Sparks fly when Silicon Valley congressional candidates face off

Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and California Assemblymember Evan Low traded razor-sharp rebukes of each others’ records on climate, public safety and housing in a tense one-hour debate for Silicon Valley’s hottest congressional race. The candidates for Congressional District 16 were initially all smiles at NBC Bay Area’s San Jose studio on Friday. But the gloves came off when moderators asked Liccardo and Low if they were running ethical campaigns amid a highly contentious recount, endorsement jockeying and dueling election transparency complaints. Both maintained their congressional bids have been ethical. Liccardo — who is accused of and has denied secretly…