Update: Swalwell took the 15th District race with 53 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting.

In one of the most watched races in the county due to California's new "top two" primary system, City Councilor Eric Swalwell of Dublin took a strong lead over Rep. Pete Stark in the state's intraparty 15th Congressional District race, with 44 percent of precincts reporting.

Swalwell, who represents my former hometown, switched his web operations to NationBuilder after coming in a close second to Stark in the June primary. Campaign manager Tj Daly said the upstart Swalwell team tried every technology they could to get an edge against the 40-year congressman.

"For us, in a competitive race but a small campaign team, we do just about everything in house," Tj said recently. "We needed a system that was advanced but where I could still build the website myself - you have the perfect tool for that."

While other candidates eyeing Stark's seat waited out the race, Swalwell, 31, took initiative. He learned of NationBuilder through Rick Klau, a Google Venture partner and veteran Deaniac who follows technology trends closely. Early in the race, Klau had put together the "Pete Stark Said What?!" website to highlight prominent gaffes by the Congressman. 

Klau said most election technology falls short, but he wanted to learn more about NationBuilder when he learned of the impressive investors behind the company. His wife also used our technology to set up a local school bond website.

"The more I poked around, the more of what you were talking about resonated with me as a user," Klau said.