For months, there was discuss that Silicon Valley’s billionaire class was recruiting a candidate to tackle Consultant Ro Khanna. Early Tuesday morning, that candidate made it official.
Ethan Agarwal (pictured above), a 40-year-old tech entrepreneur with no political background, instructed TechCrunch on Monday night that he’s working for California’s seventeenth congressional district. That course of is prone to arrange what could grow to be one of the vital lavishly funded main challenges of the 2026 cycle.
The race places a highlight on Khanna, a 49-year-old Democrat broadly seen as a attainable 2028 presidential candidate, who has publicly backed a one-time wealth tax in California. His endorsement has infuriated among the state’s richest founders and traders, however Khanna has doubled down, introducing national legislation with Senator Bernie Sanders that will impose a 5% annual wealth tax on all People price $1 billion or extra — a proposal their workplaces estimate would elevate $4.4 trillion over a decade.
There’s a sure irony to the scenario. Agarwal is a graduate of Wharton and spent three years at McKinsey earlier than founding audio health firm Aaptiv, which he bought in 2021. He most lately co-founded monetary providers startup Coterie, backed by Andreessen Horowitz.
When Khanna first ran for this similar seat in 2014, he was the tech-backed outsider, with tech names like Marc Andreessen, Sheryl Sandberg and Eric Schmidt supporting him. He challenged in style Democratic incumbent Mike Honda, misplaced that try, however got here again in 2016 to win.
Critics on the time known as Khanna an owned man. A decade later, the identical cost will certainly be leveled on the individual attempting to unseat him.
What follows is an edited model of our dialog with Agarwal.
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October 13-15, 2026
TechCrunch: Final summer time, you introduced plans to run for governor of California. Now you’re becoming a member of a congressional race as a substitute. Why the swap?
Agarwal: I made a decision to run for governor again in July when the sphere was actually skinny. I don’t have a political background — I come from tech. However then a number of robust candidates received in, together with Matt Mahan, who I feel is absolutely robust. I’ve been monitoring Ro since his first congressional race in 2012 — I used to be an enormous supporter. However within the final couple of years, he’s been incrementally pivoting left, and when he tweeted help for the wealth tax on the finish of December, that was the straw that broke the camel’s again. I noticed I might have extra impression working within the 17th district and unseating Ro.
TC: Who’s backing you financially?
Agarwal: We’re pulling papers tomorrow, so we don’t have a checking account but and I can’t elevate cash till then. That stated — [Y Combinator CEO] Garry Tan is behind me, [DoorDash co-founder] Stanley Tang, and quite a lot of others from the tech neighborhood whose names will come out within the coming days and weeks.
[Editor’s note: The involvement of Tan, Tang, and others will likely fuel a familiar line of attack: that Agarwal is less an independent candidate than a vehicle for billionaire grievances. It is worth noting that Khanna faced nearly identical criticism when he first ran, and was backed by much of the same tech-donor class that is now organizing against him.]
TC: Are you able to give me somewhat extra coloration in your plan? Past closing loopholes, is there an alternative choice to the billionaire tax?
Agarwal: One is taxing loans taken out in opposition to belongings. Very rich individuals will take a mortgage out in opposition to their holdings and pay low curiosity. As a result of it’s technically a mortgage, they don’t pay taxes on it. I feel it’s very affordable to tax these loans.
Second is capital positive aspects — California’s price is at the moment 13.4% and I feel it’s affordable to think about growing that. Third, quite a lot of homes in California are owned by non-public fairness companies or individuals holding them as investments. I imagine you must pay considerably increased property taxes on a house held as an funding than as a main residence. That may each elevate income and ease strain on households who truly stay in what they personal.
[The loan-tax idea has been circulating in wealthy circles for some time — notably espoused by VC Chamath Palihapitiya, though it may trace back further to hedge fund giant Bill Ackman. The proposal would treat loans backed by stock holdings as taxable events, eliminating a longstanding strategy by which investors access their portfolio’s value without selling, and thus without ever paying capital gains taxes.]
TC: For those who make it to Washington, what is going to your high three priorities be?
Agarwal: Primary, banning inventory buying and selling for members of Congress and their households. Quantity two, banning company PAC cash. Quantity three, time period limits.
[Earlier in the conversation, Agarwal spoke at length about the 5,000 children in the 17th district — the wealthiest congressional district in the country — living below the poverty line, and described making it “the first congressional district in history to completely eradicate childhood poverty” as one of his proposals. That point did not make the top three.]
TC: You’ve accused Ro Khanna of being a prolific inventory dealer. Are you able to clarify?
Agarwal: He’s been buying and selling extra shares than any Democratic congressman within the historical past of the nation — in tobacco, oil and gasoline, Large Pharma, massive tech. He publicly launched a congressional inventory buying and selling ban, after which made 4,000 trades final 12 months. Even when the invoice didn’t move, nothing is stopping him from imposing it on himself. In my case, I’m going to divest my total portfolio the primary day I’m elected, so nobody has to wonder if my votes mirror my private account or my precise beliefs.
