confidential donor information.5 KQED reported that the manager acknowledged viewing emails but denied downloading them, and resigned after the suit was filed; Khanna denied knowing of a database breach.5 A January 31, 2017 court order recorded notice that the action had fully settled and set a process for filing a dismissal.6 The underlying settlement terms were not verified in this review.
Campaign committee settlement
In 2021, Khanna's campaign committee agreed to a $16,000 FEC penalty over using public contribution histories for fundraising through RevUp software.7 It settled without admitting liability and agreed not to contest the FEC's finding.7 The committee said it relied on vendor assurances that the software was lawful.7 The FEC's case index lists the separate personal matter against Khanna as dismissed.8