Your guide to the California Congressional District 27 race: Mike Garcia vs. Christy Smith
California’s 26th Congressional District is a conservative district that flipped Republican in 2016, and incumbent Mike Garcia is seeking his third term. One of the state’s most competitive districts, Garcia is seeking to hold the seat against Democrat Steve Knight (no relation). Both candidates are white men, and Garcia is the first Republican to try and win in his district in over 30 years. Garcia and Smith are both Democrats.
Christy Smith is the first Black woman to run in California’s 26th Congressional District. An economist, Smith served in the state legislature before running for office and is making her first bid for Congress in years. She is the daughter of former Congressman Tom McClintock and a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan.
How Does Your Vote Count?
To make the decision as to who will be the next representative of the 26th Congressional District, there’s only one way to do it: go to their official website and check it out.
There is no “official” website for Mike Garcia’s campaign, but it is easy to find on Google under Mike Garcia For Congress 27th Congressional District. You’ll see a bunch of videos, like one he did in which Garcia said he doesn’t take anything for granted, or one where he talked about what is needed in Congress right now.
And of course there’s the candidate information page, where Garcia can answer each of these questions about himself. The website offers nothing new about Christy Smith, but it does make it easy to find her campaign, as well as the other candidates seeking office in the district.
Why Garcia?
A little-known fact about Garcia, one that he’s now proud of, is that he lost to his opponent by 20,000 votes, the margin of victory being 12,000 votes. His margin loss was more than any Democrat running in the district has lost in the past, and the