One of Silicon Valley’s most thrilling congressional races in years has come to a close, and former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo is heading to Congress, delivering a blow to opponent Assembly member Evan Low in the race to replace longtime U.

Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, pursuing a rare opportunity to propel his political career to Washington D.C., took an early lead Tuesday night in an expensive, high-profile race against Assemblymember Evan Low to replace U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, who is retiring after more than three decades in Congress.

Preliminary, unofficial results in the latest published returns at 5:30pm from Santa Clara and San Mateo counties showed Liccardo with 117,905 votes and Low with 79,079 votes, a 60%-40% split.

State Assemblymember Evan Low has conceded the race for Silicon Valley’s hottest congressional seat — sending former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo to Washington D.C.

Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo is leading in Silicon Valley's hottest congressional race over state Assemblymember Evan Low in an unprecedented showdown between two powerful, liberal Bay Area politicians.

Len Ramirez talks to District 16 congressional candidate Sam Liccardo about the race. The first set of rankings for the inaugural 12-team playoff will be released on Tuesday. Both players ended up getting technicals in Nuggets-Timberwolves.