Stephen Ellison

Honda, Khanna in Dead Heat for 17th District Seat

Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's primary, Mike Honda and Ro Khanna will be facing off in November for the 17th District congressional seat, and right now it looks to be a virtual tie.

As polling station workers continued to count late mail-in ballots Wednesday, results showed both candidates receiving 38 percent of the vote to represent the district that covers much of Silicon Valley, including parts of Santa Clara and Alameda counties.

Khanna, the challenger, said Tuesday's vote was a triumph for his campaign.

"This is an astounding upset and an amazing victory for the people of the 17th District," he said in a statement.

Both candidates say they represent the middle class. Honda, the incumbent, was in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and released a statement.

"With individuals ready to trample on the middle class bankrolling my opponent's campaign, we know that this is going to be one of the closest congressional races in the country," Honda said.

Khanna says he's a truer reflection of the middle class. "My parents were immigrants," he said.

Khanna added that Honda is out of touch with the Bay Area, not holding enough town hall meetings.

But the Honda campaign disputes that, saying the congressman's telephone town halls reach out to a lot of people. And on weekends, he is here, out in the community.

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