Joe Simitian long had his eye on a seat in Congress. It would have been a fine way to cap his 40-year political career.
“I viewed it as an opportunity to improve the lives of the people I represent in a different way at a different level,” the Silicon Valley Democrat said.
Little did he know.
On election night, March 5, Simitian was running second in a field of 11 candidates vying for a Bay Area House seat. Under California’s top-two primary system, that meant a spot in November’s runoff against the top finisher, former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo.
Then, the race turned into a cliff-hanger. As more ballots were counted, Simitian bobbed between second and third place, sometimes by just a handful of votes. For a time, the race for second was tied. Finally, last week, the contest ended. Simitian finished third, behind Democratic Assemblyman Evan Low.
The margin was five votes.
What happened next was striking: Simitian bowed out of the race. Swiftly. Unreservedly. Graciously.
“I lost, and I concede,” he said in a written statement. “I trust the process, and I accept the result.”
If only a certain reckless ex-president had acted with as much responsibility and dispatch. Think how much better off the country would have been these last several years.
It’s not that hard, really.
“It’s a pretty simple and straightforward proposition,” said Santa Clara County supervisor in a conversation this week. “If you come up short, you acknowledge that fact, you congratulate the winners and you say thank you to the people who helped get you there.
“I mean, I feel like that’s something every 8-year-old kid in America should have learned from their folks.”
Apparently not. It’s a pretty simple and straightforward proposition. f you come up short, you acknowledge that fact, you congratulate the winners and you say thank you to the people who helped get you there. I mean, I feel like that’s something every 8-year-old kid in America should have learned from their folks.Santa Clara County supervisor
Simitian, 71, began his political career on the Palo Alto school board in 1983. Over the next several decades, he climbed the rungs of state and local government. In Sacramento, he wrote California’s hands-free cellphone law and legislation expanding green energy and early education.
He began raising money for a congressional bid more than a decade ago and finally got his shot at a seat this year when the Democratic incumbent, Anna G. Eshoo, announced she would step down at the end of her term in January.
It was a rare opportunity — Eshoo has represented parts of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties in Congress for 30 years — and there was no lack of interest. Candidates raised nearly $11 million and outside groups chipped in millions more, making the contest one of the most expensive congressional races in the country.
The suspenseful count that pushed the primary into a lengthy overtime was “a bit of a roller-coaster ride,” Simitian said with notable understatement. “One day you’d be up five. The next day, you’d be down one. The next day, you’d be up three.”
He exerted little energy on what-ifs and spent no time at all staring sleeplessly at his bedroom ceiling.
