South Bay Congressional Race Heats Up With Mike Honda, Ro Khanna Releasing Dueling Poll Numbers

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- The election is just three weeks away, and a big Bay Area congressional race where two Democrats are facing off is really heating up.

A new poll shows District 17 challenger Ro Khanna has closed a 20 point gap and is now running neck-and-neck with 7-term incumbent Mike Honda. The Khanna campaign paid for the poll, and now the Honda campaign has responded with some very different numbers.

Calfornia's 17th Congressional District includes a big swath or North San Jose, and key Silicon Valley cities including Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and parts of Fremont.

Khanna's new polling data shows the race essentially tied, which is a huge improvement over his 20 point deficit during the primary election.

"And candidly I think that is what is moving the poll numbers. I am out there knocking on doors, doing town halls, going to every forum," Khanna told KPIX 5. "I am showing up, and he really hasn't been present in the community."

Also on Monday, the Honda campaign released its own data. It tells a different story, Congressman Honda with 42 percent, Khanna with 27 percent and 31 percent still undecided.

In a statement received by KPIX 5, Honda's campaign said: "This latest poll shows that Congressman Honda is the overwhelming choice of voters in the 17th Congressional District. Ro Khanna's campaign is clearly getting desperate, which is reflected in the barrage of attack mailers funded by Khanna's Republican donors distorting Congressman Honda's record of delivering for his district."

With two democrats running in this race, Khanna said one of the big challenges is to sway republicans and independents.

"And I think people know that even where I disagree I am willing to listen and to work across the aisle," Khanna said.

In 2011, California began allowing the top two vote getters in the primary election to move into the general election. That has created the situation here in Silicon Valley, where two democrats will be on the ballot in the same race.