April 5 (UPI) — Tuesday is election day in California’s Central Coast, where one of six Republican and Democratic candidates could fill the seat vacated early this year by Rep. Devin Nunes.
Four Republicans and two Democrats are vying for Nunes’ seat representing California’s 22nd District, which is being absorbed into other districts by a new congressional map that goes into effect for November’s ballot.
That means whoever wins the race will serve for only a few months before they will be up for re-election.
Nunes, one of former President Donald Trump’s staunchest defenders in the House, resigned from his seat in January to lead Trump’s media company. Nunes became a lightning rod for Democrats when he led the House intelligence committee during Trump’s early years in office and often spoke out against the special investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia over the 2016 election.
The Republican candidates for Tuesday’s election include Connie Conway, former GOP leader in the California Assembly; Elizabeth Heng, a tech executive; former FBI special agent Michael Maher; and Matt Stoll, a small business owner.
Rep. Devin Nunes was one of former President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters while Trump was in office. He resigned from Congress in January to head Trump’s fledgling media company. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
The Democrats are Eric Garcia, a U.S. Marine veteran, and Lourin Hubbard, a state water resources executive.
A winner will be decided on Tuesday only if they receive an outright majority of votes, not a plurality. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, the top two will advance to a runoff on June 17.
For the election in November, the candidate who fills Nunes’ seat will have to run for a newly drawn district, which will lean more Democratic and include more of Fresno County. Longtime Democratic Rep. Jim Costa is already viewed as the leading candidate for the new House seat.
Most experts feel that Nunes’ seat will most likely go to one of the Republican candidates, as the district has traditionally leaned toward the GOP.
Democratic Central Valley veteran Amanda Renteria said Conway is probably the favorite since the newly drawn lines won’t go into effect until this fall.
“Connie has the best chance because people know her name,” Renteria told the Los Angeles Times. “People will remember Elizabeth Heng just because she went against Costa not too long ago. She’s sort of brought a younger, newer audience.”
