Dems locked in tight battle in Silicon Valley

The two Democrats competing to represent a core segment of Silicon Valley have totally different interpretations of the race, according to dueling internal polls released on Monday.

Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) and challenger Ro Khanna are tied at 38 percent each, according to the new survey released by Khanna’s campaign.

{mosads}That split would seem to show significant progress for Khanna, who came in 20 points behind Honda during the June primary.

Hours after Khanna’s poll was released, however, Honda’s campaign fired back with an internal poll of its own, showing the seven-term incumbent firmly ahead 42-27.

The conflicting messages paint a murky picture for the race to represent California’s 17th congressional district.

Khanna’s poll, conducted on Oct. 8 and 9, surveyed 400 likely voters and has a 4.9 percent margin of error. 

Honda’s poll surveyed 500 likely voters from Oct. 7 to 12, with a 4.4 percent margin of error.

Khanna consultant Jeremy Bird — a top strategist for President Obama’s  2012 reelection campaign — predicted in a memo that the challenger’s lead would only grow in coming weeks “as Ro and a growing number of grassroots supporters engage voters and work to turn out an electorate that is younger and less partisan than the primary electorate.”

“Moreover, as we’ve seen with other challengers around the country, we expect the majority of undecided voters in the 17th congressional district will break towards Ro for the general election,” he added.

Honda campaign manager Doug Greven retorted that his office’s poll showed Honda to be “the overwhelming choice” of voters in the San Francisco Bay area district.

The race has divided Democrats.

Many establishment members of the party, including Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), have come out in support of Honda, who is seeking his eighth term in Congress.

But Khanna, a former Commerce Department official, has won support from big-name tech industry executives including Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt.

Honda’s campaign is suffering from leaked emails that seem to show his congressional staff working on campaign issues on official time and criticism from Khanna that the incumbent has been too passive a lawmaker.

— Updated at 6:11 p.m.