North Bay congressional race still too close to call

Now at 10, the ballot counting continues nearly a week after the midterms. And tonight, one congressional race in the North Bay is still too close to call. It is a competitive ticket, pitting Democrat against Democrat. Good evening, I'm Claudine Waller. And I'm Mike Maybach. Of the 435 races in the House of Representatives this midterm, there are just 16 left to be called, including one right here in the Bay Area. We are talking about District 4. Congressman Mike Thompson is being challenged by Eric Jones. The latest count tonight shows Jones is leading by nearly 8,000 votes, with 66% of all votes counted. Now, this map was redrawn following the passage of Proposition 50 last November. A large swath of the district shifted east to include counties north of Sacramento, while still retaining parts of Lake Napa and Sonoma counties. The district does include several. Rural communities. KTVU's Tom Baker, live in Sonoma County, after talking with voters about this long, drawn-out vote count. Tom. Well, you know, an upset really could be in the making right now. But when you say upset, you still have to consider that 34% of the vote is still uncounted. The North Bay congressional district seat remains very much undecided with only 66% of the vote counted. Why? Well, take California's already slow, meticulous vote counting process, plus a vast, mostly rural five-county district. Plus a highly competitive close race, and the only way to go is slow. Our numbers show we're going to win this thing. That said, challenger Eric Jones does lead 27-year congressman Mike Thompson by a 52 to 48 percent margin. That's about 8,000 votes. Our campaign from day one has been speaking to young voters, to diverse voters, to working families and working class voters, and to more independently minded voters who aren't happy with the current political system. It's kind of the coalition of the folks who have been left behind in modern politics. And those voters, they tend to vote a bit later. Incumbent Congressman Mike Thompson, who is in session on the first day of Congress's return from a break, could not be reached. But this is what he said to KTVU just before the election. My theory has always been there's only two ways to run, either unopposed or like you're 10 points down. I'm not going to rest on my laurels because I did so well in the primary. I'm going to run right through the tape on Tuesday. To hear what voters had to say, we came to dead center Santa Rosa Courthouse Square, the largest town in District 4. Voters we spoke to are also waiting. I don't really understand it because Thompson was... He's been so great all these years and I don't know if it's because maybe he's older. We voted for Mike Thompson and have no idea why Eric even decided to get into the race. We'll be disappointed if Mike loses. He's done a great job. Clearly this is a generational event. Having the younger Folks coming in and voting for the younger crew, I think they want to have a change. They want a new view. That's kind of where I'm thinking. I see it as we do need a change because Thompson has been It's been... in Congress for a long time and we do need to get some younger Blood. Whoever does win, Challenger Jones says Democrats must deliver. We have to get to actions on the issues that actually affect people's lives so they know immediately where we stand. Now, District 4's five counties have until December the 3rd to deliver the final vote count to the California Secretary of State. And then, of course, it will be official. But the reality is it's going to take all that time to get this vote done, again, because of the ruralness of the county, as you can see right here. Reporting live, Tom Vacar, KTVU, Fox 2 News. Yeah, Tom, I know you said Mike Thompson couldn't be reached tonight, but does Eric Jones think that the newly redrawn lines benefited him in certainly a new district to appeal to? Well, as I understand it, the redrawn lines don't really take effect until next election, which is to say after 2020 or in 2027. So this is the five counties that currently existed. And as I understand it, that's the thing that they went with, and that's the thing that he won anyhow. Yeah, no, yeah, certainly we should say that this map was redrawn for this election specifically over Prop 50. But thank you, Tom. Appreciate it. Yep.