Republican Congressman Mike Garcia is emerging as the leader over Democratic Assemblywoman Christy Smith in Los Angeles County’s District 25, according to the Secretary of State.
At last count, Garcia was ahead 50.02% to 49.98% for Smith.
“It's really close in an area which has traditionally been red but has tilted a little bluer the last five years, allegedly,” said Mike Netter, co-founder of Recall Gavin 2020.
Mike Netter co-founded RecallGavin2020
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Garcia was voted in by special election to fill the rest of the term after Katie Hill resigned when photos emerged in which Hill was portrayed in a compromising position, according to media reports.
“This race is important because people are allegedly moving out of that district and the demographics are shifting,” Netter told the Southern California Record. “It's a key area to hold on to because the state of California is likely to lose three Congressional seats in 2022 due to a drop in population.”
California currently has 53 congressional seats.
“The LA area is going to show a decline while Thousand Oaks will probably show a slight uptick in population so when District 25 is realigned no one knows for sure if it will pick up more red or blue,” Netter said in an interview. “It's on the edge of Los Angeles in the Santa Clarita-Simi Valley area. Republicans want to keep it for now and for future generations.”
In the 39th Congressional District, it was announced on Friday that former Republican Assemblywoman Young Kim defeated Representative Gil Cisneros.
“I think you can expect from her a more active Congressperson,” Netter said. “She has a community behind her and really relates to the community.”
Yorba Linda is in Northeastern Orange County.
“The Vietnamese community there is very Republican and very involved with the recall and basically taking their community back,” Netter said. “That's a lot of the Orange County that you see in the Young Kim vote.”
In the Bakersfield 21st Congressional District, Republican David Valado is leading with 50.6% to 49.4% for Democrat TJ Cox.
“What strikes me as really interesting about the 21st district is that Valado was the Congressperson before and got voted out by 862 votes,” Netter said. “Now, he's beating TJ Cox, but that district is one of the most impoverished districts in California. So, how did it work out to have a Democratic Congressman there? Apparently not real well.”
Finally, Republican Darrell Issa won San Diego’s District 50 over Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar.
Issa was ahead 54% to 46% for Campa-Najjar.
“This was probably one of the most important races because the gentleman running against Issa has a Muslim bent and if he had won, that would have given the squad group, for lack of a better term, an alignment in what has traditionally been a Republican stronghold," Netter added. "The fact that the race was even close is amazing.”
'The squad' is a political term used to reference four progressive Democrat women of color who were re-elected to Congress, according to media reports.
They include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.