With less than a month to go in the vote count, U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley continues to hold onto the lead in the race for California Congressional District 6. According to the California Secretary of State’s website, Kiley, an independent from Rocklin, has 46,921 votes or 24.3%. Democratic candidate Richard Pan, a pediatrician, has 44,805 votes or 23.2%. Republican Michael Stansfield, an applications engineer and author, is in third with 38,823 votes or 20.1%.

California Law and the Vote Counting Process

Under California law, the two candidates with the greatest number of votes in the June 2 primary, regardless of party affiliation, will go on to the Nov. 3 general election. There are 25 days remaining in the counting process. District 6 includes portions of Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties. Formerly known as District 3, the area was redrawn to favor Democrats.

Kiley was first elected to Congress as a Republican but changed to an independent earlier this year. He continues to caucus with Republicans. Kiley has stated that the reason for his change is because he thinks partisanship has gotten out of control in Congress, and it’s really doing great damage to our country.

In May, Kiley told The Center Square that the No. 1 issue for him was the cost of living. “We lead the nation in highest gas prices, highest electricity prices, with water and housing and groceries, and much of that is because of overreaching state policies, which are not well adapted to what will make things affordable in our state,” Kiley said.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.