Joe Simitian had long had his eye on a seat in Congress. It would have been a good way to cap off his 40-year political career.
“I saw it as an opportunity to improve the lives of the people I represent in a different way and at a different level,” the Silicon Valley Democrat said.
Little did I know.
On election night, March 5, Simitian was in second place 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 the November runoff against the top finisher, former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo.
Then the race became a cliffhanger. As more votes were counted, Simitian wavered between second and third place, sometimes by just a handful of votes. For a time, the race for second place 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 surprising: Simiciano withdrew from the race. Quickly. Without reservation. Graciously.
“I lost and I admit it,” he said in a written statement. “I trust the process and accept the result.”
If only a certain reckless former president had acted as responsibly and quickly. Think about how much better off the country would have been in recent years.
It is really not that difficult.
“It's a pretty simple and straightforward proposal,” the Santa Clara County supervisor said in a conversation this week. “If you come up short, you acknowledge that fact, congratulate the winners, and thank the people who helped you get there.
“I mean, I feel like that's something every 8-year-old in America should have learned from their parents.”
Apparently not.
Simitian, 71, began his political career on the Palo Alto school board in 1983. Over the next few decades, he rose through the ranks of state and local government. In Sacramento, he authored California's hands-free cell phone law and legislation expanding green energy and early education.
She began raising money for a congressional bid more than a decade ago and finally got her chance to win a seat this year when Democratic incumbent Anna G. Eshoo announced she would resign at the end of her term in January.
It was a unique 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 contributed millions more, making the race one of the most expensive congressional races in the country.
The suspenseful count that sent the primary into long overtime was “kind of a roller coaster,” Simitian said with notable understatement. “One day you would be five up. The next day, you would be one less. The next day you would be three up.”
He devoted little energy to what-ifs and spent no time staring sleeplessly at the ceiling of his bedroom.
“There are certainly things that you think about… I could have done this differently, I could have done that differently,” Simitian said calmly. “But you can't really doubt yourself too much. “That is not a productive exercise.”
In addition, Simitian said, there was the possibility of moving to a runoff in November against Liccardo, his Democratic colleague.
“Honestly, my thoughts were more around, if I'm lucky enough to have the opportunity to move forward, how can we recalibrate?” Simiciano said. “How do we chart a course that will be successful” in the general election?
When the final results came in, following an official recount, Simitian drafted his concession statement with the help of his wife, Mary Hughes, a veteran political strategist. He posted a smiling photo of the two, taken at the start of the campaign, and jokingly announced his exit from the race.
“The good news is that the long and painful exercise of counting the votes of the 16th Congressional District is over!” he wrote. “The not-so-good news is that we've fallen short.”
Simiciano described himself as disappointed, but not sad.
“You don't work so hard for so long to achieve that goal and discover that, in the most casual way, your aspirations have not been realized. That's dissappointing. There’s no question about it,” he said, expanding on his statement written during a break at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
But he continued: “How can I not be grateful for the fact that I have had the opportunity to do the kind of work that I really find fulfilling and fulfilling?” [notch] A dozen electoral victories in a row before falling five votes short?
The outcome of the congressional primaries was, of course, infinitely closer than the 2020 presidential race, which Joe Biden won – clearly and unequivocally – by 7 million votes and a not-close margin in the electoral college.
Donald Trump's refusal to acknowledge his defeat has not only kept the country in suspense for the past few years, but has also set a template for other sore losers, such as failed Arizona gubernatorial hopeful Kari Lake, to make similar claims false.
The result, repeated polls have shown, is a dangerous erosion of faith in our elections and a teetering system of democracy.
That is why Simiciano's willingness to accept defeat without complaining or casting false slander stands out; although, it must be said, we have reached a sad state in our politics where doing the right thing is somehow considered an act of chivalry.
“It's kind of a simple matter of decency,” Simitian said.
He is right. We could use a lot more these days.
