It was a congressional race in California is going to be A three-way general election will look like a traditional two-way general election after recounts.
Democrats Evan Lowe and Joe Simitian previously finished second in the state’s 16th Congressional District primary with 30,249 votes each. But then count againLow finished first with 30,261 votes, a handful ahead of Simitian’s 30,256, Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters announced Tuesday.
Low will run in the November general election for the seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Anna Eshu, who is not seeking re-election.
The assemblyman will face former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, who topped the March primary.
In California, the top two finishers in the primary advance to the general election, but a second-place tie could allow for a three-way race.
The upheaval comes after a California voter demanded a recount in April, drawing sharp criticism from Lowe, who called the move “a page in Trump’s political playbook, using dirty tricks to attack democracy and subvert the will of voters.”
Selectman Jonathan Padilla was a former staffer for Liccardo’s previous campaign, though both Padilla and the campaign denied having contact or association prior to the recount announcement.
In a statement Wednesday, Low expressed excitement about heading to the general election and praised Simitia, who is the Santa Clara County supervisor.
“I want to thank the dedicated staff of both Registration of Voters for their diligent efforts in this unique recount process, and the dedicated leader who has been with me on this wild recount ride, Joe Simitian, who has decades of public service. It inspired me,” Lowe said Sent to X on Wednesday.
Simitian admitted in a statement Wednesday that he was “disappointed, but sad.”
“Good news, the long painful exercise of counting the votes of the 16th congressional district is over!” wrote in his statement. “The not-so-good news: we came up short. I lost and I admitted it. I trust the process and accept the outcome.”
Simitian also congratulated Lowe and Liccardo and thanked their supporters.
The district is heavily Democratic, and both candidates advancing in the general election are Democrats.