California's 25th Congressional District election, 2020

Elections in California, 2020

• Election date: Nov. 3
• Registration deadline(s): Nov. 3 (in person); Oct. 19 (online; by mail)
• Online registration: Yes
• Same-day registration: Yes
• Recount laws

• Early voting starts: Oct. 5
• Absentee/mail voting deadline(s): Nov. 3 (postmarked); Nov. 20 (received)
• Processing, counting, and challenging absentee/mail-in ballots
• Voter ID: No ID
• Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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On the ballot:  • U.S. House • Congressional special elections • State Senate • State Assembly • Special state legislative • Local judges • State ballot measures • Local ballot measures • School boards • Municipal • Recalls

Click here for coverage of the May 12 special election.

2022 → ← 2018
California's 25th Congressional District
Top-two primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: December 6, 2019
Primary: March 3, 2020 General: November 3, 2020 Pre-election incumbent: Mike Garcia (R)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in California
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Toss-up Inside Elections: Toss-up Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
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Incumbent Rep. Mike Garcia (R) defeated Christy Smith (D) in the general election for California's 25th Congressional District on November 3, 2020.

At the time of the primary, the 25th District seat was vacant following Katie Hill's (D) resignation. On the same day as the regularly scheduled primary, a special primary election was held, from which Garcia and Smith advanced to the May 12 special election to fill the seat. Garcia won the special election for the district when Smith conceded on May 13. Garcia received 55% of the vote to Smith’s 45%. Garcia was the first Republican to flip a California U.S. House seat since 1998.

In 2018, 7 of the 14 California districts that had been represented by Republicans leading up to the midterms were won by Democrats. Hill won California's 25th by a margin of 8.8 percentage points. Previous to her election, it had been represented by a Republican since 1993. In the 2012 presidential election, Mitt Romney (R) won California’s 25th by a margin of 1.8 percentage points, and in 2016 Hillary Clinton (D) won the district by a margin of 6.7 percentage points.

Heading into the election, Smith was named to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)'s Red to Blue program, and Garcia was added to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)'s Patriot program.

Smith and Garcia were the top two finishers among the 13 candidates who ran in the March 3, 2020, top-two primary for the district. In the primary, Smith received 32% of the vote to Garcia's 24%.

The outcome of this race affected partisan control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 117th Congress. All 435 seats in the House were up for election. At the time of the election, Democrats had a 232 to 198 majority over Republicans. The Libertarian Party had one seat. Four seats were vacant. Democrats defended 30 districts Donald Trump (R) won in 2016. Republicans defended five districts Hillary Clinton (D) won in 2016.

California's 25th Congressional District is located in the southern portion of the state and includes part of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Mike Garcia completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection Survey. Click here to view his responses.

This race was one of 89 congressional races that were decided by 10 percent or less in 2020.

For more information about the top-two primary, click here.

This election was a battleground race. Other 2020 battlegrounds included:

New Jersey's 7th Congressional District election, 2020 United States Senate election in Texas, 2020 (March 3 Democratic primary) Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election, 2020 (June 23 Democratic primary)

Post-election analysis

The table below compares the vote totals in the 2020 presidential election and 2020 U.S. House election for this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

Presidential and congressional election results, California's 25th Congressional District, 2020
Race	Presidential	U.S. House
Democratic candidate	54	50
Republican candidate	43.9	50
Difference	10.1	0

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

California modified its absentee/mail-in and in-person voting procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

• Absentee/mail-in voting: Mail-in ballots were sent to all registered voters in the general election.
• In-person voting: Counties were authorized to consolidate precincts and defer opening voting centers until the third day before the election.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 25

Incumbent Mike Garcia defeated Christy Smith in the general election for U.S. House California District 25 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Garcia (R)	50.0	169,638
		Christy Smith (D)	50.0	169,305

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 338,943
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 25

