Your guide to the California Congressional District 27 race: Mike Garcia vs. Christy Smith
District 27: The state’s new congressional seat is one of the most hotly contested in the nation.
Mike Garcia’s bid to win back his seat and retake the leadership of the U.S. House is all about the old politics, but it has been a struggle to win over voters and get them to cast their ballots.
And, now, with a candidate raising money like crazy, it’s a race that will define the fight for political power in the United States this November.
In California’s 27th congressional district, Garcia, the incumbent, is facing Smith, a former aide to outgoing House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, in a general election for the House seat. It’s a race that has the potential to be an election-year drama; Garcia wants voters to look at him as a champion for small businesses, and Smith wants voters to see her as the party of big-business. The stakes are even higher because it’s a race with the state legislature’s involvement (as you will see in our in-depth analysis).
We visited the district to learn more about the race, and we spoke with more than a dozen voters. Some asked hard questions about the district’s future, but most were eager to tell us about their feelings about the party and their hopes for the future.
To read our entire profile, click here.
Patti Boulé, the communications director for Garcia, is one of the voters interviewed. Boulé said when she was making her decision, she looked at the candidates running in the district, but was initially hesitant about coming all the way out to vote for Garcia.
“I did not know him prior to the race, but I did know who he was and I had heard of him. I liked him, but I was hesitant to actually vote for him for some time,” Boulé said. “I got out there and I saw what he could stand for on the campaign trail and I liked what I saw.”
Despite Boulé’s feelings, she was convinced to go out and vote for Garcia after the final presidential debate.
“I