U.S. Congress: McNerney ahead in third tilt with Amador
Rep. Jerry McNerney has held off challenger Tony Amador twice before in the 9th Congressional District, and Tuesday night indicated he might pull it off again.
As polls closed in California at 8 p.m., McNerney led Amador, a Lodi resident, with 64% of the vote. Amador had 36% of the vote.
The 9th Congressional District encompasses most of San Joaquin County to the west, a sliver of Sacramento County and the eastern part of Contra Costa County.
In San Joaquin County, McNerney had 63.4% of the vote, while Amador garnered 36.6%, according to results from the California Secretary of State.
“I’m really grateful to the voters for having the confidence to vote for me again,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this far ahead. We’re looking forward to getting the full results soon.”
Nationally, McNerney said the races to get more Democrats elected have been larger nail biters than he had hoped.
“I expected Trump to take Ohio and Florida, but we’re looking for closer races in Pennsylvania and North Carolina,” he said. “I’d love to see those votes go our way. We need to get in there and get a president in who knows what he’s doing.”
Amador said although results Tuesday were early, he had fought another uphill battle.
“It’s early, and it’s trending for him,” he said. “He had a big advantage in registration as far as Democrats versus Republicans, and I had hoped to pull over some votes.”
Amador said he could have garnered more votes, particularly from the district’s Hispanic community, if his Statement of Qualifications had been sent to voters.
He said the Registrar of Voters Office never sent it out, even though he met the deadline to turn it in. He was contemplating asking for a refund on the $11,000 fee to publish the statement.
“I had it in Spanish, and I had two important issues that affect Latinos on it,” he said. “Latinos make up 40% of this county. One issue was DACA, which wasn’t working, and the other was farmers. They need workers in this county. Am I angry? I wouldn’t say that. I’m disappointed and upset.”
Amador and McNerney last faced off in 2014 and 2016, with the latter winning both contests by 55% and 57%, respectively.