What Went Down In The June 7 Primaries
About half the expected vote is in from California’s 45th District, and Democrat Jay Chen, a community college trustee, holds a slight edge over Republican Rep. Michelle Steel, 46 percent to 44 percent. That pretty much guarantees they will be the two candidates to advance to November.
In California’s 40th District, it’s looking like a late GOP investment paid off for Rep. Young Kim, who has just 32 percent of the vote but is outpacing fellow Republican Greg Raths, who has just 20 percent. In the closing weeks of the race there were worries that Raths would make it to the general election instead of Kim, where he’d put the seat in jeopardy against Democrat Asif Mahmood (47 percent). But that outcome seems to have been averted, and Mahmood will likely face Kim in the fall.
Latest count in the top-two primary for California’s 40th District
Results of the top-two primary for California’s 40th Congressional District, as of 11:53 p.m. Eastern
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Vote % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asif Mahmood | D | 32,069 | 47.3% |
| Young Kim* | R | 21,868 | 32.3 |
| Greg Raths | R | 13,044 | 19.2 |
| Nick Taurus | R | 802 | 1.2 |
With 28 percent reporting in California’s 42nd District, Democrat Robert Garcia is still in a commanding lead with 49 percent. Regardless of whether he faces Republican John Briscoe (currently at 24 percent) or Democrat Cristina Garcia (currently at 13 percent) in November, he looks like a solid favorite to head to Congress in this dark-blue seat.