Self-funding Republican Craig Huey appears to have pulled off a surprising upset Tuesday night, leapfrogging Democrat Debra Bowen to advance to a July 12 runoff in the special election to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.). He'll face Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who finished first in the 16-candidate field.
With all precincts reporting, Huey leads Bowen, the California secretary of state, by just 206 votes - but it's a slim margin that will likely hang in uncertainty until more than 9,000 absentee ballots are counted. The AP has only called the race for Hahn, and not for Huey.
With all precincts reporting, Huey leads Bowen, the California secretary of state, by just 206 votes - but it's a slim margin that will likely hang in uncertainty until more than 9,000 absentee ballots are counted. The AP has only called the race for Hahn, and not for Huey.
Hahn led all candidates with 24.7 percent of the vote, and she was expected to face Bowen in the July runoff in the first test of the state's first all-party primary, which entailed rules that could have allowed for two members of the same party in the multi-candidate field to advance.
However, it was Huey, a wealthy businessman who put a half-million of his own money into his campaign and spent more than $300,000 on radio and TV ads, who pulled the upset. Neither Bowen nor Hahn had been up on television.
Currently, Huey leads all Republicans with 21.9 percent, or 11,648 votes. Bowen trails with 21.5 percent, or 11,442 votes.
If he moves on, Huey will face a stiff challenge against in the runoff - all Democratic candidates received a total of 56 percent of the vote. The district gave 64 percent of the vote for President Obama in 2008.
According to a late night tweet from Los Angeles County Clerk Dean Logan, there are an estimated 9,811 ballots still to be counted, including 8,416 from people who voted by mail, 1,269 provisional ballots and 126 damaged ballots. But Bowen signaled last night she wasn't yet conceding, and still believed the outstanding ballots would tip the race in her favor. "This has been a very spirited campaign and it remains very close," Bowen campaign manager Dan Chavez said in a statement. "There are 9,811 ballots that still need to be processed - more than enough to make up the difference. We are confident Debra Bowen will be in the runoff." Progressive activist Marcy Winograd, who twice challenged Harman, finished a distant fourth, taking only 5,066 votes, or just 9.5 percent. Democrat Dan Adler, an entertainment executive whose unconventional campaign drew attention after he hired actor Sean Astin as his campaign manager and ran ads saying "send a Mensch to Congress," got only 285 votes - only 0.5 percent. Harman resigned her seat in February to head the Woodrow Wilson Center, creating the vacancy.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/blogs/hotlineoncall/2011/05/in-upset-hahn-may-face-republican-in-ca-36-runoff-18
However, it was Huey, a wealthy businessman who put a half-million of his own money into his campaign and spent more than $300,000 on radio and TV ads, who pulled the upset. Neither Bowen nor Hahn had been up on television.
Currently, Huey leads all Republicans with 21.9 percent, or 11,648 votes. Bowen trails with 21.5 percent, or 11,442 votes.
If he moves on, Huey will face a stiff challenge against in the runoff - all Democratic candidates received a total of 56 percent of the vote. The district gave 64 percent of the vote for President Obama in 2008.
According to a late night tweet from Los Angeles County Clerk Dean Logan, there are an estimated 9,811 ballots still to be counted, including 8,416 from people who voted by mail, 1,269 provisional ballots and 126 damaged ballots. But Bowen signaled last night she wasn't yet conceding, and still believed the outstanding ballots would tip the race in her favor. "This has been a very spirited campaign and it remains very close," Bowen campaign manager Dan Chavez said in a statement. "There are 9,811 ballots that still need to be processed - more than enough to make up the difference. We are confident Debra Bowen will be in the runoff." Progressive activist Marcy Winograd, who twice challenged Harman, finished a distant fourth, taking only 5,066 votes, or just 9.5 percent. Democrat Dan Adler, an entertainment executive whose unconventional campaign drew attention after he hired actor Sean Astin as his campaign manager and ran ads saying "send a Mensch to Congress," got only 285 votes - only 0.5 percent. Harman resigned her seat in February to head the Woodrow Wilson Center, creating the vacancy.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/blogs/hotlineoncall/2011/05/in-upset-hahn-may-face-republican-in-ca-36-runoff-18