GOP takes back another California House seat
With the tally finally completed, GOP Rep. Mike Garcia beat Democratic Assemblymember Christy Smith by 339 votes Monday in the last California congressional race to be decided.
The victory in the 25th Congressional District gives Garcia, a businessman and former Navy pilot from Santa Clarita ( Los Angeles County), a full twoyear term in the seat he first won in a special election in May.
It also means that California Republicans have taken back four of the seven congressional seats they lost in the “blue wave” election of 2018, narrowing the Democrats’ already tight majority in the House. Garcia’s victory leaves Democrats with a 222211 margin, with two contests remaining to be called. Republican candidates lead by 12 votes in a New York race and by six votes in an Iowa contest.
“It’s been a tough election, but the fight has been worth it,” Garcia said in a statement Monday after both Los Angeles and Ventura counties certified the final results. “I am once again honored to represent CA25 during this pivotal time in our country’s history.”
Garcia won a surprisingly easy victory in the May special election, beating Smith by nearly 17,000 votes, 55% to 45%. But with nearly twice as many voters casting ballots in the fall race, Garcia barely held on for the victory.
The final margin of 339 votes represents a 50.05% to 49.95% win for Garcia. While the Ventura County portion of the district provides only about 18% of the registered voters, Garcia’s 55% to 45% margin there was enough to overcome Smith’s narrow lead in Los Angeles County.
“This is not the end we
fought for, but I am proud of the strong, grassroots campaign we ran,” Smith said in her concession statement Monday. “We exhausted every possible option and did everything within our power to ensure that every voice in this election was heard. Nonetheless, we came up short.”
Democrat Katie Hill won the district in 2018, defeating GOP Rep. Steve
Knight. But Hill resigned late last year amid reports of extramarital affairs with a campaign staffer, which she admitted, and a member of her congressional staff, which she denied.
The Republican congressional victories in California came despite the disastrous performance by President Trump at the top of the ticket. Democrat Joe Biden beat the president by 64% to 34% in the state, with a winning margin of more than 5 million votes.
The GOP victories were close ones. In Orange County, former GOP Assemblywoman Young Kim won a rematch over Democratic Rep. Gil Cisneros, 51% to 49%. In a Fresnoarea rematch, former GOP Rep. David Valadao defeated Democratic Rep. TJ Cox by 1,700 votes, about a single percentage point. Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel ousted Democratic Rep.
Harley Rouda, 51% to 49%.
Those margins might not mean much in the 2022 elections. The onceadecade redistricting following the 2020 census means that all the incumbents will be running in newly drawn districts.