Democrat Rishi Kumar and Republican Peter Ohtaki found themselves in a tight primary race on Tuesday night, each looking to face incumbent Representative Anna Eshoo in November.

With the first results released just after 8 p.m., Eshoo had an overwhelming lead over the seven candidates vying to replace her in the 16th congressional district, which stretches along the Pacifica coast north of San Jose. The results, which are based on ballots received by mail or at voting centers before June 4, showed Eshoo received the support of 49% of voters in Santa Clara County and 61% of voters in San Mateo County.

While Eshoo, who was first elected in 1992, is poised to qualify for the November election without issue, it remained unclear on Tuesday who her opponent would be.

Early results showed Kumar leading the challengers field by 2,765 votes, with Ohtaki in third place.

In Santa Clara County, which has the vast majority of District 16’s population, Kumar received 11,041 votes, or 16.5% of the county’s total votes, while Ohtaki trailed him with 8,305 votes. , or 12.4%, according to the published results. just after 10 p.m. Republican Richard Fox and Democrats Greg Tanaka and Ajwang Rading followed them with 8.5%, 6.4% and 5.7% respectively.