RESULTS: GOP Rep. Mike Garcia faces a rematch against Christy Smith in California's 25th Congressional District

• Rep. Mike Garcia and former Assemblywoman Christy Smith are competing in a re-match in California's 25th Congressional District, which includes portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
• See the live coverage and full results from all US House elections
• Garcia defeated Smith in a May 12 special election to replace former Rep. Katie Hill, who resigned from office in the fall of 2019 amid a scandal.
• Polls started closing at 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
• The race will be called as soon as there is sufficient data to make a conclusion.

Republican Rep. Mike Garcia and former Assemblywoman Christy Smith are competing in a re-match in California's 25th Congressional District, which includes portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

After Democrats took back control of the US House in 2018 by flipping 40 seats, Republicans are now looking to make up lost ground in the House.

Polls started closing at 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday.

The candidates

For Republicans, Garcia was an ideal recruit as a political newcomer. As a Latino with a military background for a racially diverse district where the defense and aerospace industries are major employers.

As a first-time candidate, he also had no legislative record to attack, allowing Republicans to focus on negatively highlighting some of Smith's votes in the state assembly.

In addition to facing attacks on her legislative record, national Democrats were reportedly dismayed with Smith's lagging fundraising performance, and a couple of unfortunate gaffes hurt her campaign.

"May is going to be harder than November will be," a national Democrat told The Washington Post before the special election. "We think the candidate is going to get better and it's going to be a much better election."

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The district

California's 25th district is a battleground district in Southern California and includes parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, as well as the cities of Simi Valley, Santa Clarita, and Palmdale.

It is one of several Democratic-trending districts in California that voted for Sen. Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election and Hillary Clinton in 2016.

In the 2018 midterm elections, former Rep. Katie Hill flipped the district from Republican to Democrat with an 8-point victory over incumbent GOP Rep. Steve Knight.

Hill resigned from office in late 2019 amid a scandal over a relationship she had with a campaign staffer and suffered subsequent cyber-exploitation, in which nude photos of her were published on conservative blog RedState and the tabloid site The Daily Mail.

Hill's resignation triggered a May 12 special election, which Garcia won by nearly 10 points. His victory marked the first time since 1998 that Republicans flipped a Democratic House seat in California and made him the third House Republican to represent a district that Clinton won in 2016.

The money race

Garcia has raised over $7.5 million and spent $5.5 million while Smith has raised $4.7 million and spent 4.2 million. Garcia currently has $2 million in cash on hand compared to about $533,400 for Smith, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

What the experts say

The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections rate the race as a "toss-up" while Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics rates it as "leans Republican."