By Robert Haugh
A recount is underway in the race to succeed Congresswoman Anna Eshoo in California Congressional District 16.
It ended in a rare tie for second place between Assemblymember Evan Low and County Supervisor Joe Simitian. That means both will enter the runoff in November against first-place finisher Sam Liccardo.
Or so voters thought.
Recently a voter with ties to Liccardo requested a recount. This was after a poll was circulated that appears to have been conducted by the Liccardo campaign, reported San Jose Spotlight.
Local political experts believe Liccardo discovered that he was vulnerable to losing a three-way contest in November.
After the polling, Jonathan Padilla, a former Liccardo campaign staffer requested the recount.
Padilla publicly denies he’s acting on Liccardo’s behalf. So did the Liccardo campaign. Many local politicos believe they’re hiding the truth from the voters.
A former Padilla co-worker has accused him of engaging in underhanded political tactics in the past to help elected officials.
Now, more details are coming out linking Padilla and Liccardo to the recount effort.
The money for the recount is not coming from Padilla. It’s coming from a brand new super PAC called “Count the Vote,” according to an NBC Bay Area report.
James Sutton is the attorney representing both the PAC and Padilla. The PAC won’t have to disclose donors until July after the recount is finished.
Low’s campaign team is crying foul, accusing Liccardo of shady backroom dealing.
“Given the revelation that a dark money Super PAC was formed a few days ago to bankroll the recount, it’s time for Sam Liccardo to come clean. Sam desperately wants to avoid a three-way race and the public deserves to know what was offered to the PAC or its secret donors in return for funding this recount.
“We also don’t know what he promised his former staffer in return for calling for the recount. Secret donors, dark money and backroom deals have no place in our electoral process. The voters deserve transparency and to know the truth.”
Prey tell – how is it “shady” to have an accurate accounting of people’s votes? Should be an automatic recount.
Question, does a recount have any higher chance of being 100% accurate than the original count? Whatever errors that may be introduced when counting are just as likely when performing a recount. So probably would need to be done three times to have a statistical impact.
Well all three are democrats, so hold on to your wallets. And why is Liccardo afraid of a race with more choices?
Liccardo did a lot of shady things in San Jose. He hid a lot of emails and got busted by the press and the courts. So this is no surprise. Politicians like Liccardo have henchmen around them to do the dirty work. But they set the tone. A fish rots from the head down as they say.
8 years a councilmember and 8 years a mayor and all you can point to is: used personal phone for work related business. LOL!!
Does it surprise anyone?
Padilla has a relationship with Becker’s new attorney with relation to digital currency.
York is involved with two digital currency companies that know Goodwin Procter.
Jed York. 6000 to sam liccardo
James Sutton is Sam Liccardo’s lawyer. Fec sent him a warnning letter