A special election –– a kind of pre-primary –– will be held April 8 to fill the 12th Congressional District seat formerly held by Tom Lantos.
Should any candidate win more than 50 percent of the vote, that person would take the seat immediately. If not, the top Republican and Democratic vote-getters would fight it out in the June 3 election.
Democratic former State Senator Jackie Speier had previously announced her candidacy. Lantos later endorsed Speier after deciding to retire. Speier is widely expected to win the seat.
Whoever wins a majority in either the April or June elections must run again in November for a full two-year term.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California