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As unofficial tallies stack up for the Congressional District 14 seat in two independent elections, the top Republican candidate has publicly questioned her party’s decision to back an alternative contestant.
Although Wendy Huang is the party’s top vote-getter, she has not yet received enough votes to make top-two in either race, a position required to move onto the associated general elections.
However, Huang doubled-down on allegations in a statement this week that fellow Republican candidate Dena Maldonado is a ghost competitor running to unauthentically draw votes — Maldonado has denied the claims.
In addition to the statement, Huang’s campaign released a 27-page letter with about 250 questions to the Chairs of the Alameda County and California Republican Party regarding their endorsement of Maldonado.
According to the party’s Alameda County Chair Jeanne Solnordal, the endorsing commission decided to support Maldonado for the general election because she made a “good case” for herself at the organization’s endorsement meeting in March. Huang was invited to the meeting, but did not attend, Solnordal said.
“I am withholding any concession until we receive a transparent public accounting regarding the party’s deeply irregular endorsement of Dena Maldonado—a candidate whose operation mirrors the dangerous “ghost candidate” tactics used to subvert elections nationally,” Huang said in the statement.
Leading in the primary general election are Democrats Aisha Wahab (38.29%) and Melissa Hernandez (17.17%), followed by Huang (13.16%), Democrat Rakhi Israni Singh (12.95 %) and Maldonado (12.14%), according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters’ Office.
Just 1,800 ballots are left to cure in the primary general election, prohibiting either Republican candidate from taking a top-two position required to move onto the general election. Instead, Wahab and Hernandez are poised to face off in November.
A similar trend can be seen in the special primary election to fill the remainder of the term vacated by former Rep. Eric Swalwell.
Huang has an overall placement of fourth (9.25%) and Maldonado follows immediately after in fifth (8.85%), according to the registrar’s office. The top three contenders in the race so far are Wahab (42.37%), Hernandez (16.66%) and Rakhi Israni Singh (13.22%)
Despite falling short of a top-two placement so far, Huang said that she is not conceding either race for District 14.
“Even if I wanted to concede—which I absolutely do not—I legally and morally could not do so with so many important questions left completely unanswered,” Huang said in a statement.
“This is not merely about one candidate, one endorsement, or one election,” Huang added in the letter to the party officials. “It is about whether Republican voters in California can trust that party institutions exist to advance their choices — not to override them.”
As Solnordal explained to the Weekly, the endorsing committee agreed to support Maldonado in the regular election by at least two-thirds of the vote, the threshold to receive an endorsement.
The organization has not issued endorsements for any candidates in the special election, she added.
Huang has requested a response within 30 days from Solnordal and the party’s California Chair Corrin Rankin. The letter is available on her campaign website at voteforwendy.com
The next update on special primary election results is scheduled for Friday (June 19).
The California Republican Party did not respond for comment as of Wednesday afternoon.
