Democratic incumbents lead in San Mateo County primary races

Mullin received 61% of the vote for the District 15 seat in comparison to his four challengers, which include two Democrats, one independent and a Republican, according to unofficial results from the California Secretary of State as of Tuesday night. Republican Charles Hoelter is currently in second, with 24.4% of the vote, and Democrat Anthony Dang received 6.4%. Independent Jim Garrity and Democrat Mantosh Kumar are coming in last, with 4.4% and 3.8%, respectively, as of Tuesday night. 

Liccardo is also taking an expected and early lead for his District 16 seat, with 70.7% of the vote compared to one independent and two Republican challengers. Republican Peter Sundin Soulé is trailing behind with 13.3%, with Republican Kevin Johnson following at 12.6%  and independent Jotham Stein coming in last with 3.4%, according to unofficial results from the California Secretary of State as of Tuesday night.

Papan and Berman are also in major leads against Republican challengers. Papan, who represents District 21 in the state legislature, and Berman, who represents District 23, collected 71.6% and 71.7% of votes, respectively, according to unofficial results from the California Secretary of State as of Tuesday night. 

Incumbent Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, who represents portions of North County, as well as San Francisco, has also collected 78.8% of votes compared to her Republican challenger Philip Wing, according to unofficial results from the California Secretary of State as of Tuesday night.

Papan, who is defending her seat against a sole Republican challenger, Jabra Muhawieh, said she appreciated the vote of confidence from her constituency and, that if reelected in the general election, will continue her stalwart focus on affordability. Muhawieh collected 28.4% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the California Secretary of State as of Tuesday night. 

“I think that shows the voters believe in the work we’re doing,” Papan said. “When I got to Sacramento, it was a deficit from day one. I don’t even know what it’s like to have a surplus. My nature is to make sure we got the most bang for our buck, and I’m going to continue to do that.” 

Muhawieh, a Republican, said he was looking forward to using the time between now and the general election to share his platform with voters, however, he wasn’t surprised with the primary results.

“I did expect that, because the area is mostly registered Democrats,” he said. “I think once my platform is out there and people know what I’m about and what kind of person I am, we could change that come November.” 

Berman is facing off against two Republicans, businessman Rick Giorgetti and David Johnson, Santa Clara County Republican Party chairman and business owner. Johnson, the chair of the Santa Clara County Republican Party, is outpacing Giorgetti with 17.8% of the vote as opposed to Giorgetti’s 10.5%, according to unofficial results from the California Secretary of State as of Tuesday night. 

Assuming those numbers hold as the remainder of ballots are tallied, Johnson said he was excited by his second-place seat as it will give him a chance to run a campaign against Berman based on alleviating government fraud and reinstating parents’ rights. Giorgetti, for his part, said he was unfazed by the results. 

“It’s kind of exciting. I wasn’t tremendously active … because I wanted to just make it through the primary and then see what happens, and now I can start to run the campaign,” Johnson said. 

Berman, who, if reelected, will hold his last term in the state Assembly, said his priorities would be civically-minded, including enhancing democracy protections in the state. 

“It’s only the primary, we still have a general. I want to take that seriously,” he said. “What I really plan on working on in my last two years in the legislature [is] coming up with a broad California democracy initiative.” 

In the race for the District 15 seat, which encompasses most of San Mateo County, Mullin is pulling ahead for an easy lead, with Republican Charles Hoelter in a current second place and excited to learn he would potentially be proceeding to the general election. Hoelter said he wasn’t surprised by Mullin’s substantive lead. 

“It really hasn’t struck me as anything I didn’t expect,” Hoelter said. “I knew it would really be a hard, uphill battle.” 

Kumar and Dang, who had positioned themselves as more progressive Democrat alternatives to Mullin who did not take corporate money, both collected single-digit percentages of the vote, according to unofficial results from the California Secretary of State as of Tuesday night.

“It was pretty tough, honestly, trying to do the right thing,” Dang said. “I feel like at a time like right now, people need to stand up and say we’ve had enough, and I’m glad that I did it and I think that more people should.” 

Independent candidate Jim Garrity did not respond to request for comment. 

Mullin said in a statement that he looks forward to a vigorous campaign in the general election, where he will also be helping to elect Democrats across the state. 

“I plan to earn every vote based upon my record of service delivering results for CA-15, defending our democracy under threat from an authoritarian Trump administration, making our communities more resilient for what is to come with climate change, and pushing for an economy that works for everyone,” he said in a statement. 

None of the four candidates for District 16, which includes both San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, responded to request for comment. 

Election results will be updated 4:30 p.m. Thursday, June 4; Friday, June 5; Monday, June 8; Wednesday, June 10; Friday, June 12; and Monday, June 15. The results will be certified Thursday, July 2.