LOS ANGELES – After weeks of ballot-counting that saw the two candidates separated by only a few hundred votes, Democratic Assemblywoman Christy Smith conceded defeat Monday in her effort to unseat Republican Rep. Mike Garcia in the 25th Congressional District, which stretches from the Antelope Valley into Ventura County.
“This is not the end result we fought for, but I am proud of the strong, grassroots campaign we ran,” Smith, D-Santa Clarita, said in a concession statement. “Over the last few weeks, our attorneys reviewed thousands of uncounted ballots and our campaign volunteers undertook an extraordinary effort to cure hundreds of votes throughout the district that may not have been counted. 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.”
As of Monday morning, Smith was trailing Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, by 405 votes from the Nov. 3 election. The candidates were neck-and-neck through most of the vote-counting. At one point, Smith had a nearly 1,300-vote lead, but Garcia pulled ahead and maintained a narrow lead that Smith was unable to erase.
“Though I’m humbled by every vote we earned, the results show our district is deeply divided,” Smith said. “With so many issues laid bare by this pandemic and moment of crisis in our nation’s politics, I will continue to be a voice for the unheard and unseen, working families, small businesses, our environment and the schools in our district and state. I am ready to work with partners across our community to heal division, move forward and rebuild together.”
Garcia had earlier claimed victory in the race. He issued a statement Monday saying he is “honored” to represent the district.
“My focus is on representing all constituents in CA-25,” Garcia said. “In the short term, this means pushing to get federal relief to those who are most impacted by COVID, individuals and small businesses. It’s been a tough election, but the fight has been worth it. I am looking forward to two more years. Thank you CA-25!”
Garcia defeated Smith, 54.86%-45.14%, or 95,667-78,721, in a May 12 special election to fill the final 7 1/2 months of the term of former Rep. Katie Hill, D-Agua Dulce, who resigned following the online release of salacious photos and allegations of an extramarital affair with a staff member.
The seat had long been held by Republicans until Hill’s 2018 victory over then-Rep. Steve Knight, R-Palmdale.
Updated results released by Los Angeles County on Monday wrapped up that county’s vote tallying from the Nov. 3 election. According to the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office, a total of 4,338,191 votes were tallied, representing just under 76% of eligible voters. The county Board of Supervisors is scheduled to officially certify the results at its Dec. 8 meeting.
Previous related story: Garcia claims victory in 25th Congressional District Race; Opponent objects
Stinger says
Congratulations, Representative Garcia, but take note: You are now representing a purple district with a razor thin margin between republicans and democrats. I strongly suggest that you represent accordingly.
Dismayed Democrat says
What this really shows is that a lot of people don’t trust Christy Smith, including a lot of Democrats. Katie Hill won the district hands over head against longtime local Republican Steve Knight. With a Democratic voter registration majority, this should have been a given for Christy, but it wasn’t. The difference being that Katie Hill was fresh and had no background in politics. Christy Smith, on the other hand, has the baggage of being a state lawmaker in the majority party, which rules the state for special interest groups and left-wing causes.
Some take aways here:
1. Most voters in this district don’t care for the direction taken by the majority of state legislators in Sacramento.
2. State lawmakers RARELY ever listen to anyone in their district. They listen to what Big Labor tells them and vote things in on a whim and they only really THINK about things once they have royally pi**ed off their constituents (see AB-5, as an example). The amount of backtracking and handwringing Christy had to do on that one was pathetic.
3. Mike Garcia won because he had no political background and political record, just like Katie Hill, he was a “fresh face”.
4. A lot of Democrats who voted for Christy Smith did so just because she had a “D” by her name in a year when a lot of us have Trump Fatigue. It wasn’t an enthusiastic vote, by any means. More like, “well…at least she’ll stand up to Trump if he’s re-elected”, but that was it. Nothing beyond that.
5. A lesson to the California Democratic Party: don’t run a politician with a record of unpopular votes in the State Assembly who looks like “Mommy Knows Best”. That irked a lot of people, whether you want to admit it or not.
Alby says
Katie hill was as fresh as cow dung in a barn. She was a joke politically and the naive sheeple voted for her for god knows what reason. Now she’s staying hidden, lurking around corners and finding a way to reinvent herself politically to attract our children into voting for her back into politics in the future. Just like many other politicians, they should of never quit their day job. Just sayin.
Dave says
Compared to Trump, Katie Hill was a Catholic nun.
Alby says
Perhaps. But Ive yet to to see That guy wear other peoples valor and advertise it for personal/political gain.
OKFine says
Actually my vote for Garcia was motivated as a strike against Nasty Nancy than anything else.
Garcia really hasn’t done anything in the short time in office and it remains to be seen if he will do anything of note in his first full term in office. Now that OrangeManBad is about to be gone, let’s see what Garcia really stands for and what he does for the 25th Congressional district.
OKFine says
Don’t forget that this used to be Buck’s seat and just about everyone liked the job he did for the district in Congress.
Dave says
Garcia will be a useless puppet for the next 2 years in the minority and Speaker Pelosi will still be in charge.
Garcia could just as easily be replaced by an app that votes like the late GOP.
Garcia will simply focus on the next election and he might just lose it.
Dave says
I doubt it. Garcia was “placed” there by the RNC to do their bidding. What a cushy job requiring NO THINKING WHATSOEVER.