Republican Mike Garcia maintains a lead early today over Democrat Christy Smith in a special congressional election in California. But The Associated Press has not projected a winner, with an unknown number of mail ballots left to count.
Republican Mike Garcia, a former Naval aviator, maintained a lead early Wednesday over Democrat Christy Smith in a special congressional election in the Los Angeles suburbs.
Garcia and Smith faced off in a highly watched race, one of two held Tuesday that will provide one of the first indicators of the electorate’s mood since the coronavirus gripped the nation.rural district in northwestern Wisconsin vacated by former GOP Rep. Sean Duffy.of losing a seat they won handily two years ago. The winner will succeed former Rep. Katie Hill , who resigned late last year after admitting to an inappropriate sexual relationship with a campaign staffer.
Though Democrats have a voter-registration advantage of nearly 30,000, the health crisis has created conditions ripe for a GOP upset. Turnout in the runoff — thus far, roughly 143,000 votes have been counted — Hillary Clinton won this district, which spans the northern Los Angeles suburbs, by 7 points, and Hill ousted Republican Steve Knight by 9 points last year. In the first round of voting, held on the same ballot as the state's Super Tuesday presidential primary on March 3, Smith finished first with 36 percent of the vote but came far from clinching the race with a majority. Garcia defeated Knight, the former congressman, for second place and a spot in the runoff, 25 percent to 17 percent.
Even if she loses the race, Smith will still face Garcia in a November rematch. Party strategists insist that will be an easier climb because Democratic voters will turn out for the presidential race.
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