Mike Garcia claims victory in tight 25th Congress race - and Christy Smith isn't happy about it
This is the old Katie Hill seat.
Democrat challenger Christy Smith trailed the incumbent by 446 votes as of Friday afternoon.
https://www.dailynews.com/2020/11/20/garcias-lead-is-up-a-tick-as-vote-count-in-tight-25th-congress-race-nears-finish-line/
Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Saugus, has declared victory in the roller-coaster race against Christy Smith in the race for the 25th Congressional District — a declaration that brought a strong rebuke from Smith that it was “dangerous to the democratic process” with votes still being counted. “After a long, tough fight, I am proud to earn the privilege of serving CA-25 for another two years,” said Garcia late Friday in a statement. “With only a few remaining ballots to be counted, victory is clear.” Garcia widened his lead as the race for the northern Los Angeles seat wound down to its final days, according to updated results posted Friday, Nov. 20, by the California Secretary of State’s Office.
Link to tweet
Smith, a Democrat, trailed the incumbent by 446 votes as of Friday afternoon. Garcia extended his lead as the counting of ballots continues by the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder’s office. His margin was 422 votes and Tuesday and 159 votes last Friday. Garcia was listed with 50.1% of the vote with Smith holding 49.9%. In the back-and-forth race, Smith has also led by as many 1,287 votes. But Smith had not conceded as of 6:30 p.m. Friday. Her Twitter feed offered a hint of her mindset with a 6:12 p.m. tweet that said only: “Patience is a virtue.”
Link to tweet
Not long after, it was clear Smith had no intention of going along with Garcia’s conclusion. “Mike Garcia’s declaration of victory is dangerous to our democratic process,” she said in a statement. “With a mere 400-vote margin and thousands of ballots outstanding, election officials are diligently working to process ballots and accurately count all outstanding votes to ensure our communities are heard, and this race remains too close to call.”
Garcia had thanked Smith, and tipped his hat to her for a “excellent and aggressive campaign,” which he said she ran with grace. He also thanked his supporters and pledged to work hard for all in the district. Vote by mail ballots were scheduled to be accepted through Friday, as long as they were postmarked Election Day. The next election update in the race will come on Tuesday. Additional updates are scheduled for next Friday, Nov. 27, and Monday, Nov. 30, if the vote count is not complete. The county will certify the election by Nov. 30. Results statewide should be certified by the California Secretary of State by Dec. 3.
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If we lose this and the even closer IA-2 (the Dem Rita Hart trails the Rethug Miller-Meeks by only 47 votes) we will end up with a 222 to 213 majority, 19 down from where we were after the 2018 Midterms, and only 5 defections away from losing votes (if the Rethugs all hang together)
The other 6 races left are not close enough to change, I have no idea why the 5 uncalled races in NY have not been called (we will lose all 5), some of the leads are very large, plus we will almost certainly lose CA-21 (TJ Cox is down too far), which will be another R flip, barring something extraordinary. We go hammered in the southern half of California, 4 flips and some others that were way too close.
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