While former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s 8,200-vote margin means he is a shoo-in for the top spot on the ballot, the recount could change the unprecedented tie between Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian and State Assemblymember Evan Low.

Evan Low says, Thanks but no thanks, to the recount, and accuses Sam Liccardo of Trumpian tactics in engineering a recount plot to benefit from a two-man race.

Because of a tie vote for second place, voters in November will choose from among three candidates for the coveted Silicon Valley congressional seat: former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Santa Clara Supervisor Joe Simitian and state Assemblymember Evan Low.

April 2 Update: City, county, state ballots set for November

Joe Simitian was ahead of Evan Low by five votes Monday evening, after a week of seesaw results. The eventual winner of the race will be decided by how many of the remaining 1,000 voters who mailed in unsigned ballots show up before 5 pm Tuesday, April 2 to sign their ballots.

The contest between Joe Simitian and Evan Low could be decided by Friday's report from San Mateo County, which last reported results on Wednesday, March 13.

As expected, Mayor Matt Mahan easily won re-election, avoiding a November runoff with 87.8% of the vote, as ballot counting continued through Thursday.

In addition to outright winners in local races in the March primary, Matt Mahan, David Cohen and Otto Lee, another 10 local politicians emerged from the early ballot counts as shoo-ins for November, because they are already comfortably separated from their opponents.

No other city in California except Santa Clara still has an elected police chief. Less than 20% of the municipalities in the state have an elected city clerk.

The primary turnout in the county in 2022 was just under 36 percent, and this year’s county tally is likely to be under 30%, based on this week’s trends.

A suite of five bills introduced this week seeks to protect election integrity from bad actors using AI, especially on social media.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is making a bid for national political standing, but could he actually mount a successful campaign for the White House?

The four San Jose City Council candidates invited are:Pamela Campos, Joe Lopez, Lalbabu “Babu” Prasad, Vanessa Sandoval.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan now has a primary opponent, Tyrone Wade, but past elections provide strong evidence the two-year incumbent will sail to an early victory in the March 5 primary.

Tech security entrepreneur Peter Dixon of Portola Valley filed his FEC candidate statement on Thursday and announced he already had raised $350,000; and Palo Alto Councilmember Julie Lythcott-Haims became the seventh Democrat – and first woman – to announce as a candidate for the seat held for 16 terms by Rep. Anna Eshoo.

The combination of the new early primary date, March 5, plus the prospect of the most hotly contested congressional primary in the Bay Area in decades boosts the likelihood of campaign war chests in the millions.