Politics & Government

Updated: Eshoo, Chapman Leading in Congressional District 18 Race

With name recognition and years of service under her belt, political scientist Larry Gerston predicts seasoned U.S. House of Representatives member will be in top-two spot during November election.

Update: 12:00 p.m., June 6: With all 306 precincts reporting, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo emerged ahead during Tuesday's election receiving 38,794 votes, or 58.41 percent and contender Dave Chapman getting 21,088 votes, or 31.75 percent.

The other two candidates—William Parks and Carol Brouillet—with 306 of 306 precincts reporting numbers, were trailing behind in third and fourth place with 3,681 votes, or 5.54 percent and 2,850 votes or 4.29 percent, respectively.

"It is enormously gratifying to have the support of so many of my new constituents, and the continuing trust of those I've been serving," Eshoo said Wednesday morning about the election returns. "I'll do everything I can to give my constituents the representation they deserve."

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Chapman's campaign officials said he would be issuing a statement sometime Wednesday.

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Running for this new district is Rep. Anna Eshoo, who currently represents the 15th Congressional District. The other candidates are Republican Dave Chapman, a software engineer; Green Party member Carol Brouillet, a producer and writer and Democrat William Parks, an attorney.

Since it's an open primary election, it's not known who will emerge victorious until the general election Nov. 6 when the top-two vote getters run against each other for a final contest.

This is what they call a top-two primary, meaning two will run in November in this race regardless of how many votes they receive or party affiliation during today's election, explained San Jose State University political scientist Larry Gerston. The change was approved by voters in a 2010 ballot measure.

"When all is said and done, two of the four will emerge and it's reasonable to believe Eshoo will be one of them," Gerston said. "She has the name recognition and is popular. The question is which of the other three candidates running against her will prevail."

The newly drawn Congressional District 18 contains part of Eshoo's old district, but new areas such as Los Gatos and Campbell.

Congressman Mike Honda will no longer represent the two popular West Valley communities since he's moving east to represent Congressional District 15.

The new Congressional District 18 contains portions of San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties.

Cities and towns such as Campbell, Los Gatos, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Saratoga are maintained whole within the district and portions of the cities of Menlo Park, Redwood City, and San Jose are also within the district and divided to achieve population equality requirements, according to the Citizens Redistricting Commission.

The district also contains an unpopulated area of Santa Cruz. "Areas within the district share common social and economic characteristics based on income level and reliance on high technology economies, as well as interests in open space and environmental concerns," the commission wrote in its 2011 redistricting report.

For complete results about this race, please check our live June 5, 2012 Primary Presidential Election by clicking

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