By Jeffrey Dastin

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Venture capitalists planning to support Kamala Harris’ campaign for the White House cited women’s reproductive rights, climate change and a friendlier attitude toward startups as priorities in a survey released on Wednesday.

Of the roughly 800 venture capitalists who signed an open letter of support, 225 agreed to explain their reasons for supporting the Democratic candidate and the policies they favor in a poll first reported by Reuters.

Almost all of the 225 felt that the Supreme Court was wrong to overturn Roe v. Wade, which recognized the right to abortion. Some felt that doing so harmed women in the workplace.

“These are not social problems. These are actually business problems,” said Leslie Feinzaig, CEO of Graham & Walker, the initiator of the commitment.

Investors and executives said they viewed Vice President Harris, a Californian with ties to Silicon Valley, as a tech-savvy candidate who is open to engaging with the industry.

They expressed nostalgia for the Obama White House, which recruited and praised employees from the technology sector a decade ago. Politicians in Washington have since struck a more critical tone.

The open letter, titled “VCs for Kamala,” published in July, includes venture capitalists such as Reid Hoffman of Greylock and Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures.

The 225 people who completed the survey did so anonymously. Sixty-two percent of them were men, 66 percent white, mostly between the ages of 35 and 64. Although no one was asked about their party affiliation, of those who responded, 70 percent were Democrats and 30 percent were Republicans or independents, poll organizers said.

About 97 percent wanted leaders who were “savvy in technologies like AI and cryptocurrencies to create effective regulations,” and nearly 92 percent said the U.S. government needed to hire more technology talent, the survey results showed.

Outside of the investor-focused survey, Reuters also surveyed entrepreneurs to find out what Harris’ supporters in Silicon Valley want more broadly.

Regarding AI, “We need the smartest people in government who know what to do on the military and civilian side, who know what’s coming,” said Eric Ries, entrepreneur and author of “The Lean Startup.”

The U.S. lags behind Europe in passing comprehensive AI laws, although President Joe Biden issued an executive order last year requiring AI developers to report safety tests if safety or health risks exist.

Aaron Levie, CEO of cloud computing company Box, said current regulations should focus more on the application of the technology than on the underlying AI models, which are not yet mature.

“Regulation is going to provide important direction for this industry and our leadership in AI over the long term,” Levie said. He said immigration will do so as well.

About 94 percent of survey respondents said the U.S. needs to provide more H-1B visas for highly skilled workers, a must for technology companies recruiting talent from abroad. Silicon Valley also wants to create an easier path for startups to go public or sell to established companies, the survey results and interviews showed.

TRUMP’S TECHNOLOGY SUPPORTERS

Harris is not the only one receiving support from the technology industry.

Former President Donald Trump, Harris’ Republican rival in the Nov. 5 election, was able to win over Tesla CEO Elon Musk and prominent venture capitalists such as Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.

Reuters reported that Trump’s running mate JD Vance was a venture capitalist who co-founded a technology donor network whose goal was to push America to the right.

Trump has promised to promote technologies based on free speech and to reverse Biden’s AI decree, which critics like Horowitz say goes into too many technical details.

Democratic supporters praise Biden’s successes and Harris’ efforts to achieve voluntary commitments from companies in the field of AI. Neither candidate has sought detailed regulation of AI if elected.

There was no comment from Harris and Trump’s campaign teams for this article.

Silicon Valley had reason to rejoice over Harris’ speech last week in which she accepted her party’s presidential nomination.

She said that as president, she would position the United States as a world leader in artificial intelligence and help founders get capital – a rare mention in a political campaign, said Kieran Snyder, a startup CEO who contributed to the “VCs for Kamala” poll.

Harris’ fundraiser in San Francisco raised more than $12 million this month, her campaign said. In July, when Biden was still a candidate, she rallied support in a video call that LinkedIn co-founder Hoffman encouraged her colleagues to join.

In the survey, 98% of respondents said that some billionaires’ voices may not accurately reflect their views.

“Anti-business”

Some Silicon Valley businessmen still have trouble with Democrats. Biden’s Federal Trade Commission, under Chair Lina Khan, for example, has sued Amazon.com, Microsoft and others to stop alleged monopolies and promote competition.

Hoffman and media veteran Barry Diller expressed hope that Harris would replace Khan, but did not respond to requests for comment on their economic priorities for the next administration. An FTC spokesperson who previously commented on their comments said Khan has protected consumers and business owners from corporate abuses.

Chris Larsen, founder of blockchain payments company Ripple Labs, said he wants Harris to rein in the administration’s “anti-business stance.” He pointed to officials like Gary Gensler, Biden’s nominee to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has sued cryptocurrency companies. The SEC, which sued Ripple under Trump, declined to comment.

Larsen said of Harris: “Hope is back in season!”

(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; additional reporting by Anna Tong and Kenrick Cai in San Francisco; editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Howard Goller)