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 25 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Christy Smith (D)	31.7	49,679
✔		Mike Garcia (R)	23.9	37,381
		Stephen Knight (R)	18.9	29,645
		Cenk Uygur (D)	5.9	9,246
		Getro Elize (D)	4.0	6,317
		David Lozano (R)	4.0	6,272
		Anibal Valdez-Ortega (D)	3.1	4,920
		Robert Cooper (D)	2.9	4,474
		George Papadopoulos (R)	1.8	2,749
		Otis Lee Cooper (Independent)	1.4	2,183
		Christopher Smith (D) (Unofficially withdrew)	1.3	2,089
		Daniel Mercuri (R)	0.6	913
		Kenneth Jenks (R)	0.4	682

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 156,550
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• David Rudnick (D)
• Charles Patron (R)
• Mark Cripe (R)
• Suzette Martinez Valladares (R)
• Angela Underwood Jacobs (R)
• Katie Hill (D)

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles created in one of two ways. Either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey or Ballotpedia staff created a profile after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. Ballotpedia staff compiled profiles based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements.

Mike Garcia

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: Yes

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "First-generation American citizen, Mike Garcia is a highly decorated United States Naval Officer whose record-setting flying performance earned him the honor of becoming one of the first Super Hornet strike fighter pilots in the Navy. He flew over 30 combat missions during Operation Iraqi freedom. Accruing over 1400 hours of operational flight time during his nearly 20 years of military service to our country, Garcia decided to separate from the US Navy with an Honorable Discharge to focus on his family. Garcia moved back to the 25th District in 2009 and began to work for the Raytheon Company. During his now 10 years as an executive at Raytheon, Garcia has been responsible for the generation of billions of dollars of revenue and the creation of hundreds of jobs for his company and our district. Garcia is the husband to Rebecca Garcia, the owner of the Rebecca Rollins Interiors in Santa Clarita, and the father of Preston (age 13) and Jett (age 3). "

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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Garcia will make it a priority to ensure our men and women in uniform have the funding and tools necessary to keep America safe, and only send them into battle when it is absolutely necessary.

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Garcia supports term limits because it's time to get rid of the career politicians in both parties. Washington, DC truly is a swamp, filled with career politicians who are more concerned with their next election than making tough decisions.

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Mike Garcia is a first-generation American citizen whose family came to the United States legally for more opportunity and for a shot at the American Dream. Garcia knows what's at stake, and he'll fight against Democrats' dangerous socialist agenda and restore our country's guiding principles, most importantly freedom, that he helped protect in his 20 years as a Naval Officer.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House California District 25 in 2020.

Christy Smith

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: 

• California State Assembly (Assumed office: 2018)

Biography:  Smith received a degree from the College of the Canyons. Before her election to the California State Assembly in 2018, she founded the Valencia Valley Technological Education Foundation, worked as a legislative vice president of the Santa Clarita Valley Trustees Association, and served as a delegate to the California School Board Association.

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Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

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Smith said she would work across the aisle to make healthcare more accessible. She expressed support for protecting people with pre-existing conditions, lowering drug costs, and introducing a public healthcare option to those who wanted it.

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Smith said she and her mother’s experience attending College of the Canyons informed her support for investing in public schools and expanding access to job training, apprenticeships, technical school, and public colleges and universities.

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Smith criticized Mike Garcia’s (R) support for President Donald Trump (R) and said the Trump administration mishandled its coronavirus response.

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Show sources

Sources: YouTube, "Better Life," September 9, 2020; YouTube, "Trump's Choice," May 2, 2020; YouTube, "Access," January 23, 2020; Christy Smith's 2020 campaign website,"Christy's Priorities," accessed September 28, 2020; Christy Smith 2020 campaign website, "Meet Christy," accessed September 28, 2020

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House California District 25 in 2020.

