Democratic US Representative Gray projected to advance in California's 13th congressional district

Democratic Representative Adam Gray and Republican challenger Kevin Lincoln, the former mayor of Stockton, advanced to the November general election on Tuesday by winning the most votes in the open primary for California's closely watched 13th congressional district race, U.S. media projected.

The top two finishers in the primary election advance to the November 3 general election, regardless of party.

Political analysts see the district in the agricultural Central Valley as a potentially close contest, with control of the U.S. House of Representatives at stake in the midterm elections.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; editing by Lincoln Feast and Costas Pitas)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.