Santa Clara Supervisor Joe Simitian and State Assemblymember Evan Low each received 30,249 votes for the runner-up spot for California’s 16th Congressional District, ensuring that both will be on the November ballot, alongside frontronner Sam Liccardo, San Jose’s former mayor.
That’s the report from election officials in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties this afternoon, who filed their “final, certified, official” results from the March 5 primary today with the California Secretary of State.
Barring the discovery by the Secretary of State in the next 10 days of a rare counting error—or changes unearthed by a manual recount—voters will choose from among the three candidates for the coveted Silicon Valley congressional seat.
Speaking to the media in a conference call on Thursday evening, Simitian said he believes this is the first congressional race to feature such a tie.
“Our region, this district, is an extraordinary place,” he said. “Does it surprise me that we made history in this district? No.”
But, he added, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t amazed by the tally.
“To call it unexpected is to understate the case,” he said. “Tonight is a moment for celebration.”
Asked by the Los Gatan if he’d ever experienced something like this before in his political life, Simitian said what popped to mind was his 2016 Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors reelection bid. In that contest he recalled persuading an impressive 89.4% of voters to cast a ballot for him.
“Both times my reaction was—’Really?'” he said. “‘That can’t be real.’
“To say I was startled would be an understatement.”
However, he wouldn’t rule out calling for a recount in this election.
On Twitter, Evan Low thanked his fellow competitors for their “thoughtful” campaigns.
“I am honored to have won the support of our community to advance to the general election to replace the esteemed Anna Eshoo for Congress now that the Registrars of Voters have certified the results,” he said before 3:30pm. “Thank you to all of my incredible supporters who gave their time, money, and votes to support our campaign. This historically close race shows that every vote really counts. I could not have made it this far without every one of you, and I hope to earn your support once again in November.”
The official results for all results from the primary will be declared final on April 15, with an announcement from the Secretary of State’s office.
*Barry Holtzclaw co-wrote this story
