PLAYBOOK EXCLUSIVE: A single Silicon Valley voter has been at the center of a dramatic recount in California’s 16th Congressional District. As it draws to a close — with one of two counties completing their recount today — Jonathan Padilla is ready to explain himself. Padilla is a San Jose resident, tech entrepreneur and the voter who called for the recount in the March primary that has Democrats Joe Simitian and Evan Low tied for second behind fellow Dem Sam Liccardo. Santa Clara County said today its recount concluded, with Low gaining 11 votes and Simitian 7, setting Simitian up to be knocked out, unless a change comes in San Mateo County’s final tally. Though Low and Simitian had seemed content to participate in a three-way race, Padilla — a donor and former staffer of Liccardo — called for a recount right before the deadline earlier this month. “I am concerned about the outcome of this election making sure that the votes are counted,” Padilla told Playbook in his first interview about the recount results. “I think this is such a historic event. This tie seems more absurd than just a very close election.” Padilla has obvious ties to Liccardo: He donated to his current campaign in December and worked for the former San Jose mayor, both during his 2014 campaign and time in office. But Padilla claimed he filed the request on behalf of Low... which did not go over well. Low’s team accused Liccardo of coordinating the recount to remove one of his competitors, which Liccardo’s campaign denies. Low’s campaign also asked election officials if there was any way to stop the recount. Padilla said it was solely his idea, though the hundreds of thousands of dollars required for the more than two-week manual recount in two counties has come from a newly-formed political action committee: Count the Vote. “I'm not as close to Sam as people probably think. I’m not one of Sam’s best friends,” Padilla said, claiming their last “meaningful conversation” was Liccardo asking for a donation late last year. Rep. Anna Eshoo — whose seat is at the center of this race — and others have publicly called for more transparency from Padilla about who is funding the PAC, which will ultimately pay somewhere around $350,000-$500,000 for the recount. When asked who was funding the group, Padilla said it was a “regular PAC” and denied any connection with the Liccardo campaign. When asked if the PAC was made up of Liccardo supporters, Padilla said it's funded by “people who have a history of backing candidates in this race” and that the list of names “shouldn’t be a surprise when it comes out” in the PAC’s first mandatory FEC filings in July. Padilla said he is ultimately a dedicated Democrat who cares about the honest outcome of the election. He noted the recount has returned at least a handful of uncounted challenged ballots, making it — in his eyes — a worthy cause. A Liccardo spokesperson declined to comment on Padilla’s remarks, pointing instead to Liccardo’s prior defense of the recount. “We should embrace these lessons to preserve our most hallowed of democratic institutions — the free and fair election — in a moment when the electoral process has come under repeated and unjustified attack,” Liccardo wrote Monday for San Jose Inside. “We can start by ensuring that — without suspicion or political drama — we count every vote.” Simitian’s campaign declined to comment until all results are in. A Low spokesperson said the campaign had seen the Santa Clara results and is waiting to see results from San Mateo, which is waiting on the postal service to confirm when some ballots were received. | 
