Republican Mike Garcia is confident outstanding ballots in the special congressional election in California’s 25th Congressional District will favor his campaign, and the voters of the district will send him to Washington over Democratic Assemblywoman Christy Smith.
“You know, I think they’re seeing the same data that we are, which is, you know, as close of business Friday night, we had about a 10,000- or 11,000-vote lead. And that’s just by straight party count,” Garcia, a former Navy fighter pilot and Raytheon executive, told the Washington Examiner.
“So, and I believe actually, a lot of Democrats are going vote Republican in this race, and then we have the middle third, and we can’t really tell who’s voting, but I think that will favor me as well.”
Republicans have placed their bets on Mike Garcia winning the 25th Congressional District race. If elected, Garcia would become the first California Republican to pick up a House seat since 1998. The special congressional election, which includes parts of Los Angeles County and Ventura County, is mainly a mail-in ballot election as a result of the COVID-19 virus pandemic, with only a select number of in-person polling sites that are open.
Garcia has been leading Smith in early absentee ballot returns since Friday evening, and Democrats have already downplayed how well Smith may do after a series of campaign missteps and concerns that voter turnout may not be on her side, and they are preparing Smith for a second face-off with Garcia in November.
Republicans accused a Los Angeles County official last Friday, who decided to open an in-person voting site in a Democratic-heavy area, of trying to steal the election from their candidate. According to Garcia, despite the extra polling site opening, in-person voting still appears thin.
“I can tell you we’re not seeing a tremendous outpouring of folks going to the in-person voting centers. And you know, maybe a few hundred a day throughout the entire district over the last couple days each, so there’s not lines around the corner. That may change tomorrow, obviously, with tomorrow being the actual day. The reality is about 120,000 to 130,000 ballots have already been returned,” he said.
“That’s actually a pretty good voter turnout for a special election. So they were mailed about three weeks ago to folks houses, and they may not be in their kitchens anymore, you know, they’ve either voted or maybe gotten rid of the ballot,” Garcia said.
According to Garcia, his campaign has received support from volunteers across the country, with 500 volunteers on the ground and 1,000 volunteers nationwide phone banking for the California Republican.
The race to fill the seat vacated by former Democratic Rep. Katie Hill, who endorsed Smith, became a more competitive contest for the GOP last month after the Cook Political Report shifted the district from “Lean Democratic” to a “Toss Up.”
Hill’s resignation from office on Nov. 3 after nude photos of her became public, along with stories describing her relationship with a young female campaign staffer and an alleged relationship with a congressional staffer, made Hill an unpopular figure around the district. Hill disputed the latter relationship.