[Both claims deserve scrutiny. Khanna has co-sponsored the TRUST in Congress Act and introduced reform resolutions calling for a ban, but hasn’t authored standalone legislation. On the trading figures, Khanna has repeatedly said that he does not personally own or trade any individual stocks, and that the trades in question belong to his wife, whose pre-marital assets are held in an independently managed trust — which, he noted, eliminates any conflict under Office of Government Ethics rules. Whether that distinction satisfies voters is a question the campaign will have to answer.]
TC: Ought to social media platforms be held liable for harming teenagers? Part 230 of the Communications Decency Act at the moment shields them from legal responsibility for what customers publish. The place do you stand on altering that?
Agarwal: I feel Part 230, when it was first drafted [in 1996], made quite a lot of sense. The objective was for platforms to serve principally as internet hosting. However as they’ve developed, they’re now figuring out what we see due to the algorithms they push. I don’t assume it is sensible to make social media firms completely accountable for what individuals publish — the quantity is simply too excessive, and having a 3rd celebration make subjective determinations about what’s dangerous will get into actually harmful territory.
That stated, I do assume it’s price revisiting in relation to long-term impacts on youngsters’ psychological well being. For those who discuss to Meta, or X, or anybody, they’ll all say they don’t profit from hurting youngsters. We’re all aligned in not wanting that as an final result.
TC: What about regulating AI firms, lots of which are actually in your yard?
Agarwal: I give it some thought from a nationwide safety perspective. I’m assured that having essentially the most highly effective fashions is important for America, and if we don’t construct them, China will beat us.
Some restrictions make sense — AI shouldn’t aid you harm your self or another person. However I don’t assume we must be limiting firms’ capacity to construct and strengthen these fashions. It’s actually important that we permit them to thrive, for nationwide safety functions, if nothing else.
TC: Do you assume we’d like one thing like an FDA for AI?
Agarwal: I’ve heard that concept. The FDA has largely performed job of conserving People wholesome and protected — I belief the individuals who work there, which I can not say for many authorities organizations. If there’s a method to construct an impartial, apolitical authority with rotating phrases, that is sensible to me. However I wish to ensure it’s designed to strengthen America’s nationwide safety, not for political functions.
TC: What about prediction markets — Polymarket, Kalshi? Do they want extra regulation?
Agarwal: To be clear, Kalshi and Polymarket are each regulated by the CFTC. I feel a part of the issue is that sports activities betting apps have created a lot regulatory confusion about what’s allowed through which states that Polymarket and Kalshi have emerged as options. However the regulation they’ve at this time is definitely fairly good.
TC: How are you planning to run this marketing campaign? Are you doing this full time?
Agarwal: That is 110% of my life. I went to [the private San Jose, Ca., school] Harker, which is within the district. I’ve grown up close by. I do know tons of, perhaps hundreds of people that stay there. My marketing campaign is basically a floor recreation — I’m going to Chinese language and Hindi instructional faculties, to cultural occasions. Holi is arising; Chinese language New Yr, Purim, is on Tuesday. I’m going to be in any respect of it, assembly individuals, going to small companies.
I feel that is truly the core distinction between Ro and me: he’s constructing a nationwide profile, and I’m completely superb with that if that’s what he desires to do. However he’s doing it whereas abandoning the individuals of his personal district. I’m not leaving California. I’m not utilizing this as a stepping stone. He’s nationwide; I’m native. And I feel individuals within the seventeenth know they want somebody centered on them alone.
TC: What was the impetus to get into politics within the first place?
Agarwal: Perhaps that is corny, however — my dad got here right here with completely nothing, making $14,000 a 12 months when he first arrived. He began an organization, took it public, bought it. I used to be born on third base on account of that. I’ve began two firms and bought them each.
After which I see individuals round me now not benefiting from the identical system that made all of that attainable. The individuals listed here are hardworking, excessive potential — however the setting isn’t supporting them anymore. I’ve been complaining about it for a very long time, and I felt prefer it was time to face up and do one thing.
TC: Is that this the beginning of a political profession?
Agarwal: This isn’t a profession pivot. I see a really particular downside within the seventeenth district that I wish to remedy. I’m going to impose time period limits on myself — I gained’t do greater than 5 phrases — after which I’ll most likely return to the non-public sector. Service must be a calling, not a job. And truthfully, I don’t assume it serves your constituents properly when it turns into a profession. Even when a time period limits invoice doesn’t move, I’m going to impose it on myself. That’s what I truly imagine.
[That also echoes something from Khanna’s early campaigns — the outsider who arrives with no interest in becoming a career politician except a mandate from the tech industry to shake things up. Whether Agarwal gets further than Khanna’s first attempt did in 2014 may depend on whether Khanna develops any vulnerabilities of his own. Right now, introducing sweeping national legislation with Bernie Sanders and sitting on $15 million in campaign cash, he appears to be doing everything he can to ensure he doesn’t.]
