Second spot in Peninsula congressional race too close to call
Over a week after the California primary, the race for second place in the Bay Area's 16th congressional district remains too close to call.
On Election Night, Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian seemed confident he would win enough votes to get on the November ballot to compete for the seat being vacated by retiring representative Anna Eshoo. But since that night, the race for second just keeps getting tighter.
Now, with still no firm answer on who will join former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo in the general election, Simitian said he remains confident in his campaign.
"We know that there are votes to be counted in both counties -- San Mateo and Santa Clara county -- and as I say we had a healthy lead on election night. That then narrowed and now it's a handful of votes difference. Not our way at the moment but I'm hoping it goes our way in the next few days," said Simitian.
He held second place in the vote totals for over a week after primary night but on Wednesday, State Representative Evan Low overtook him for the first time.
"Now it's neck and neck, a virtual tie and we'll know a whole lot more in the next few days," said Simitian.
CBS News Bay Area reached out to Evan Low's campaign for an interview.
They told us they couldn't fit one in with his schedule but sent us this statement saying in part, "While there are still votes left to be counted, I am encouraged by the latest results that have put our campaign in the lead. I am grateful to all of my supporters and look forward to all votes being counted in this race."
Melinda Jackson is a professor of political science at San Jose State University. She says the way this race has played out may be an indication of the type of supporters each candidate has.
"We can speculate that the people who are really on top of this and paying a lot of attention and voting early, getting their ballots in ahead of time, you know might be older voters with a little more time on their hands or maybe are people who are more familiar with someone like Joe Simitian who's been in politics for a number of decades. Whereas those last minute voters might tend to be younger, may be looking for a younger candidate like Evan Low who does represent a new generation," said Jackson.
No matter the end result, both Low and Semitian have emphasized this race is a perfect example of why voting matters so much.
"The fact that this race could come down to a relative handful of votes is a reminder that every vote counts and every vote has to be counted. That's what makes the democratic process work," said Semitian.
