With most of the ballots counted in Tuesday’s special election in California’s 25th Congressional District, it appears businessman and former Navy fighter pilot Mike Garcia is in position to retake the seat for the Republican Party.
Wednesday morning news reports gave Garcia a double-digit lead, 56% to 44%, over Democrat Christy Smith, a member of the California State Assembly. About three-quarters of the ballots had been counted as of this morning.
The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race and Smith has not conceded, Politico reported.
California’s 25th, which includes portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, is adjacent to Sana Susana Field Laboratory, a 2,850-acre site contaminated by decades of rocket testing and nuclear energy research. The Energy Department is one of the parties responsible for its cleanup.
Rep. Katie Hill (D), who resigned from Congress in November 2019 after the House Ethics Committee announced plans to investigate allegations that she had an affair with a member of her staff, won the seat a year earlier by defeating incumbent Republican Rep. Steve Knight.
Smith was the top vote-getter during an open primary in March, with Garcia second. Knight, seeking to reclaim his seat, came in third.
Whomever emerges as the winner of Tuesday’s special election will serve out Hill’s unexpired term through January 2021. In November, the same pair of major party candidates will square off again for a full two-year term.
