Path to Senate runs through Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley could be a kingmaker in California’s 2016 Senate race.

Sen. Barbara Boxer’s (D-CA) decision not to seek reelection has created the first open Senate seat in the state since Mark Zuckerberg and many of his peers were in grade school. To make sure their interests are taken care of in Washington, the well-heeled tech sector is sure to be on the front lines of the potentially $1 billion race. “I think they’ll be very much involved,” predicted Corey Cook, a professor at the University of San Francisco who focuses on California politics. “I think it’ll be critical to the fundraising and to the storyline.”