California Tech Executives Plot Against Rep. Ro Khanna Over Support of Wealth Tax

Representative Ro Khanna has long managed to pull off a seemingly impossible task in his Silicon Valley district: backing the tech industry and Bernie Sanders progressivism at the same time.

But now he is starting to feel the squeeze.

Mr. Khanna, an ambitious 49-year-old Democrat seen as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, has publicly defended a proposed one-time wealth tax in California that has angered some of the state’s richest executives and prompted threats that they will flee.

Some of those wealthy Californians are now quietly mobilizing on WhatsApp chats and conference calls to try to put together a well-funded but long-shot bid to oust Mr. Khanna, according to half a dozen people close to the effort who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose private conversations.

The effort is unlikely to succeed: Mr. Khanna, whose profile rose as he helped lead the push for the release of the Epstein files, easily won re-election in 2024 and has loyal support from his district’s South Asian community. He sits on almost $15 million in campaign cash that even a candidate backed by wealthy tech donors would struggle to compete against.

But the anger toward him — ignited mainly by a social media post mocking billionaires who are planning to leave the state over the wealth tax proposal — reflects the tense relationship between Silicon Valley and the Democratic Party, particularly its progressive wing.

Some tech leaders believe they may have found an anti-Khanna candidate in Ethan Agarwal, a Democrat and little-known start-up founder who has been waging a bid for governor that has failed to gain traction.