Rep Anna Eshoo taps into Silicon Valley ties to seek key position

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) is tapping into her Silicon Valley ties as she seeks the top Democratic position on the powerful House Commerce Committee.

Rep Eshoo, who represents Palo Alto, recently formed a political action committee to collect donations that she in turn is donating to the campaigns of Democratic lawmakers facing tough re-election battles. The pass-through of money, all perfectly legal, is how senior members of Congress work to secure and maintain plum leadership positions. It's also how companies support senior lawmakers in hopes they will be remembered down the road. Federal Election Commission records show that Rep Eshoo filed paperwork on Feb. 24 to organize the "Peninsula PAC." The political action committee has collected more than $200,000. It has distributed about $96,000 to the campaign committees of two dozen lawmakers facing tough re-election battles, such as Reps. Ami Bera (D-CA), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Raul Ruiz (D-CA) and Scott Peters (D-CA), the FEC records show. The four freshmen are the GOP's top California targets in this year's midterm elections. The people and companies donating to the Peninsula PAC reads like a who's who of technology companies and their chief executives. The political action committees for Google, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Cisco were among the tech companies that gave $5,000, the maximum amount per year, to Eshoo's committee. Several Oracle executives, including founder Larry Ellison, also donated the maximum allowed. Jude Barry, a San Jose political strategist, said the region's companies are striving to increase their clout in Washington, so the donations are an extension of that focus.