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

California's 25th Congressional District election, 2020: General election polls
Poll	Date	Garcia	Smith	Other	Margin of error	Sample size	Sponsor
Norman, Petts & Associates	Sept. 21-23, 2020	45%	51%	4%	±4.9	400	House Majority PAC

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election. It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees. The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Mike Garcia	Republican Party	$10,140,614	$9,762,756	$377,858	As of December 31, 2020
Christy Smith	Democratic Party	$6,112,639	$5,943,381	$169,258	As of December 31, 2020
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was EVEN, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were within 1 percentage point of the national average. This made California's 25th Congressional District the 235th most Republican nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.97. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.97 points toward that party.

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: California's 25th Congressional District election, 2020
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 3, 2020	October 27, 2020	October 20, 2020	October 13, 2020
The Cook Political Report	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Lean Republican	Lean Republican	Lean Republican	Lean Republican
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Noteworthy endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in this election, including those made by high-profile individuals and organizations, cross-party endorsements, and endorsements made by newspaper editorial boards. It also includes a bulleted list of links to official lists of endorsements for any candidates who published that information on their campaign websites. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please click here.

Click the links below to see endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites, if available.

• Mike Garcia
• Christy Smith

Noteworthy endorsements
Endorsement	Garcia (R)	Smith (D)
Newspapers and editorials
LA Daily News	✔
Los Angeles Times		✔
The Signal	✔
Elected officials
Senator Kamala Harris (D)		✔
Governor Gavin Newsom (D)		✔
President Donald Trump (R)	✔
Individuals
Former Vice President Joe Biden (D)		✔
Former President Barack Obama (D)		✔

Timeline

2020

• October 2020 (click to collapse)

  October

  • Oct. 10, 2020: The Santa Clarita Valley Signal endorsed Garcia.

• September 2020 (click to expand)

  September

  • Sept. 30, 2020: Campaign finance filing deadline with the Federal Election Commission.
    • Garcia: $7,721,661 in receipts
    • Smith: $4,834,717 in receipts

  • Sept. 25, 2020: A Norman, Petts & Associates poll commissioned by the House Majority PAC was released, showing Garcia at 45%, Smith at 51%, and 4% undecided with a margin of error of ±4.9.

  • Sept. 16, 2020: Garcia was endorsed by the LA Daily News.

  • Sept. 12, 2020: Smith was endorsed by former Vice President Joe Biden (D).

Campaign advertisements

This section shows advertisements released in this race. Ads released by campaigns and, if applicable, satellite groups are embedded or linked below. If you are aware of advertisements that should be included, please email us.

Mike Garcia

Supporting Garcia

"Run" - Garcia campaign ad, released September 16, 2020

"Call" - Garcia campaign ad, released March 31, 2020

"Sights" - Garcia campaign ad, released February 19, 2020

Christy Smith

Supporting Smith

"Determined" - Smith campaign ad, released October 20, 2020

"Stood Up" - Smith campaign ad, released September 22, 2020

"Not a Dime" - Smith campaign ad, released September 22, 2020

"Better Life" - Smith campaign ad, released September 9, 2020

"Together" - Smith campaign ad, released April 25, 2020

"Remind People of Their Power" - Smith campaign ad, released April 23, 2020

"America is Hurting (Spanish)" - Smith campaign ad, released April 20, 2020

"Counting on Us" - Smith campaign ad, released April 19, 2020

"America is Hurting" - Smith campaign ad, released April 8, 2020

"LA Times Endorsement" - Smith campaign ad, released February 28, 2020

"Vote Twice" - Smith campaign ad, released February 24, 2020

"Powered" - Smith campaign ad, released February 21, 2020

"Not Afraid" - Smith campaign ad, released February 17, 2020

"Access" - Smith campaign ad, released January 23, 2020

"Join Us" - Smith campaign ad, released December 28, 2019

"Care" - Smith campaign ad, released November 25, 2019

"We're Not Turning Back" - Smith campaign ad, released October 28, 2019

Opposing Garcia

"Trump's Choice" - Smith campaign ad, released May 2, 2020

"Here For Us (Spanish)" - Smith campaign ad, released May 1, 2020

"Here For All Of Us" - Smith campaign ad, released April 29, 2020

"Mike Garcia's Principles" - Smith campaign ad, released April 14, 2020

Satellite group ads

Opposing Garcia

"Pandemic" - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ad, released September 21, 2020

