Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Special Election Today in CA-12 to fill Lantos' Seat

WE'VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com

We may just be back to 794 superdelegates today after CA-12 elects Jackie Speier to fill Tom Lantos' House seat. If you read yesterday's preview of the special election you'll know that Speier is expected to win the race easily.

Voters in the 12th Congressional District, which spans much of San Mateo County and a slice of San Francisco, will hit the polls today to choose a replacement for U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, who died of cancer Feb. 11.

On the ballot for the special open primary election are five candidates from three different political parties. If any candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, that person will serve out the remainder of Lantos' term, which runs through January.

If no one wins a majority, the district will remain unrepresented until June, when the leading vote-getters from each party square off again.

Jackie Speier, a 57-year-old Hillsborough Democrat who served 18 years in the state Legislature, is considered the favorite to win. Pundits say her lesser-known opponents will likely need a low turnout today to have a chance of blocking her from gaining a majority. - San Mateo Daily News


Speier supports Clinton but isn't sure who she'd vote for at the convention
Given Obama's practically insurmountable lead in the delegate count, Speier would appear to believe that either Clinton will bow out for the good of the party or Democratic leaders will put sufficient pressure on her to step aside.

Even more surprising, Speier said that despite her endorsement of Clinton, she would decide whom to vote for after the primary, leaving open the possibility that she'd go for Obama. She declined to say which candidate would get her vote, but her silence itself was revealing. - Inside Bay Area


Update: Speier wins with 80% of the vote.

5 comments:

Andy said...

I'm maintaining a spreadsheet version of the DemConWatch superdelegate lists, including totals by state.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pJtVEmjAOVuDfN2LvO_z5HA

Unknown said...

where are you finding the results?

Matt said...

If I tell you then you won't have to come here!

Matt said...

http://www.mercurynews.com/elections

DocJess said...

Why if you said in the post that Spiers "supports Clinton" but doesn't know who she will vote for at the convention, did you list her has an endorser of Clinton?