Bay Area House Candidates Sam Liccardo, Evan Low Reschedule Debate for Oct. 11

The South Bay’s most anticipated political event of the year is on — again.

Congressional hopefuls Evan Low and Sam Liccardo agreed late Thursday to debate on Oct. 11, one day after Liccardo withdrew from Wednesday’s debate, citing laryngitis.

The rescheduled debate, hosted by KQED, NBC Bay Area and Telemundo 48, comes amid an escalating war of words between the campaigns. The two Democrats are vying for a coveted Bay Area House seat, currently held by outgoing Rep. Anna Eshoo. The winner will hold a safe Democratic seat that stretches from Pacifica to Los Gatos and will be an essential voice on issues important to Silicon Valley in Congress.

Liccardo, the former mayor of San José, finished first in the March primary. He led Low, a state Assemblymember, in a late September poll from USC, Cal State Long Beach and Cal Poly Pomona. Low advanced to the general election after a controversial recount, funded by Liccardo supporters, over Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian.

In recent days, Low and his allies have increased their attacks on Liccardo, aiming for Liccardo’s support for public employee pension reform and the decline in police staffing that occurred while Liccardo was on the San José City Council. Liccardo has touted the city’s fiscal recovery and increased police staffing during his two terms as mayor, from 2015-2023.

“Sam Liccardo has been hiding ever since San José firefighters and police officers condemned him for attacking first responders and harming public safety,” Lindsey Cobia, Low’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “This debate will be the first chance for Sam to come clean to voters about his anti-police and firefighter record.”

Liccardo’s camp has trumpeted a campaign finance complaint filed by a voting rights group against Low, alleging he improperly used money raised to run for re-election to the Legislature to instead boost his Congressional campaign. Low’s campaign has called the complaint meritless.

Liccardo’s decision to pull out from Wednesday’s debate brought a new round of broadsides from Low’s campaign. Cobia called the move “extremely suspicious,” and Low jabbed Liccardo for “making a speedy recovery” in a social media post that included a screenshot with information about a Saturday campaign event.

Liccardo’s campaign said he would not be speaking and would find other ways to communicate with attendees.

“We did not cancel. We moved the debate one week because Sam lost his voice,” Liccardo spokesperson Gil Rubinstein said. “Evan Low is trying to distract you from recent reporting that he is illegally spending $1.6 million from an account funded by corporations that could never legally contribute to a federal congressional race.”

The Liccardo campaign provided KQED with a copy of his medical records that appeared to show he was prescribed a corticosteroid medication to treat laryngitis and was recommended five to seven days of voice rest by a doctor.

On Wednesday, Liccardo posted on X that he was “following doctors’ orders and will not be doing any public speaking until my voice is better.”

“In the meantime, we’re finding innovative ways of communicating with residents at meet-and-greets through the use of technology,” he wrote.

The one-hour debate will be broadcast live on NBC Bay Area and KQED Public Radio at 7 p.m.