Two familiar faces on the Central and South Coasts will be returning to Washington, D.C. for new congressional terms, but a third race in the region is still up in the air.
24th District Democratic Congressman Salud Carbajal of Santa Barbara easily won re-election. Carbajal defeated Republican challenger Andy Caldwell by a 62% to 38% margin. It will be Carbajal’s third term in office.
Democratic Congresswoman Julia Brownley of Westlake Village also won re-election by an almost identical 62% to 38% margin. The 26th District congresswoman won her fifth term in office, outdistancing Republican Ronda Baldwin-Kennedy.
But, a third race in the region is still far from settled. It’s the 25th Congressional District, which is mostly in Los Angeles County but includes a slice of Ventura County. Democrat Christy Smith has 50.5% of the vote, to Republican Mike Garcia’s 49.5%.
This is the seat won by Democrat Katie Hill in 2018. She resigned last year, following a scandal. There was a special election in May to complete the final months of Hill’s term, which Garcia won. This election is for a full two-year term. We may not know the final results of this election for days, with mail-in and provisional ballots yet to be counted.