Low moves on, Simitian falls short after recount

After a historic recount and two months of political drama, State Assembly member Evan Low will advance to a November showdown with former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo for a chance to represent Silicon Valley in Congress.

In advancing, Low edged out Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, a former state legislator who appeared poised for a primary spot with a lead of 2 percentage points when the initial results were released on March 5. Over the following weeks, as more precincts results came in, Low gradually caught Simitian and the two candidates ended the primary with 30,249 votes each, paving the way for both of them to advance to the November election.

That changed this week, when the two counties that make up District 16 completed their respective recounts. Low gained what proved to be a decisive edge on April 30, when Santa Clara County released its own final recount results, which showed him picking up 11 new votes and Simitian picking up seven. His four-vote edge expanded by another vote on May 1, when San Mateo County finalized its recount results.

Simitian’s vote in San Mateo County recount remained at 6,481, consistent with the March 5 count, while Low saw his vote count go up by one, to 4,938.

Minutes after the results were released, Simitian issued a statement conceding the election to Low.

“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. I lost, and I concede. I trust the process, and I accept the result,” Simitian said in the statement.

Low said he is very excited about having his advancement to the general election reaffirmed and said in a statement he looks forward to the “real work of tackling the big issues facing our country like reproductive freedom and affordability.

“My team and I knew that succeeding the esteemed Anna Eshoo would be challenging, so we see a race ending in a tie followed by a recount as character building for your next representative in Congress,” Low said in a statement. “We are very excited that my advancement into the general election was reaffirmed and I now look forward to the real work of tackling the big issues facing our country like reproductive freedom and affordability.”

Low expressed gratitude to Registrars of Voters staff from both counties for what he called their “meticulous efforts during this unique recount process.” He also thanked “the dedicated leader who took this wild recount ride with me, Joe Simitian, whose decades of public service remain an inspiration to me.”

The recount was launched on April 15 at the behest of Jonathan Padilla, a political ally of Liccardo. While Low had strongly opposed the recount, Simitian took a wait-and-see attitude and expressed confidence in the final results.

Low said in an interview that he looks forward to making his case to district voters between now and November and to focus on issues such as reproductive rights, affordability and climate change.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and adversity certainly builds character,” Low said, when asked about the two-month experience of waiting for the election results to be finalized. “A member of Congress needs to be able to advocate for our community in Silicon Valley. That’s why I’m excited about this opportunity to advance to the November election and to tackle issues that people really care about.”

He also commended Simitian and acknowledged his service to district residents.

“Only two of us could understand what it was like each end every day, seeing the votes go up and then down the next day,” Low said.

Low secured his place on the November ballot on May 1, when San Mateo County released its official results. With Santa Clara County recount results showing Low with a lead of four votes, Simitian’s last chance to narrow the gap rested with the 28 challenged ballots that San Mateo County was reviewing. These included 16 ballots that were related to postmark issues and 12 related to signature verification, according to Chief Elections Officer Mark Church.

Ultimately, the ballot process resulted in 21 challenges that were rejected by the San Mateo County registrar and seven that were accepted. Once these were added to the tally, Low saw his vote count go up by one while Simitian’s remained the same.

Meanwhile, the machine count in San Mateo County verified all the results from the March 5 election.

“We are pleased that the machine recount showed that all ballots cast in the March 5, Presidential Primary Election were reported accurately and were an exact match to the certified results posted in the Statement of the Vote to the Secretary of State on April 4, 2024,” Church wrote in a statement.

Things were somewhat messier in Santa Clara County, which makes up about 80% of the Congressional district. There, the Registrar of Voters found 19 ballots that were not included in the initial count because of errors by machine operators and seven ballots that were not counted initially but were later added to the count as a result of challenges by Padilla’s team.

With the recount officially completed, Low finished with 25,093 votes in Santa Clara County while Simitian finished with 23,775 votes. In San Mateo County, Simitian finished with 6,481 votes after the March 5 primary, while Low had received 5,168 votes. Low will now advance to the November general election with a total 30,261 votes, while Simitian fell short with 30,256 votes.

In his statement, Simitian said that he was “disappointed, but not sad.” 

“I’m disappointed on a personal level because I had looked forward to running in November and serving in Congress. I’m disappointed because I couldn’t deliver a win for the oh-so-many folks who gave their time, effort, energy and resources to our campaign. And frankly, I’m disappointed because I won’t have the opportunity to bring a fresh take to our nation’s capital — where we urgently need a renewed sense of purpose, and a commitment to maintaining and sustaining our democracy.

“That said, I am not sad. I have a wonderful life, a wonderful wife, and satisfying work to engage me at the County.”

He said he has spoken to both Low and Liccardo and congratulated both of them.

In an interview Wednesday, Simitian described the experience of the past two months as “beyond description.”

“On Election Night, we had what appeared to be a very healthy margin, then the extraordinary result of a tie and then the recount process that none of us could have anticipated that had its own twists and turns,” Simitian said. “But it’s an election process. There are winners and losers and that’s the nature of the process. I went into the race knowing that.”

He said that he looks forward to getting back to county business and finishing up the various projects that he has been involved with, including housing developments for teachers and for low-income residents, a health clinic and a psychiatric facility for teenagers.

“I have plenty at the county to keep me occupied for the rest of this year,” Simitian said. “Then I’m looking forward to taking a breath.”