Rep. Honda in tight race; Yamada, Furutani, Nakanishi and Kim headed to state Senate runoffs

California’s June 7 Presidential primary election featured several close races involving Asian American candidates vying for political office this fall.

Federal Races
Some Congressional races featuring Asian American politicians will be hotly contested. Rep. Mike Honda of District 17 in San Jose is facing fellow Democrat challenger Ro Khanna. The two candidates stand neck-and-neck, garnering 38.1 percent and 38.3 percent of the vote with Khanna ahead by 177 votes as of June 8.

Rep. Ami Bera, the Sacramento Democrat of District 7, garnered 53.3 percent of the vote against Republican challenger Scott Jones, who got 46.7 percent of the vote.

Judy Chu, Ted Lieu, Doris Matsui and Mark Takano held healthy leads over their Republican challengers in their districts.

At the U.S. Senate level, California Attorney General Kamala Harris secured 40.3 percent of the vote followed by Rep. Loretta Sanchez with 18.5 percent. The two women will face-off in the fall to fill Sen. Barbara Boxer’s seat.

State Senate Races
In the State Senate races, Democrats Warren Furutani and Steven Bradford will face off for the Southern Californian District 35 after Furutani beat Democrat Isaac Galvan with 23.9 percent of the vote to Galvan’s 22.4. Also in Southern California, Republican Ling Ling Chang with 44.7 percent of the vote will face Josh Newman, who beat fellow Democrat Sukhee Kang in District 29.

In Northern California, Democrats Bill Dodd and Mariko Yamada will face off  in the fall with Dodd leading with 37.1 percent of the vote versus Yamada’s 29.1 percent in District 3. San Francisco City Supervisors  Jane Kim and Scott Wiener both moved on to the November ballot with 44 and 46 percent respectively in District 11. Republican Alan Nakanishi won against his fellow Republican Samuel Anderson with 27.9 percent of the vote to Anderson’s 15.3 percent to go on to run against Democratic incumbent Cathleen Galgiani in District 5 in the Sacramento and San Joaquin County area.

State Assembly Race
In a close race, Mae Torlakson will go on to vie for a seat in the San Francisco East Bay against fellow Democrat Tim Grayson. Torlakson and Grayson received 32.5 and 32.1 percent of the votes respectively.

Three Republicans are in a close race to move on to the November ballot to face off against Democrat contenders in November as well. In District 24, located in the San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, Peter Ohtaki received 20 percent of the vote while Democrat Vicki Veenker received 21.8. The winner will face Marc Berman. In District 55, located in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties, Phillip Chen led with 21.6 percent of the vote against  fellow Republican Mike Spence with 20.6. The winner will take on Gregg D. Fritchle. In Orange County’s Disctrict 68, Harry Sidhu and Steven S. Choi received 20.5 and 19.5 percent respectively and the winner will face Sean Jay Panahi.

Meanwhile, incumbent Republican Young Kim of District 65 in Orange County trailed behind with 47 percent of the vote to Democrat Sharon Quirk Silva’s 53. Silva aims to retake the seat she lost in 2014.
Similarly in Los Angeles County’s District 66, Democrat Al Muratsuchi is challenging Republican David Hadley for his former seat. Muratsuchi is leading with 48.4 percent of the vote to Hadley’s 45.4.
In other contests, Democrat Madison Nguyen led with 35.3 percent of votes in San Jose’s District 27 race, Republican Vince Fong in Bakersfield’s District 34 received 60.8 percent of the vote, and Todd Gloria of San Diego’s District 78 led with 71.6 percent of the vote. Incumbent Democrat assembly members David Chiu (District 17), Rob Bonta (District 18), Phil Ting (District 19), Kansen Chu (District 25) and Evan Low (District 28) all held a healthy lead against opponents while Assemblymember Ed Chau (District 49) ran unopposed.