Janice Hahn Likely to Face Craig Huey in California Primary for 36th Congressional District

Janice Hahn Likely to Face Craig Huey in California Primary for 36th Congressional District – Runoff Likely

May 16, 2011

UPDATE: News sources are reporting conflicting information this morning. ElectWomen Magazine will update as soon as information is available.

UPDATE FROM POLITICO: Republican Craig Huey had a surprise second place finish for a vacant Southern California congressional seat, according to preliminary results for Tuesday’s special election.

But with only a 200-vote margin between them and nearly 10,000 absentee and provisional votes left to count, the campaign of Democratic Secretary of State Debra Bowen is not giving up.

If Huey remains in second place, he will be the one in the July 12 run-off with Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn. That would set up a two-party battle instead of the all-Democratic battle many observers had predicted.

The unofficial final results from the Los Angeles County Clerk’s office showed Huey ahead of Bowen by 206 votes. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Hahn led the field, winning 24.66 percent of the vote to Huey’s 21.87 percent and Bowen’s 21.48 percent.

In a seemingly major upset in the race to replace former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), Republican Craig Huey appears to have captured one of the spots in a July 12 runoff.

With all of the election night ballots counted late Tuesday, Huey squeaked past California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, a Democrat, by 206 votes.

If the outcome stands after outstanding ballots are counted, Huey will face Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, a Democrat.

A special election was held on Tuesday, May 17^th to fill California’s 36^th Congressional District seat that was vacated by Jane Harman. With 24% of the vote, the winner is Los Angeles City Councilwoman, Janice Hahn. Current California Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, came in a close second with 21.5% of the vote.

Tuesday’s election will test California’s new jungle primary system. This new way of conducting primary’s was put in place when voters passed Prop 14 last November. Special elections are a little different but the general idea is this: instead of the top vote getter from each party moving on to the general election the top two contenders regardless of party will move on. In special elections the twist is that if a single candidate gets a majority of the vote on the first go around then they win outright.

From Politico– Why it matters: While the special election race to replace former Democratic Rep. Jane Harman is so far a low-key affair, it has also highlighted a battle between two wings of the party.

Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn, part of a prominent Southern California political family, has positioned herself as the standard-bearer for labor groups and working-class Democrats. She’s touted endorsements from the California Labor Federation and the AFL-CIO, as well as several police and firefighter unions.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen has aligned herself with the liberal activist set, promoting the backing she’s received from environmentalist groups like the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters and Netroots organizations, including Blue America and Democracy for America.

In the blogosphere, the Hahn-Bowen matchup has become a proxy battle between beer-track and wine-track Democrats. Whoever finishes on top will provide a small indication of which faction of the party has greater energy at this early stage in the cycle.