California’s 16th Congressional District made history in the 2024 primaries after two candidates finished in second place after receiving the exact same number of votes, sending three people for Rep. Anna Eshoo’s (D-CA) seat to the general election this November.
Democrats Evan Low and Joe Simitian each garnered 16.6% of the vote, or 30,249 votes, according to results from the office of the California secretary of state released on Friday. Results will be certified on April 12.
Low, who serves in the California State Assembly, and Simitian, the Santa Rosa County supervisor, will join fellow Democrat and first-place finisher Sam Liccardo on the general election ballot, marking the first time in California’s history that three candidates will do so since the state adopted its top-two primary system in 2012.
Under state law, regardless of party, the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, but Low and Simitian’s tie has turned the solid Democratic seat into a competitive three-way race.
“It’s the kind of thing that is very low probability of ever happening, but they foresaw it in the law and created this rule that they go into the runoff together,” Paul Mitchell, the vice president of voter data vendor Political Data, told NBC News.
Matthew Alvarez, a partner at Rutan and Tucker specializing in election law, told the Mercury News that he’s “never seen anything like this in my career.” He said the race, which only yielded a 41% turnout, could have produced different results had any of the approximately 262,000 voters who did not show up cast a ballot.
The race was not at a tie until Tuesday afternoon, when Santa Clara County posted its results and found Low leading by a vote, per the results. By Wednesday, San Mateo County posted its results, adding one more vote to Simitian’s total and resulting in a tie.
Neither Low nor Simitian has commented on whether he would seek a recount, which would be an expensive decision. As detailed by the registrar of voters in Santa Clara County, which holds most of the 16th District, a recount would take nearly 10 days to complete and cost $32,000 per day, bringing the total to about $320,000. Rescanning ballots would take five days and cost $16,840 per day, for a total of $84,200. Recounting ballots in San Mateo County, which also is home to 18% of the district, would produce additional costs.
In a statement, Low said he is “honored” to advance to the general election. His campaign did not provide comment to the Washington Examiner when asked if Low would ask for a recount.
“Thank you to all of my incredible supporters who gave their time, money, and votes to support our campaign,” Low said. “This historically close race shows that every vote really counts. I could not have made it this far without every one of you, and I hope to earn your support once again in November.”
Simitian said in a statement that “this is what a functioning democracy looks like.”
“Sometimes it takes a while for democracy to work,” he said. “This has been one of those times. Call it a cliffhanger, a rollercoaster, a wild ride — but it has absolutely been worth the wait!”
Simitian’s campaign did not respond to a request from the Washington Examiner as to whether the supervisor plans to request a recount.
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Eshoo announced in November that she would not be seeking reelection in 2024 after serving on Capitol Hill since 1993. She joined a mass exodus of both House Democrats and Republicans who sat in safe seats but sought to retire instead following a tumultuous year in Congress.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Eshoo for comment.