Campaign themes

See also: Campaign themes

Mike Garcia

Garcia’s campaign website stated the following:

“	National Security Garcia knows firsthand the important role that the United States plays around the world as a force for good, but that the first priority must always be national security and protecting the homeland, to include securing and better surveillance of our borders. Mike Garcia will make it a priority to ensure our men and women in uniform have the funding and tools necessary to keep America safe, and only send them into battle when it is absolutely necessary. Term Limits Garcia supports term limits because it’s time to get rid of the career politicians in both parties. Washington, DC truly is a swamp, filled with career politicians who are more concerned with their next election than making tough decisions. The Founding Fathers wanted citizens to step up and serve their community in office for a brief period and then make way for new representation before they lost touch with their constituency. National Debt The $22 trillion in debt is unsustainable and will be back breaking in the long run. Unless we do something about it, the interest payments on our debt will soon exceed the military budget and Medicaid. That poses problems for readiness and national security. Navy Admiral and Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Michael Mullen has said that “the single, biggest threat to our national security is debt.” Socialism Mike Garcia is a first-generation American citizen whose family came to the United States legally for more opportunity and for a shot at the American Dream. Garcia knows what’s at stake, and he’ll fight against Democrats’ dangerous socialist agenda and restore our country’s guiding principles, most importantly freedom, that he helped protect in his 20 years as a Naval Officer. Economy and Jobs With a proven track record as a leader of job creation and winning new business while also advocating for and promoting minorities and women, Mike Garcia knows what it takes to be successful and contribute to the economy. Garcia knows that our economy is strong in spite of government, not because of it. He opposes job-killing liberal policies, like AB-5, that crush California’s workers and small businesses. Mike Garcia will go to Congress and go to bat for our community to create a climate that brings good paying jobs and economic activity. Taxes Tax and spend, big government, and bloated bureaucracy — that’s the big three in Washington and Sacramento. Tax cuts are working for the country, but California taxpayers are being unfairly punished for their zip code. Californians are getting squeezed by higher property and gas taxes. California and the federal government have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Garcia supports protecting Prop. 13 and will work to cut taxes for Californians. Smaller government and lower taxes are the keys to strong economic growth.	”
—Mike Garcia’s campaign website (2020)

Christy Smith

Smith’s campaign website stated the following:

