Extra innings for D-16 race

Just when we were adapting to an unprecedented three-candidate general election, along come two noncandidates — one a bit of an iconoclast, the other with unsettlingly close ties to front-runner Sam Liccardo — to throw the whole thing into more confusion and uncertainty.

Assuming this means a recount will take place, there will be a further delay and, perhaps, another change in the final outcome, which currently has Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian and Assemblymember Evan Low tied for second place. In case you just joined us, this puts both of them in the general election against Liccardo, the former San Jose mayor. Or it did. Or it might. Or it might not.

Low wasted no time attacking one of the recount filers, Jonathan Padilla, now a blockchain startup CEO, but a former political aide to Liccardo when he was mayor.

“This is a page right out of Trump’s political playbook using dirty tricks to attack democracy and subvert the will of the voters,” Low said in an overheated news release. Actually, Low appears to have been rendered unable to speak for himself. Instead, the comment came from a “Evan Low campaign spokesperson.” Campaign avatars. How modern.

Anyway, this disembodied campaign comment accused Liccardo of using Padilla to file for a recount. This was presented without any evidence except guilt by association.

Padilla posted a response on social media listing his long-standing Democratic credentials, and expressing umbrage at the reference to former President Donald Trump.

“Why other Democrats don’t believe in counting votes and ensuring the will of the people is transparently reflected confuses me,” he wrote. “Let’s count every vote,” he added, apparently not convinced that all the votes were counted, which is what we have been told by elections officials.

To sum up, maybe Liccardo asked Padilla to file. Maybe there was no need to ask. Padilla’s response conveniently skirts that question.

Fairly close on the heels of Padilla’s declaration of independence came a statement from the Liccardo campaign.

Surprise: The Liccardo campaign thinks the recount is a nifty idea.

“Every vote should be counted, and that’s why recounts are part of the state’s electoral process to ensure accuracy,” reads that statement. More than 100 ballots remain uncounted for various reasons, the statement notes. “We understand why, under these extraordinary circumstances, there would be an effort to make sure these votes are fully considered.”

Underlying Low’s own outrage is the likelihood, at least in the political sense, that Liccardo would be better off running against one opponent, not two.

In the 11-candidate primary field, Liccardo finished first by a nice margin of about 8,200 votes, but, in reality, he got only 21% of the votes, a scant 5% ahead of Simitian and/or Low. A three-way general feels more like a race that would be up for grabs, potentially winnable by anyone who can consolidate the votes that went to the other eight candidates.

But before we go there, we must make our way through the ongoing weirdness.

Most notably, that out of 182,135 votes cast in the primary, Low and Simitian tied.

Weird enough to prompt the other filing by Dan Stegink, former Pacifica planning commissioner, one-time unsuccessful candidate for county supervisor, who last month ran for reelection to the San Mateo County Democratic Central Committee, finishing eighth in a field of nine candidates for six seats.

“I think a tie for second place is both statistically extremely unlikely and a three-way general election potentially elects a new congressman that 66.5% of the voters don’t vote for,” Stegink said in an email exchange refreshing in that he actually spoke for himself. Those of us who loiter around San Mateo County politics know Stegink as a bit of an outlier, a willing contrarian, if you will, so this maneuver is very much in character.

We had additional exchanges about whether he was willing to pay for the recount, which can run into the mid-six figures, whether he can be reimbursed by the counties or state if the election outcome is changed and other punctilious questions that seem to swirl around this congressional race.

He noted, “I haven’t endorsed Liccardo/Low/Simitian, nor have I given them a dime.” He added: “I guarantee a recount will take place.”

All of which is fine, except it delays not just the conclusion of the primary, but the beginning of the general election campaign.

As Yogi might say: It ain’t started ‘til it’s started.

Note to readers: This column was changed to reflect Stegink’s eighth place in the Democratic Central Committee race.

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.