After nearly two weeks of counting ballots, Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian leads state Assemblymember Evan Low by just 12 votes in California’s Congressional District 16 race.
The two veteran lawmakers are vying for a spot in the November general election to face former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, who safely secured first place last week among the crowded field wanting to replace U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo.
Simitian started out ahead on election night, but last week, Low was able to close the gap and move into second place. Yet another lead change occurred on Friday when Simitian surpassed Low.
As of Monday evening, the margin between the two — less than one-tenth of a percent — was at its smallest to date.
San Mateo County said Monday that it had 20 ballots left to count in addition to 680 challenged ballots that will need to be cured by April 2. Santa Clara County did not release an update on unprocessed ballots on Monday, but the county could have as many as 1,200 challenged ballots that had signature issues or other problems that will need to be fixed in the next few weeks.
