Evan Low wins Silicon Valley primary recount, heads to November ballot

California Assemblymember Evan Low won a recount in the race to replace California Rep. Anna Eshoo, breaking an unprecedented 30,249-vote tie in March’s primary and sending him toward a final face-off against fellow Democrat Sam Liccardo in November.

March’s initial results showed Low had tied for second place with Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, paving the way for a potential three-way race in November under California’s top-two system.

But last month, a San Jose voter with ties to Liccardo requested a manual recount of the votes in both Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. The results announced Wednesday nudged Low ahead of Simitian by just 5 votes.

Liccardo is still considered the frontrunner in the contest for California’s 16th Congressional District seat in Silicon Valley.

“We are very excited that my advancement into the general election was reaffirmed and look forward to the next eventful chapter in this race,” Low said after eight weeks of uncertainty around his narrowly-won spot in the general, noting the importance of every vote.

Low also tipped his hat to Simitian, whom he called a “dedicated leader” and “inspiration.”

Low’s campaign was publicly critical of the recount and tried to prevent it from happening, accusing Liccardo of coordinating the effort with the former staffer and donor who made the request, which Liccardo’s campaign denied. Eshoo and others in the district piled on, calling for transparency around a political action committee that funded the recount.

Simitian, who had stayed neutral and complimentary of election officials during what turned into a contentious debate around the recount, conceded after the results were announced, saying he was “disappointed but not sad."

“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,” Simitian said.

Liccardo, whose spot has been secure since March, on Wednesday launched straight into attacking Low for trying to “undermine” the recount.

“Despite the efforts of some to stop this recount, we should all celebrate that democracy prevailed. Previously uncounted votes were counted,” Liccardo said after the results were announced.

The nail-biter election has resurfaced discussions about whether the state should trigger automatic recounts in close — or in this case tied — elections.

“It shows just the precariousness of any vote count process, and I think it's a pretty clear sign that there needs to be an automatic recount triggered when results are quite this close,” Kevin Liao, a political consultant in the Silicon Valley area, said Wednesday.

“It shouldn’t be up to the amount of resources you have or if you have a super PAC to fund it to have the will of the voters counted accurately,” he added.