Ro Khanna

Background and career

Rohit Khanna (born September 13, 1976) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative from California's 17th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated eight-term incumbent Democratic representative Mike Honda in the 2016 general election, after first running for the same seat in 2014. Khanna also served as the deputy assistant secretary in the United States Department of Commerce under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2011.

Education

Career before Congress

Memberships and affiliations

• Phi Beta Kappa (honor society) source

Citizenship

citizen by birth in the United States.

Religion

Hindu (self-reported in Pew survey of Congress)

Name history and family

Birth name: Rohit Khanna · Children: 2 · Marriages: 1 · Counts reflect publicly documented information; a missing count means not documented, not zero.

Marital status: Not listed

Previously held offices

• assistant secretary (2009–2011)

Campaign fundraising

Raised $10,570,516 in the 2024 cycle and $13,761,491 so far in the 2026 cycle (partial).

Top individual donors, 2024

3,127 other donors gave a total of $8,787,687.

10 donor rows withheld pending verification.

Top individual donors, 2026 (partial)

3,910 other donors gave a total of $10,422,748.

8 donor rows withheld pending verification.

A $10,500 receipt on 2026-04-30 was returned; see FEC.

A $12,000 receipt on 2026-02-16 was returned; see FEC.

PAC and party committee contributors over $5,000, 2024

Gross receipts from FEC filings, not net of refunds. Industry mappings are the directory's own classification; see methodology.

PAC and party committee contributors over $5,000, 2026 (partial)

Gross receipts from FEC filings, not net of refunds. Industry mappings are the directory's own classification; see methodology.

Outside money

2024

Independent expenditures by super PACs and other outside groups concerning the member. A committee name links to its page here, with its contributors and every member it spent for or against.

Leadership PAC not identified.

2026 (partial)

Independent expenditures by super PACs and other outside groups concerning the member. A committee name links to its page here, with its contributors and every member it spent for or against.

Leadership PAC not identified.

Independent expenditures are reported to the FEC by the spending committee, not the member's campaign. A committee is marked single-candidate when 80% or more of its cycle independent-expenditure dollars concern one candidate. Donors are named only at $50,000 or more to a super PAC or joint fundraising committee. For leadership PACs, individuals are named at $50,000 or more; organizations and PACs at $5,000 or more. The 2026 cycle is still in progress.

Amounts are each donor's net total of itemized contributions across the cycle (primary, general, and runoff elections combined), after subtracting refunds, not single gifts. Receipts marked as received in error, returned, or refunded are excluded, and refunds to the donor are subtracted. Joint-fundraising shares are included: the member committee's itemized share of joint-fundraising proceeds (FEC transaction type 15J) counts toward the donor's total, while the joint fundraising committee's own transfers are not counted separately. Donors are named only when their net cycle total is $1,000 or more; smaller donors appear only in the aggregate count and total below each table. Where a returned receipt of $10,000 or more affects a total, it is noted below the table. Lists cover itemized individual gifts to the member's principal campaign committee only. Employer and occupation are self-reported. The 2026 cycle is still in progress.

Donor figures are net of refunds from the FEC individual-contribution bulk files (2024 and 2026 cycles, each itemization taken at its latest amended version before any exclusion), rebuilt and reconciled row by row against the previous release on 2026-10-02; see methodology for the method and the reconciliation counts.

Money and finances

Estimated net worth

Not listed in the disclosures reviewed.

Stock trades (last 12 months)

4542 trades, estimated volume $21,539,530 to $112,150,000. As of 2026-09-26. Quiver

STOCK Act disclosures cover the member, spouse, and dependent children, and report amounts as ranges, so volumes are estimates. Null records mean data was not retrieved, never zero trades.

Earmark requests (FY2026)

Total requested: $44,400,000

Requests are not necessarily funded. Amounts shown are requested, not awarded.

