Norman Solomon's Campaign Says: The Race Not Over; 'Extremely Close'

UPDATE: The Solomon for Congress campaign says the campaign is not over. Campaign manager Dal Mullen said "I am so proud of what we have achieved. Our campaign has inspired progressive activists and leaders nationwide. We pledge to fight on until every vote is counted. As we get new numbers, we will keep you posted."

The campaign put out the following statement late today:

This campaign is not over.

Here's the latest: The race for 2nd place -- between Norman and Republican Dan Roberts -- is extremely close. We will have greater clarity by Friday. This is not unusual in California elections nowadays, due to the large number of votes-by-mail. Tens of thousands of vote-by-mail ballots have not been counted -- including many from Marin and Sonoma counties, Democratic Party strongholds.

At this point, with 12 candidates in the race, Republican Roberts is at 15.3% and Norman is at 14.2%. They are separated by only 1,379 votes, after numbers trended in our direction all night. (At the beginning of vote-counting, Roberts was 4% ahead of Norman; the gap has shrunk to 1.1%.)

Democrat Jared Huffman is in first with 37%. Roberts and Norman are fighting for 2nd in this top-two primary at roughly 15%, and Democrat Stacey Lawson is in 4th place with about 10%.

This is NOT a recount. The original vote count is simply not finished, and second place is too close to call. We are monitoring the counting of the votes-by-mail in various counties.

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Journalist and activist Norman Solomon, who set aside his writing career and outside agitator status to run for US Congress in California's 2nd District, came up short on Tuesday's primary as Democratic rival Jared Huffman took the party nomination.

Both men were vying for the seat left open by Rep. Lynn Woolsey's seat, who is retiring after 20 years in office.

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The Press Democrat: Huffman finishes first in House race; GOP hopeful Roberts 2nd

Assemblyman Jared Huffman jumped out to a commanding lead in a crowded North Coast congressional district race in early returns Tuesday night, with Republican Dan Roberts holding down second place and possible spot in the November runoff.

Huffman, who raised more than $1 million, led the pack of 12 candidates with 42 percent of the early vote, while Roberts had 14.5 percent.

Analysts had expected that two Democrats likely would vie for the seat in the November general election.

Instead, Norman Solomon, a West Marin activist/author, was third with 11.9 percent, followed by San Rafael businesswoman Stacey Lawson with 9.1 percent.

Lawson, a political newcomer, raised more than $900,000 to finish the campaign donations sweepstakes just behind Huffman.

Solomon was the third leading fund-raiser with $630,000.

Roberts, a political newcomer, raised $184,000, including $160,000 in loans to his own campaign.

Under California's new primary election system, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will compete in the November general election.

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