The candidate from Facebook: Silicon Valley’s march on Washington

A little more than a year away from an election that will decide which of two Democrats will represent California’s 17th Congressional District, Ro Khanna lags far behind the incumbent, Mike Honda, in the polls. But thanks to his well-heeled friends and supporters in the tech community, Khanna has far out-raised the veteran lawmaker.

His treasure chest is big enough to afford hiring a fleet of top campaign operatives from Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. Only 36 years old, the intellectual property lawyer has already served a stint in Obama’s Commerce Department and written a book about how to boost manufacturing in the United States. He’s someone to take seriously. The 17th includes the heart of Silicon Valley.