Vivian Ho

In one of the nation's most-watched House races, seven-term Rep Mike Honda (D-CA) outpolled fellow Democrat Ro Khanna by a wide margin in their South Bay district, which nonetheless could be hotly contested in November. With 42 percent of the votes counted, Rep Honda had 50.3 percent to 25.8 percent for Khanna, a former trade representative in the Obama Administration. Bringing up the rear in the heavily Democratic 17th Congressional District were a pair of Republicans, Stanford Medical Center Professor Vanila Singh with 16.2 percent and Silicon Valley executive recruiter Joel Van Landingham with 7.7 percent. The Republicans' supporters could tighten the November runoff if they prefer the tech industry-supported Khanna over the liberal, labor-backed Honda. One reason voters are supporting him, Rep Honda said, is that "people understand that tech is not the only thing in this valley. Silicon Valley is a great economic engine, but everyone has to share in that." The contest also pitted the power of traditional organized labor, one of Rep Honda's main sources of support, against the growing political muscle of high tech. Along with labor groups such as the AFL-CIO, Rep Honda boasted the support of environmental organizations including the Sierra Club and much of the Democratic establishment, including President Barack Obama, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA12) of San Francisco and California's two US senators.