With a second-place tie, three Democrats seem like headed to the November poll within the race for a coveted Silicon Valley congressional seat.
The extraordinarily uncommon scenario comes after weeks of uncertainty, with second-place finishers Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian and Assemblymember Evan Low of Campbell repeatedly buying and selling positions, typically whereas separated by only one or two votes. They seem to have completed the race with 30,249 votes apiece.
Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo has maintained a first-place lead for the reason that major, securing his spot on the November poll with greater than 38,000 votes.
“It was like watching a snail race — essentially the most thrilling snail race I’ve ever witnessed in my life,” stated Marva Diaz, a political advisor and writer of the election information California Goal E-book.
There didn’t instantly seem like any precedent for a three-way California congressional race for the reason that state shifted to its nonpartisan major system in 2012, which dictates that the highest two finishers advance to the November poll no matter occasion.
Within the case of a second-place tie in a major election, California elections code stipulates that each candidates seem on the final election poll together with the first-place winner.
The candidates are vying to switch retiring Rep. Anna Eshoo of Menlo Park in a safely Democratic district that features a part of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
The outcomes are usually not official but, although each counties stated Wednesday that every one ballots had been processed. County election officers should finalize their official tallies by Thursday, with the secretary of state’s workplace anticipated to certify election outcomes on April 12.
A 3-way common election occurred in an Meeting race in 2016, when former Assemblymember Autumn Burke confronted off in opposition to two different candidates, as California Goal E-book analysis director Rob Pyers noted on Wednesday.
However each of the challengers had been write-in candidates who tied with 32 major votes every, making it a non-competitive common election race — and a really completely different scenario from the battle brewing in California’s sixteenth Congressional District.
Simitian, Low and Liccardo are all present or earlier elected officeholders who’ve run critical campaigns with vital fundraising.
Ought to the depend maintain and all three candidates make it to the ultimate poll, Diaz stated, the presence of three Democrats operating strong campaigns would “change the dynamics immensely” for the November election.
“Operating in opposition to one different particular person could be very completely different than operating in opposition to two different individuals,” she stated.
Eshoo introduced her retirement in November after greater than three a long time in Congress. Democrats maintain a greater than 3-to-1 registration benefit over Republicans within the district, which incorporates the cities of Palo Alto and Mountain View and a part of the town of San Jose.
As soon as the votes are licensed, both candidate might additionally request a recount, which they’d be required to pay for. However in a scenario the place they’re each headed to the poll, the political calculus for requesting a recount could be cloudy at greatest, because it might probably lead to both of them shedding their slot.
Simitian’s communications director, Francesca Segrè, stated Wednesday afternoon that his marketing campaign would chorus from commenting till each counties had formally licensed their outcomes.
Low’s marketing campaign didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, however the Meeting member tweeted a smiling photo of himself carrying a shiny, violet-colored tie, quipping that “It’s a particular ‘Tie’ day!”