Rep. Lateefah Simon leads in early returns in reelection bid for District 12 Congressional seat
Incumbent Rep. Lateefah Simon has built a massive early lead over challenger Jamie Joyce in the Congressional District 12 race.
Simon was leading with 83% of the vote against Joyce, who had 17% of the vote, with 23.5% of the total number of registered voters reported as of 5:00 p.m. Friday, according to the California Secretary of State’s Office, offering a glimpse at two differing views of progressives politics in one of the most Democratic districts in the country.
The June 2 primary is the first chance voters have had to grade Simon’s performance during her first term in Washington, where she has prioritized delivering material difference to her constituents despite a Republican-controlled Congress. Joyce said problems that afflict Washington require a deeper, more systematic change.
“I’m confident we’ll do well in this primary,” Simon said at Mills College in Oakland, where she cast her vote Tuesday afternoon. “That being said, so much of my work still has to be on the ground, brin…