Silicon Valley’s Shapeshifter, Zoe Lofgren’s Longevity Linked to Big Tech Loot
California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat, is seeking re-election after nearly 30 years in Congress.
Lofgren, who has represented the Silicon Valley area for more than two decades, saw her district redrawn in 2022 to include only a portion of its previous area and an expanded Latino community.
Despite this change, major technology companies continue to be among her largest donors. Lofgren consistently opposed legislation aimed at curbing tech monopolies.
In 2022, she worked to defeat a bill meant to prevent Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook from eliminating potential rivals. Lofgren believes that Amazon should dominate online retail sales, Google should control the flow of information in online searches, Apple should control all phones and apps on them, and Facebook should control the social media platform.
She also opposed a bill that would prevent tech companies from choosing their own judges when they are dissatisfied with those assigned to their cases. Additionally, she opposed increased fees for larger business mergers, a move that would assist tech companies in acquiring competitors, as Facebook did when it purchased Instagram, or Google purchased YouTube.
Lofgren has urged her colleagues to allow tech companies to fully control content, arguing they should have the authority to decide which speech to limit.
“Content should be moderated. It should not be subjected to bogus effort by state AGs to prevent content moderation through the antitrust provision,” Lofgren said.
That content moderation can include any criticism of the companies.
A House member since 1994, Lofgren holds a senior position on the House Judiciary Committee, which would play a role in any House efforts to regulate tech companies.
Lofgren’s daughter works as corporate counsel for Google. Lofgren has accepted campaign contributions from Alphabet, Google’s parent company, which contributed more than $112,000 to her 2024 campaign and was her top donor in the 2022 election.
In addition to donations from Alphabet, Lofgren has also received contributions from Apple, Amazon and Meta (Facebook). She received $36,575 from Apple, $29,350 from Meta and $20,800 from Amazon during the 2022 election cycle. In the 2024 election cycle, she accepted $25,765 from Amazon, $18,960 from Apple and $14,900 from Meta.
The primary is March 5 and the general election is November 5.
Her main Democratic opponent is Charlene C. Nijmeh, the Chairwoman of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. Nijmeh is from the Marine-Sanchez lineage, which descends from the first peoples of the San Francisco Bay Area.
