ELECTION 2022: Incumbent Democrats Cruise to Congressional Return

The incumbent members of Congress representing portions of Santa Clara County – Anna Eshoo, Ro Khanna, Zoe Lofgren and Jimmy Panetta, all Democrats – all are easily headed to re-election this year, despite encountering significant changes in district boundaries because of reapportionment based on the 2020 census.

Lofgren, the highest profile member of Congress from San Jose because of her roles on the January 6 Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, is sollidly ahead for a 15th two-year term, defeating Republican Peter Hernandez.

She will represent a re-drawn 18th District that stretches from downtown San Jose to southern Monterey County. First elected to Congress in 1994, she represented the former 16th District until 2012, when she was elected to a redrawn 19th District.

In the June primary, she placed first, with 56.3%, to Hernandez’ total of 31.3%

Eshoo, the longest-serving Congress member representing portions of Santa Clara County, has a solid lead to represent a new congressional district, the realigned 16th District. She will begin serving her 16th term in the House of Representatives in January. She represented the14th District for 10 terms, and a realigned 18th District for five terms.

For the second straight Congressional election, Eshoo is well ahead of Democrat Rishi Kumar. She also had beaten Kumar in the June primary and in the primary and general election of 2020, when she won 63.2% of the vote, to Kumar’s 36.8%.

Khanna also is on his way to defeat a familiar opponent, Republican Ritesh Tandon. Khanna topped Tandon in the June primary, and in the primary and general elections of 2020, when he was elected with 68.6% of the vote.

Khanna is set to be re-elected to a fourth term in Congress representing the 17th District, which has some new boundaries because of the 2020 census.

Panetta’s election to a fourth term in the House of Representatives in the realigned 19th District is all but assured. It would be a repeat of the June primary and the 2020 primary and general election victories over Republican Jeff Gorman, who lost in 2020 by a 76.8%-to-23.2% margin in Panetta’s third election in the 20th District.

Here are the results for Santa Clara County’s Congressional seats.

The 2022 results, in percentages, are based on early, unofficial returns from the Secretary of State, as of 11pm Election Day. Approximately 40% of ballots have been counted. Vote-by-mail, provisional and other ballots will continue to be processed and counted after Election Day.

16th District

Anna Eshoo (D) 58.4%

Rishi Kumar (D) 41.6%

17th District

Ro Khanna (D) 69.6%

Ritesh Tandon (R) 30.4%

18th District

Zoe Lofgren (D) 64.9%

Peter Hernandez (R)  35.1%

19th District

Jimmy Panetta (D) 67.3%

Jeff Gorman  (R)  32.7%

 

Three decades of journalism experience, as a writer and editor with Gannett, Knight-Ridder and Lee newspapers, as a business journal editor and publisher and as a weekly newspaper editor in Scotts Valley and Gilroy; with the Weeklys group since 2017. Recipient of several first-place writing and editing awards, California News Publishers Association.

4 Comments

  1. We keep making the same choices and yet somehow we hope things will get better.
    If you believe its not all rigged that is.

  2. No surprise – unless they fall asleep in Congress (Honda) or very rarely visit their district (Stark) they will always get reelected

  3. I think Nancy Pelosi said it best back in 2019:
    “To drive the point home (Nancy Pelosi) she picked up a water glass next to her and said:
    “This glass of water would win with a ‘D’ next to its name in those districts”
    .
    Unfortunately, the low information CA electorate, would even (and some cases does)
    vote for a glass of water with a “D” next to it – even half empty.

  4. Just an observation,

    Funny, because it looks like the VOTERS wind no matter what. The VOTERS choose who wins and not the random commenters here.

    And to pass off voter as insignificant by trying to insult them, that never will persuade anyone to agree with you.

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