Conway Headed to Runoff in Bid to Replace Nunes

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. — Former California Assemblywoman Connie Conway, a Republican, advanced to a runoff election Tuesday to fill the remainder of former Rep. Devin Nunes’ term in California’s 22nd Congressional District.

However, a slow count and the fact ballots have until April 12 to arrive at election offices so long as they were postmarked by April 5, has left the question of who she will face in the June 7 contest open to conjecture.

As of 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, Conway led the six-candidate, all-party field with 34.8% of the vote.

But three candidates remain divided by so little that any of them still has a chance of pulling out a second place finish and advancing to the runoff.

These are Democrat Lourin Hubbard, who is currently in second place with 19.7%, followed by Republican Matt Stoll with 15.1% and Democrat Eric Garcia with 15%. 

The other candidates on the ballot were Republican business owners Michael Maher and Elizabeth Heng.

No matter who comes in second, Conway told her supporters Tuesday night that she will “continue to work hard and make sure that I’m talking to everybody in the district and make sure I’m ready to go on day one.”

The election is being held because Nunes resigned on Jan. 1 to run a new media company for former President Donald Trump. 

But it is also clear Nunes considered the political tea leaves closely before he made the jump.

Thanks to redistricting, the district as currently constituted will no longer exist. If Nunes had not stepped down, he would have faced reelection in less friendly terrain or been forced to challenge a fellow Republican incumbent in another district. 

Though the current district tilts Republican, nearly half of it was combined in the new congressional district map with about half of a Democrat-leaning district currently represented by Rep. Jim Costa.

Costa, meanwhile, is running for reelection in that newly drawn 21st Congressional District.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue.