CONGRESS | 17TH DISTRICT | In the canon of 17th Congressional District campaign commercials, its filmography has been dominated by challenger Ro Khanna. But, on Monday, Rep. Mike Honda released his first commercial of the election season and it exudes warmth like a toffee nut latte on a cold fall morning.

The 30-second spot begins with Honda’s grandfatherly voice swiftly covering his biography from Japanese-American internment camp to his resume in Congress. By contrast, Khanna has released a handful of campaign commercials. However, Khanna also had both the impetus to introduce himself to voters and the money to make it happen.

As for Honda’s commercial, most local Democrats who know Honda will find the general thumbnail of Honda–the friendly, genial everyman portrayed here–is pretty accurate, especially the scenes of Honda hobnobbing with voters at its conclusion. Those kind of scenes typically feel staged (for example, this one). In this campaign ads they feel authentic.