SILICON VALLEY, Calif. (KGO) — The brewing political fight over a proposed billionaires’ tax is spilling into a South Bay congressional race, as tech entrepreneur Ethan Agarwal launches a Democratic primary challenge against Rep. Ro Khanna.
Agarwal, 40, said he is running because he believes Khanna has become too focused on national politics at the expense of the 17th Congressional District, which Khanna has represented since 2017.
Positioning himself as a moderate alternative to the progressive incumbent, Agarwal said Democrats should return to what he described as the party’s traditional focus on economic growth.
“We need to be for something as opposed to just being anti-Trump all the time,” he said.
Agarwal has also criticized Khanna’s support for a potential state ballot measure to tax billionaires’ assets and for his own federal wealth tax proposal in partnership with Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“There is absolutely ways that we should be taxing billionaires more. There should be more that we can take to give to people that are needy. But a wealth tax, an asset seizure tax is not the way to do that,” Agarwal said.
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Agarwal accused Khanna of inconsistency on stock trading – dubbing him “Trader Ro,” – in reference to the congressman’s volume of stock trades.
“He, by the way, introduced a stock trading ban, which hasn’t been passed yet. But if he believes in it, then he should stop trading himself,” Agarwal said. “In my case, I will be divesting my entire portfolio whether the legislation passes or not.”
ABC7’s data journalism team found Khanna’s stock trading volume more than doubled after he entered Congress, from $35 million in 2017 to $87 million in 2025. The congressman has defended those trades, telling The New York Times those assets are traded by a trust for his wife and children.
Agarwal said he plans to run “a strong grassroots campaign” and will not accept corporate PAC money.
A lifelong Democrat, he said he supports its “traditional” liberal social ideals, but believes the party has strayed far from those guiding principles.
“The Democratic Party’s responsibility is to take care of those who have the least among us,” he said. “We’ve never been the party to criticize growth or to criticize business or to criticize wealth creation. We passed NAFTA. I mean, that’s the history of the success of the Democratic Party, and that’s the Democratic Party that I align with.”
Some tech leaders have already lined up behind him. In a social media post, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan wrote that Khanna has “abandoned his responsibility to his district. I’m 100% confident that Ethan is the right man to replace Ro.”
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In an endorsement of Agarwal, DoorDash co-founder Andy Fang wrote on X, “I’m confident he’ll represent our community’s best interests well. Unlike Ro Khanna, who cares more about ideas that sound nice for a Presidential campaign vs. practical solutions.”
“I think this certainly will be the strongest challenge that Ro Khanna has faced so far,” said Melinda Jackson, a political science professor at San Jose State University. “But, certainly, Ro Khanna has been pretty popular throughout his service in Congress so far.”
Jackson and other political observers note the odds favor the incumbent.
“So if folks in Silicon Valley are concerned about the billionaire tax, they might be upset that their congressman is supporting it,” said Melissa Michelson, a political scientist at Menlo College. “But the likelihood that they’re going to get an incumbent – who’s well-liked, who has a strong base of support in the Valley – out of office in this primary, the politics just say that that’s not very likely.”
A spokesperson for Khanna said, “Ro has always welcomed competition and looks forward to a campaign based on ideas and what is best for the 17th district.”
Until recently, Agarwal had been running for California governor, a campaign he launched in August but one that gained little traction in a crowded field. He told ABC7 the decision came down to where he believed he could make a broader impact, and felt comfortable enough with the options of candidates currently running for governor.
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