Assemblymember Evan Low on Wednesday jumped ahead of Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian in the race to replace U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo as the two battle it out for the second spot in the November general election.
Though Low had fewer votes than Simitian on Election Day, he has since picked up steam over the last week as more mail-in ballots have come in — particularly in Santa Clara County. Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo locked in his spot earlier this week in the runoff for the Congressional District 16 seat, which represents the area from Pacifica in the north to Los Gatos in the south.
Following Tuesday afternoon’s update from the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, Low was down by 162 votes. But on Wednesday afternoon, the ballots swung further in his favor and he surpassed Simitian for the first time and led him by 59 votes.
“Thank you again to all of the voters who have made their voices heard in this election,” Low said in a statement. “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.”
The first lead change of the top three candidates comes after Simitian’s remarks on election night that he was “entirely confident” he was in the top two for the November general election.
“Every vote counts, and every vote has to be counted,” Simitian said in a statement. “That’s the nature of our process, and that’s as it should be. At this point, it’s a squeaker, and all we can do is wait for the results.”
More ballots are expected to be counted in both counties in the coming days, though not all of them will be from District 16 voters. San Mateo County said it had 20,550 uncounted ballots as of Wednesday afternoon, and Santa Clara County’s Wednesday morning update listed 17,000 ballots remaining.
California has no provision in its elections code about a small margin triggering an automatic recount for statewide or federal elections, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. If the results are close enough, Simitian or Low’s campaign would have to request it and pay for it.