Rep. Ro Khanna and his Republican challenger, Ritesh Tandon, met Wednesday evening in a roughly 50-minute virtual debate for California's 17th Congressional District, the Silicon Valley seat Khanna has held since 2017. The forum was streamed on Tandon's campaign YouTube channel, according to an IANS report published by India New England News. On the ballot, Khanna is listed as United States Congressmember and Tandon as CEO/Entrepreneur/Researcher.

Immigration

The sharpest split was on immigration enforcement. "I would abolish ICE," Khanna said, calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement "a rogue agency" that should be replaced by "an agency like the INS was, which is under the Justice Department, humane, focusing on going after sex traffickers, criminals." He also said the country should be "finding pathways of green cards for people who are studying here and starting businesses here."

Tandon, who immigrated from India, said: "I came here at the age of 28. I followed all the rules and waited my turn." He said more than 1.2 million people are stuck in the green card backlog and that "the line has only grown longer" during Khanna's time in Congress. His fix would "end the per country cap" on employment green cards and recapture unused green cards from past years. He also called for curbing H-1B visa abuse, backed voter ID and said illegal border crossing should be a felony.

Taxes and the economy

Khanna defended a proposed 5% tax on billionaires, asking "why is this economy only working for a few billionaires?" Tandon said it "taxes the paper wealth, not the income" and argued people and companies are leaving California. Khanna answered that "no one thinks the AI revolution is happening in Austin or Miami. It's happening in Silicon Valley."

The numbers behind the race

  • June primary: Khanna 62.3% (83,051 votes), Tandon 14.8% (19,793), according to Ballotpedia. Four other candidates split the rest, including Republican Jennie Ha Phan at 10.7%.
  • Money: In his closing, Tandon said, "I raised only 58,000 and you have $17 million in your account."
  • Pledges: Tandon said he would serve no more than three terms and backed a stock-trading ban for members of Congress that covers family trusts.

The debate opened on a friendly note. Khanna said he appreciated "the civil way he has conducted himself in the past few years," and closed with: "Ultimately, we're all Americans, and we have to come together."

How to vote

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls and vote centers close at 8 p.m., and mailed ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and arrive within seven days. You can check your registration and ballot status at sos.ca.gov/elections. California lets you register and vote the same day at a vote center.

More races and measures: our 2026 election hub.