And the winner is … Evan Low.
The assemblyman is heading to the November election after knocking Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian off the ballot — by just five votes — in an extraordinary Silicon Valley congressional race that captivated political onlookers nationwide.
The highly awaited outcome is an astounding finish to a March primary that ended in a historic tie for second place in the District 16 race, triggering a recount that dragged on for nearly three weeks — and started with Low vigorously trying to halt it before it even began.
“My team and I knew that succeeding the esteemed Anna Eshoo would be challenging, so we see a race ending in a tie followed by a recount as character building for your next representative in Congress,” Low wrote in a social media post. “We are very excited that my advancement into the general election was reaffirmed and I now look forward to the real work of tackling the big issues facing our country like reproductive freedom and affordability.”
My team and I knew that succeeding the esteemed Anna Eshoo would be challenging, so we see a race ending in a tie followed by a recount as character building for your next representative in Congress.
We are very excited that my advancement into the general election was…
— Evan Low (@Evan_Low) May 1, 2024
With the last of dozens of challenged ballots resolved Wednesday and more than 182,000 votes counted in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, the final result is 30,261 to 30,256, with Low coming out on top to square off against former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, who came in first in the primary by more than 8,000 votes.
In a statement, Simitian said he was “disappointed” because he had looked forward to serving in Congress but was not “sad … I lost, and I concede. I trust the process, and I accept the result.”
Simitian added, “I’m disappointed because I couldn’t deliver a win for the oh-so-many folks who gave their time, effort, energy and resources to our campaign. And frankly, I’m disappointed because I won’t have the opportunity to bring a fresh take to our nation’s capital — where we urgently need a renewed sense of purpose and a commitment to maintaining and sustaining our democracy.”
The good news is the 16th congressional district’s long painful exercise counting the votes is over! The not-so-good news: we have come up short. I lost, and I concede. I trust the process, and I accept the result. My full statment and gratitude here: https://t.co/3qLRkTTXTh pic.twitter.com/5nLUbC4EiX
— Joe Simitian (@joesimitian) May 2, 2024
From the start, it was a highly competitive race, with 11 candidates jumping at the rare chance to vie for an open Bay Area congressional seat when U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, 81, announced her retirement in November.
It also became the most expensive House race in California, with candidates collectively spending $5.7 million through the first half of February.
After the first count wound up in a tie for second place, with 30,249 votes each for Low and Simitian, the stage was set for a three-way race in November — a first for a California congressional race since the state changed to a top-two primary system more than a decade ago. There is no automatic recount provision for statewide and federal races in California, but Jonathan Padilla, a 2020 and 2024 Biden delegate and former mayoral campaign staffer for Liccardo, set the process in motion by requesting one.
The recount took place in both Santa Clara and San Mateo counties as the district stretches from Los Gatos and San Jose in the south to Pacifica in the north. Santa Clara County wrapped up its recount on Tuesday afternoon — Low gained 11 votes overall, and Simitian gained seven compared to the original count.
San Mateo County finished rescanning more than 40,000 ballots last week, and there were no changes in the vote tally for either candidate. But election officials were awaiting information on 16 ballots about postmark dates from the U.S. Postal Service.
Jim Irizarry, the county’s assistant chief elections officer, said Wednesday that of the 16 ballots, seven were accepted and nine were rejected. Low picked up one vote, and Simitian picked up none.
In a statement, Liccardo said that he commended “the diligent efforts of our election officials to provide an accurate vote count.”
“Despite the efforts of some to stop this recount, we should all celebrate that democracy prevailed,” he said. “Previously uncounted votes were counted. We can now re-focus on our work ahead, toward solutions to our region’s and nation’s great challenges, such as homelessness, the high cost of living, climate change, public safety, and protecting reproductive rights.”
Liccardo’s statement alluded to an attempt by Low’s camp to stop the recount. The assemblymember’s campaign criticized Padilla and accused him of orchestrating the recount at the behest of Liccardo — a charge the mayor denied — calling it “a page right out of Trump’s political playbook.”
The same day Padilla put down a deposit for the recount, Low’s attorneys sent Santa Clara County a letter arguing that the recount couldn’t move forward because Padilla changed his request from a manual to a machine recount — a move that made it cheaper — after the deadline.
Further allegations began to soar over who exactly was paying for a recount. Critics of Liccardo accused him of illegally coordinating with the Super PAC Count the Vote, which funded the recount, in an effort to skirt campaign finance laws.
Donors to the Super PAC won’t be disclosed until July because of federal election rules, but sources say the recount cost the group roughly $270,000.
“This has been a long drawn-out process, but all voters in Santa Clara and San Mateo County should have renewed faith and confidence in our democratic institutions,” Padilla said in a statement. “The one irony of all this, however, is that Mr. Low, who fought tooth and nail against the recount, gained the most votes and emerged as the unquestioned second place finisher in this primary contest.”
Larry Gerston, a professor emeritus of political science at San Jose State University, called what comes next in the race to November “hand-to-hand combat.”
“There’s no love lost, and it really does set up a very interesting battle between two very different individuals and sources of support,” Gerston said.
He also noted that Liccardo will likely garner support from business interests and middle-to-upper-class voters, while Low will be backed by labor groups and young LGBTQ and Asian American voters.
Gerston added that Eshoo, who endorsed Simitian in the primary, could choose to endorse again. The 71-year-old county supervisor could also throw his weight behind Liccardo or Low — which the professor said could be key as he believes Simitian “walked away with more support and more respect than he had before.”
“I think those two endorsements in the election could make a difference,” Gerston said.
