Garcia extends lead in race against Smith
Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, widened his lead over Democrat Christy Smith, also of Santa Clarita, in the race for the 27th Congressional District seat with semifinal results from the 468 precincts in the district reporting, according to the secretary of state website.
Garcia had 65,545 votes, or 57.6%, to Smith’s 48,285 votes, or 42.4%, as of Wednesday afternoon. There are 35 days remaining in the canvass period.
Tuesday’s contest was the third time Garcia and Smith faced each other in an election. Garcia won both of the previous contests. The first time was in a special May 2020 runoff election to see who would complete the remainder of former Rep.
Katie Hill’s unexpired term in the 25th Congressional District.
Garcia beat Smith again, in November 2020, by 333 votes, for the two-year fullterm seat. The new 27th Congressional District is entirely contained in Los Angeles County.
The county processed and counted more than 1.31 million ballots, with 23.42% of registered voters casting them, LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk officials said.
Results will change as election officials process vote-by-mail, conditional and provisional ballots received on Election Day. Once verified, they will be counted. The next update is scheduled, for Friday.
Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, saw his lead increase over fellow Republican Assemblyman Thurston “Smitty” Smith for the District 34 seat. Lackey had 34,958 votes, or 57.5%. He represents Assembly District 36 and Smith represents Assembly District 33.
The two Republican Assembly members are running for the same seat due to redistricting following the 2020 census. The 34th Assembly District covers Kern, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. The district includes Barstow, Big Bear Lake, California City, Twentynine Palms, Apple Valley and parts of Lancaster, Palmdale, Hesperia, Highland and Victorville.