“	Improving Public Education Christy believes that a great education levels the playing field and creates more opportunity for all of our young people. That's why she has dedicated her career, particularly as a federal education policy expert and a member of her local school board, to improving schools and giving every student a fair chance through a world class education. In Congress, she will work to invest in local public classrooms so that we can hire more teachers and reduce class sizes, and pay teachers livable middle class wages. Christy also wants to ensure students have options after K-12, without going into a lifetime of debt. She wants to increase the affordability and availability of options like job training, apprenticeships, technical school, and more affordable public colleges and universities. Lowering Taxes for California Families Christy is committed to reinstating the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction, which would lower taxes for California families, by up to $12,000 a year. As a member of the State Assembly, Christy opposed any changes to Proposition 13, the law that caps property tax costs for California homeowners. In 2018, Christy supported a measure that mandated tax revenue from the “gas tax” must be used solely on transportation-related infrastructure projects, not on the pet projects of politicians. Assemblywoman Christy Smith introduced AB 2379 which would create an annual tax exemption holiday for certain emergency supplies. Throughout her time in public service, Christy has fought to lower taxes and ensure that existing tax dollars are spent on the best interest of Californians. Christy will take that same sense of fiscal responsibility to Congress. Ending Corruption in Washington It's clear that big money is corrupting our political system. The voices of everyday Americans continue to be crowded out by special interests and corporate Super PACs, resulting in record low levels of trust in our government. The only way to fix it is to get dark, unaccountable money out of politics. Now more than ever, it’s critical that we hold Washington accountable and defend our democracy by fighting against the special interest money flooding into our nation’s capital. If we want a government that represents the will of the people and not special interests, we have to change the way we finance our campaigns. ​That’s why Christy supports ending the disastrous Citizens United decision, and refuses to accept a dime from Big Pharma, Big Oil, the Gun Lobby, Big Tobacco, any other federal corporate PAC money, or contributions from any federal lobbyist. She’s only going to be accountable to the thousands of people across the 25th District, not corporate special interests that have corrupted our politics and hurt our communities. Keeping Our Families and Communities Safe Our firefighters, paramedics, law enforcement officers, as well as other emergency responders are heroes who not only work to keep us safe, but are also on the front lines of addressing America’s mental health crisis. As Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management, and the mother of two daughters, Christy has risen above party politics to deliver for California's first responders. In Congress, she will work to invest more in public safety so we can continue to reduce emergency response times and improve neighborhood security. As the climate crisis worsens, our fire danger is greater than ever and we need to equip our professionals with the tools and resources needed to respond. Making Health Care More Affordable and Available Health care is a human right and while the Affordable Care Act was a tremendous step in that direction, Christy believes we need to do more to reduce costs, ensure that every American has access to affordable healthcare, and protect those with pre-existing conditions. That’s why she supports a public health insurance option for anyone who wants it. Additionally, Christy believes we need to have the same consumer protections in the healthcare system as we do in any consumer market, which includes transparency when it comes to the real cost of healthcare treatments. She will work to shed light on pricing that for too long has been negotiated in the dark. ​Christy also believes that Congress needs to do the work of controlling the skyrocketing cost of health care, including the rising costs of prescription drugs. It’s unacceptable that US taxpayers subsidize the research and development of lifesaving drugs, only to pay more for them than people who live in Europe, Japan, and Canada. She'll also fight to protect Medicaid and Medicare, women's reproductive health care rights, and funding for Planned Parenthood. “This fight is personal to me. I understand what it’s like to lose a loved one because they couldn’t afford care. I will fight so no family has to go through what mine did.” - Christy Smith Advocating for Women and Families When women thrive, our families thrive. That's why Christy has always been a tireless fighter for women and families – from our schools to our state capitol and, now, to Washington. Christy is ready to stand up for equal pay for equal work and for affordable childcare, so families have a fair shot at success. She will ensure that women receive the same access to affordable health care as men. And Christy will always fight to protect a woman's right to choose and funding for Planned Parenthood and other providers who ensure that women have affordable options for a full range of reproductive health care. Growing the Middle Class and Small Businesses We need to get serious about creating better-paying jobs right here in our community so more middle-class families can prosper and don’t need to spend hours away from their families to commute to downtown Los Angeles. Christy Smith has a plan to do it. She believes we must make smart investments in transportation infrastructure, education, scientific research, and renewable and clean energy industries to create sustainable jobs in our community that will also pay the mortgage. She also believes we should do more to help people start and grow small businesses right here at home and give people the career skills they need by making colleges and trade schools more affordable and accessible, all the while ensuring that workers have the right to organize and have a voice in the workplace through unions. Taking on Corporate Polluters and the Climate Crisis Here in the 25th District, we are all too familiar with the emerging threat of the climate crisis -- experiencing wildfires in nearly every part of the district, air and water pollution, drought, and more. For too long, federal agencies have fallen short in their stewardship, so we must fight to ensure accountability and reform. We have a lot of work to do to protect the air our children breathe and water they drink here at home, including shutting down the Aliso Canyon gas facility and ensuring aggressive oversight of our district’s two toxic waste clean-up sites, Santa Susana Field Laboratory and Whittaker Bermite, and three landfills, Sunshine Canyon, Chiquita Canyon, and Simi Valley. ​We must also invest in building a fully renewable and clean energy infrastructure using wind and solar to create good mortgage-paying jobs and combat the climate crisis so we can ensure our community is a place where families can live and thrive for generations to come, before it’s too late. Enacting Gun Safety Measures As a mother, Christy believes that every one of us has the right to live without the fear of gun violence and protect our families. That’s why she will work to promote public safety in neighborhoods across the 25th District and America by stemming the tide of gun violence and fighting for comprehensive and mandatory universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines, “red flag” laws that allow families to ask courts to take guns away from domestic abusers and others who are a danger to themselves and others. Protecting Our Veterans and Seniors Christy will fight tirelessly to protect America’s veterans and seniors from exploitation and abuse in Washington. As Congresswoman, Christy will ensure that her office is assisting veterans and seniors with federal agencies through competent constituent services and outreach. She will defend Social Security and Medicare from extremist attacks and work to fix the VA to ensure that our veterans get the benefits and care that they earned. Building Housing that's Affordable for Families All across the country, but particularly in California, the cost of living is skyrocketing, pushing working class families out of their homes and communities and displacing small businesses. We need to tackle this crisis head-on by investing in more affordable housing and developing a comprehensive national strategy to combat homelessness, including increased funding for shelters, health care and mental health services. Ensuring Human Rights for All In Congress, Christy will fight for equality in every aspect of our society, including equal pay for equal work, protections for women in the workplace and against domestic violence, civil rights protections for LGBTQ people, as well as ensuring non-discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodation. Common Sense Immigration Reform Our immigration system is dangerously broken and desperately needs reforms that work for all of us. We need to take steps to increase border security to protect against criminal activity and also create a path to citizenship for law-abiding residents who live here and contribute here. America’s strength is our diversity. In Congress, Christy will be dedicated to defending immigrant communities, including DREAMers and refugees from abuse and protect their basic human rights. Separating children from their families and putting them in cages is outrageous and un-American. Christy believes that immigration is fundamentally a humanitarian issue and should be handled with compassion delivered through a much more robust system. We need more judges on the border to process cases in a more fair and rapid manner.	”
—Christy Smith’s campaign website (2020)

