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U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin will likely face off against first-time Republican candidate Charles Hoelter in November to represent California’s Congressional District 15, according to the county’s preliminary polling results.
As of 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Mullin was leading the five-candidate race with almost 60% of the vote, while Hoelter had about a quarter. The three other candidates paled in comparison, with Democrat Anthony Van Dang in third place with just over 6%. Democrat Mantosh Kumar and Independent Jim Garrity garnered around 4%.
The congressional race reflects the redrawn maps approved by California voters in November to favor Democrats and in response to President Donald Trump’s call to remake maps in Texas to help secure a Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
Mullin was born in San Mateo County and won the seat in 2022 with over 73% of the vote against Republican challenger Anna Cheng Kramer. Before his tenure in Congress, he represented San Mateo County in the California State Assembly from 2012 to 2022, serving as the Speaker Pro Tem from 2014 until his departure.
He signed over 60 bills into law, many of which focused on elections and democracy reform, like All-Vote-By-Mail. He said he’s committed to bipartisan cooperation and also passionate about climate resiliency, calling himself among the architects of the $3.7 billion sustainability project that helped fund Caltrain’s electrification and the creation of San Mateo County’s OneShoreline sea level rise program.
Hoelter, the sole Republican candidate, is a retired UPS supervisor who has lived in San Mateo County for over three decades. His top three objectives are to keep “men out of women[‘s] sports,” impose term limits on politicians, require voter ID at elections and “clean-up” voter rolls for all states.
He has been married 31 years, has three children and would like to create apprenticeship programs in high schools in all states.
Find the latest vote tally on the County’s election page here, which does not yet include some vote by mail ballots from after May 29, as well as provisional ballots.
