Within two days of President Joe Biden's departure from the 2024 race, Harris had secured the backing of key figures from the technology sector - including former Meta Platforms executive Sheryl Sandberg, Netflix chairman Reed Hastings, and venture investors Vinod Khosla and Reid Hoffman.
That pro-Harris wave countered a flurry of historically unprecedented support for Trump by investors like David Sacks, Sequoia Capital's Shaun Maguire and Andreessen Horowitz's founders - who deepened their pro-Trump positions following the failed 13 July attempt on the former president's life.
The surge of Harris backers highlighted Democrats' enduring hold on tech's northern California heartland, where voters have long skewed left of centre on social issues like abortion rights and immigration - and are likely to do so for years to come, according to academics, local politicians and business leaders.
"Silicon Valley is definitely one of the bluest areas in California," said Bruce Cain, a Stanford University professor who specialises in state politics. "The joke I used to make is that a Republican who wanted to live in this area needs a passport."
Venture industry figures who have turned to Trump don't reflect the region's electorate, according to Clara Brenner, co-founder of the Urban Innovation Fund, an investment firm focused on early-stage tech companies. These investors "have big megaphones, so it's not surprising that you're hearing from them", she said. "They have their own axes to grind with regulators and their own economic reasons to cosy up to Trump."
