Tech
Silicon Valley Has Embraced Trump. Could Harris Win Them Back?
Silicon Valley’s deep-pocketed tech industry has traditionally voted Democrat. But in the past month, a group of tech executives have sided with Donald Trump, both because he would be friendlier to the industry and because President Joe Biden was unfit to serve a second term.
But now that Biden has dropped out of the race and the Democratic Party appears to be coalescing around Kamala Harris, a battle for Silicon Valley’s affection (and donations) could be brewing. Harris is from Oakland, and many people perceived her tenure as California’s attorney general as being tech-friendly. Now Silicon Valley appears to be divided—and in the months ahead, debates will play out on social media and in tech offices.
Trump is backed by Elon Musk and other top tech leaders
It would take a seismic shift for Silicon Valley to actually turn red. In 2020, Santa Clara County, which contains most of Silicon Valley, voted 73 percent are for Biden and 25 percent are for Trump. (The 2016 Numbers were very similar.)And a recent WIRED Analysis of campaign contributions found that the venture capital industry actually appears to be donating to Democrats at a higher rate this cycle than in years past.
But some of the most influential voices in tech have come out loudly on Trump’s side, especially since he was elected. attempted murderElon Musk and his partner David Sacks have been active on social media to rally support among tech executives and have invested millions in a Super PAC for Trump’s campaign.
In particular, the cryptocurrency industry has welcomed Trump, who is scheduled to speak at a Bitcoin conference this weekend. Marc Andreessen, co-founder of the well-known VC firm a16z, has denounced the Biden administration’s more aggressive approach to regulating technology and cryptocurrencies, and said he is support trump after supporting Democrats during most election cycles, included in 2016.
And many tech moguls were further energized by Trump’s choice of vice chairman J.D. Vance, who has deep ties to Silicon Valley, including working for Peter Thiel. Sacks and tech investor Chamath Palihapitiya even personally pressured Trump to pick Vance at a $300,000-a-person dinner, The New York Times reported.
To know more: How the Cryptocurrency World Learned to Love Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Project 2025
But Harris has a long history with Silicon Valley
But Harris’ history with Silicon Valley could stem the tide. In recent months, many Silicon Valley Democrats have sat on the sidelines as Biden’s campaign has lost steam: entrepreneur and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman told WIRED that tech mega-donors had held back their donations because of the “turmoil.” But Hoffman was back in action after Biden’s exit, calling Harris “the right person at the right time.” Many others immediately joined him: Harris lifted up over $50 million in less than 24 hours after Biden’s announcement.
Hoffman is one of many Silicon Valley powerhouses who backed Harris during her 2020 presidential campaign, thanks to her industry ties from her time as California attorney general. Her 2020 donors including Salesforce co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff (who also owns TIME magazine), Amazon general counsel David Zapolsky, and Microsoft chairman Brad Smith.
Some observers, in turn, have argued that Harris was too industry-friendly while she was attorney general. Her time as attorney general was marked by massive consolidation in the tech sector toward a few hyper-powerful companies, which Critics argue did little to stop it. In 2012, it forged a deal with Big Tech titans on privacy protections for smartphone owners, which was widely applauded from the industryThe following year, she participated in the marketing campaign for Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, while serving as a law enforcement official responsible for overseeing Facebook.
On the contrary, he used his position to take an active role in pressure platforms to ban revenge pornography. And the Biden administration has actually been marked by a hostile relationship with Big Tech, with a candidate nominated by Biden Lina Khan attempting to use his position at the FTC to break up monopolies. (In a strange twist, J.D. Vance has express approval (of Khan’s efforts to rein in Big Tech.) Given this trajectory, it’s unclear how friendly Harris will be to the tech industry if she takes office.
“Kamala Harris has built very close ties to the California-centric Big Tech industry, but a lot has changed in the last four years,” says Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project. “So it’s going to be a question of: Was she deeply engaged with Big Tech, or was she just a bit of a home-state senator with a home-state industry taking the easy way out?”
Some tech executives want an open convention
Then there are those in tech leadership who want to support a Democratic candidate, but are asking Democrats to select someone who might have broader appeal to their industry. Box CEO Aaron Levie, wrote on X that after Biden’s resignation, Democrats could gain votes by becoming the party of “wildly pro-tech, pro-trade, pro-entrepreneurship, pro-immigration, pro-AI.”
Reed Hastings, executive chairman of Netflix, he wrote on X that Democratic delegates “must pick a winner in swing state.” Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla agreed—and he said that although he He believed Harris could beat Trumphe called for an open convention. “I want an open trial at the convention and not a coronation,” he he wrote“The key is still who can beat Trump on all the other priorities.”