Candidate ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for 25th Congressional District candidates in California in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in California, click here.

Filing requirements, 2020
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Signature formula	Filing fee	Filing fee formula	Filing deadline	Source
California	25th Congressional District	All candidates	2,000	Fixed number	$1,740.00	1% of annual salary	12/6/2019	Source

District election history

2018

See also: California's 25th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 25

Katie Hill defeated incumbent Stephen Knight in the general election for U.S. House California District 25 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Katie Hill (D)	54.4	133,209
		Stephen Knight (R)	45.6	111,813

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 245,022
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 25

Incumbent Stephen Knight and Katie Hill defeated Bryan Caforio, Jess Phoenix, and Mary Pallant in the primary for U.S. House California District 25 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stephen Knight (R)	51.8	61,411
✔		Katie Hill (D)	20.7	24,507
		Bryan Caforio (D)	18.4	21,821
		Jess Phoenix (D)	6.4	7,549
		Mary Pallant (D)	2.7	3,157

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 118,445
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Diedra Greenaway (D)
• Daniel Fleming (D)
• Kelan Farrell-Smith (D)
• Michael Masterman-Smith (D)
• Scott McVarish (D)

2016

See also: California's 25th Congressional District election, 2016

California's 25th Congressional District was a battleground district in 2016. Incumbent Stephen Knight (R) won re-election to his second term in 2016. He defeated Bryan Caforio (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Knight and Caforio defeated Jeffrey Moffatt (R) and Lou Vince (D) in the top-two primary on June 7, 2016.

