Republican Mike Garcia Leads in California Special Election

Republicans moved closer to recapturing a seat in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday as Mike Garcia, a former Navy fighter pilot endorsed by President Donald Trump, led in preliminary results from a special election north of Los Angeles, Reuters informs.

With about 140,000 votes counted, Garcia was ahead of Democratic California state legislator Christy Smith by 55.9% to 44.1% in the state’s 25th congressional district, preliminary results from the California Secretary of State’s office said.

If his lead holds up as the results are tallied, Garcia, 44, will fill a seat that became vacant after Democrat Katie Hill resigned last year following a scandal in which intimate photographs of her were published online and she faced accusations of sexual relations with staffers.

But it could take several days for a winner to be declared, because the election was conducted largely by mail-in voting to avoid novel coronavirus exposure at the polls. As long as they are postmarked by election day, California will accept ballots arriving up to three days later.

Dave Wasserman, editor of the Cook Political Report, wrote on Twitter that it would be “very tough” for Smith to close the gap in votes. If Garcia’s lead holds, he will become the only House Republican from a district Hillary Clinton won in 2016 with more than 50% of the vote, Wasserman said.

“It is looking extremely good,” Garcia said on a conference call. “I won’t give a victory speech tonight. We’ll save that for hopefully tomorrow night as the data comes in.”

Smith, in a statement, said the outcome was too early to call.

“With so much at stake in this election for families across this district, from access to quality healthcare, to putting the needs of the middle class at the center of future economic relief packages passed in Congress, it is critical that every ballot cast is counted and the voice of every CA-25 voter is heard,” she said.

The contest was being watched for clues to which party Americans believe can better handle the coronavirus epidemic and how they think Trump is dealing with it. Smith had challenged Trump’s handling of the crisis.

The election was also seen as a test of mail-in voting. Because of the continued threat of the coronavirus, more states are expected to move to vote-by-mail in the general election in November.

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