Influence in Congress

Legislative effectiveness

1.22 on the 118th Legislative Effectiveness Score (House). thelawmakers.org

Bipartisanship

Lugar Bipartisan Index: -0.53, ranked #229 (118th (first session, 2023)) Lugar Center

Ideology

DW-NOMINATE first dimension: -0.458 (liberal end of the scale), chamber rank #56 of the 119th Congress. Voteview

Interest group ratings

Bills enacted

1 sponsored bill enacted into law in the 119th Congress.

2026 election

District lean

Cook Partisan Voting Index (2025): D+21. Last election margin: 35.32 points (2024). Cook PVI

2026 election

No notable challenger declared.

Notable family

No notable relatives found under this methodology.

Voting record (2026)

314 roll-call votes in 2026 · missed 1.6% · party unity 97.1

Legislation

Sponsored 52 bills and cosponsored 514 bills in the 119th Congress.

Latest statements

• Rep. Khanna Introduces the Illegal War Refund Act September 17, 2026
  Today, Congressman Ro Khanna (CA-17) introduced the Illegal War Refund Act, legislation that would require the federal government to refund Americans for the economic costs they have borne as a...
• RELEASE: KHANNA CO-LEADS DELEGATION TO VATICAN, DISCUSSES ETHICAL FRAMEWORK FOR AI WITH POPE LEO XIV August 21, 2026
  Washington, DC - Last week, Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17), Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, co-led a bipartisan congressional delegation to the Vatican for a...
• Release: Rep. Khanna’s Statement on New Yale Analysis Finding Medicare for All Could Save More Than $1 Trillion Annually August 14, 2026
  Washington, DC - Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17) released the following statement on a new analysis from researchers at the Yale School of Public Health finding that Medicare for All could save the...
• Release: Rep. Khanna Introduces Data Center Bill of Rights August 6, 2026
  Washington, DC - Today, Congressman Ro Khanna (CA-17) introduced a Data Center Bill of Rights that would give Americans and local communities greater control over the construction and operation of AI...
• Khanna, Massie, Leger Fernández, Merkley, Luján Introduce the "Epstein Files Transparency Act II" August 5, 2026
  Washington, D.C. -- Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie announces the introduction of H.R. 9694, the Epstein Files Transparency Act II . Issues : Equality and Social Justice , Government Reform

Latest official press releases and statements from the member's official site. This section requires periodic refresh; always check the source site for the newest items.

Social following

Office total: 570K · Personal total: 441K · Combined: 1.0M

Collected 2026-09-29. Office accounts are the member's official congressional accounts; personal accounts are their own campaign/personal accounts. Totals sum only accounts with a retrieved count and are never zero-filled. X counts are approximate (logged-out page variance). A missing account means none was verified, not that none exists.

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
• Congressional Progressive Caucus

Only documented caucus memberships are listed; memberships are never inferred.

Staff

Chief of staff

Marie J. Baldassarre · (202) 225-2631

• Communications Director at Rep. Ro Khanna (01/01/22-03/31/23) source
• Communications Assistant at Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (10/01/18-03/31/19) source

Communications director

Sarah E. Drory · (202) 225-2631

• Deputy Communications Director at Rep. Ro Khanna (Feb. 2023 - July 2024) source
• Press Secretary at Rep. Ro Khanna (Sept. 2021 - Feb. 2023) source
• Press Assistant at Rep. Barbara Lee (July 2020 - Sept. 2021) source
• Digital Media Researcher at NBC News (June 2019 - June 2020) source
• Intern at Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (May 2016 - Aug. 2016) source
• Intern at Sen. Elizabeth Warren (May 2015 - Aug. 2015) source

Staff data from House and Senate payroll filings; roles can change and filings can lag.

Offices

Washington, D.C. office

306 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-2631

District/state offices

Connections

Connections are derived from documented public records: family ties, shared schools, shared employers, fraternities and sororities, and staff career histories. Committee ties are excluded here and shown on committee pages.

Official links

Official website · Wikipedia