Stanford Law School lecturer Sam Liccardo and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian M.A. ’00 are leading the contested primary to replace Democratic Rep. Anna Eshoo as the congressional representative for California’s 16th district, which includes Stanford. The top two candidates from Tuesday’s open primary will advance to a general election on Nov. 5. 

With 51.7% of the expected votes in as of 10 a.m. Wednesday, Liccardo has won 21.7% and Simitian 17.7% of the vote. Democratic California state assemblymember Evan Low and Republican businessman Peter Ohtaki MBA ’87 won 15.6% and 13.6% of the vote, respectively. 

Liccardo, who served as the mayor of San Jose for eight years, taught two Stanford Law School courses last year on urban issues and housing policy. Liccardo told The Daily last month that he is running “to get Congress moving on issues like climate change, affordable housing, homelessness and on issues of personal safety.” 

“Sam has been crisscrossing this district, talking to voters at [their]doors, at events and on the phones everywhere from Pacifica to San Jose,” Liccardo’s spokesperson Julie Edwards wrote in an email to The Daily. “We’re going to keep doing that every day between now and November 5. This is an important election, and we know what is at stake.” 

Simitian, whose campaign was endorsed by Eshoo, has served on the Palo Alto City Council, in the California State Assembly and State Senate and most recently as a Santa Clara County Supervisor. He has a master’s degree in international policy from Stanford.

In an interview with The Daily last month, Simitian said he is running for office to improve constituents’ lives during “a particularly daunting time in American history,” and named reproductive freedom, climate change and healthcare as key priorities.

“This is what democracy looks like,” Simitian said in his election night speech. “You all are proof positive that the community wants a functional Congress, working democracy and a nation that we bind together and not rip apart.”

As for other races on the ballot, U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have won California’s Democratic and Republican presidential primaries, respectively. Adam Schiff ’82, a Democrat representing California’s 30th district, will face former professional baseball player and Republican candidate Steve Garvey to assume the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the late Dianne Feinstein ’55. 

Liccardo’s campaign is “extremely grateful” for the support they have received so far.

This article has been updated.