U.S. House, California District 25 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Stephen Knight Incumbent	53.1%	138,755
	Democratic	Bryan Caforio	46.9%	122,406
Total Votes				261,161
Source: California Secretary of State

U.S. House, California District 25 Primary, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Stephen Knight Incumbent	48.3%	63,769
	Democratic	Bryan Caforio	29.1%	38,382
	Democratic	Lou Vince	15.4%	20,327
	Republican	Jeffrey Moffatt	7.3%	9,620
Total Votes				132,098
Source: California Secretary of State

2014

See also: California's 25th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 25th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Buck McKeon did not seek re-election in 2014. Stephen Knight (R) defeated Tony Strickland (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 25 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Steve Knight	53.3%	60,847
	Republican	Tony Strickland	46.7%	53,225
Total Votes				114,072
Source: California Secretary of State

State profile

See also: California and California elections, 2020

Partisan data

The information in this section was current as of January 23, 2020

Presidential voting pattern

• California voted for the Democratic candidate in all six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

Congressional delegation

• Both U.S. Senators from California were Democrats.
• California had 45 Democratic and six Republican U.S. Representatives, with two vacancies.

State executives

• Democrats held 10 and Republicans held one of California's 21 state executive offices. Elections for the other offices are nonpartisan.
• California's governor was Gavin Newsom (D).

State legislature

• Democrats controlled the California State Senate with a 29-10 majority, with one vacancy.
• Democrats controlled the California State Assembly with a 61-19 majority.

California Party Control: 1992-2024
Nineteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Assembly	D	D	D	S	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

California quick stats

• Became a state in 1850
• 31st state admitted to the United States
• As of 2018, California was the most populous state in the country.
• Members of the California State Senate: 40
• Members of the California State Assembly: 80
• U.S. senators: 2
• U.S. representatives: 53

More California coverage on Ballotpedia:

• California elections, 2020
• Presidential voting trends in California
• United States congressional delegations from California
• Public policy in California
• Influencers in California
• Almanac of American Politics state profile
• More...

Demographic data for California
	California	U.S.
Total population:	38,993,940	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	155,779	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	61.8%	73.6%
Black/African American:	5.9%	12.6%
Asian:	13.7%	5.1%
Native American:	0.7%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.4%	0.2%
Two or more:	4.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	38.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	81.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	31.4%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$61,818	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	18.2%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in California. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2020
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2020

External links

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

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California's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Laphonza Butler (D)

Alex Padilla (D)

Representatives

District 1

Doug LaMalfa (R)

District 2

Jared Huffman (D)

District 3

Kevin Kiley (R)

District 4

Mike Thompson (D)

District 5

Tom McClintock (R)

District 6

Ami Bera (D)

District 7

Doris Matsui (D)

District 8

John Garamendi (D)

District 9

Josh Harder (D)

District 10

Mark DeSaulnier (D)

District 11

Nancy Pelosi (D)

District 12

Barbara Lee (D)

District 13

John Duarte (R)

District 14

Eric Swalwell (D)

District 15

Kevin Mullin (D)

District 16

Anna Eshoo (D)

District 17

Ro Khanna (D)

District 18

Zoe Lofgren (D)

District 19

Jimmy Panetta (D)

District 20

Vince Fong (R)

District 21

Jim Costa (D)

District 22

David Valadao (R)

District 23

Jay Obernolte (R)

District 24

Salud Carbajal (D)

District 25

Raul Ruiz (D)

District 26

Julia Brownley (D)

District 27

Mike Garcia (R)

District 28

Judy Chu (D)

District 29

Tony Cárdenas (D)

District 30

Adam Schiff (D)

District 31

Grace Napolitano (D)

District 32

Brad Sherman (D)

District 33

Pete Aguilar (D)

District 34

Jimmy Gomez (D)

District 35

Norma Torres (D)

District 36

Ted Lieu (D)

District 37

Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D)

District 38

Linda Sánchez (D)

District 39

Mark Takano (D)

District 40

Young Kim (R)

District 41

Ken Calvert (R)

District 42

Robert Garcia (D)

District 43

Maxine Waters (D)

District 44

Nanette Barragán (D)

District 45

Michelle Steel (R)

District 46

Lou Correa (D)

District 47

Katie Porter (D)

District 48

Darrell Issa (R)

District 49

Mike Levin (D)

District 50

Scott Peters (D)

District 51

Sara Jacobs (D)

District 52

Juan Vargas (D)

Democratic Party (42)

Republican Party (12)