A special election to the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
for was held March 3, 2020, the same day as the
California presidential primaries. As no candidate received a majority, a runoff took place on May 12, 2020, between the
top two
A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of the political party. Partisan elections are, on the other hand, segregated by political party. ...
finishers
Christy Smith and
Mike Garcia. Garcia's win was the first time Republicans flipped a Democratic-held
House
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
seat in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
since
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
.
Katie Hill, who had been
elected in 2018, had resigned on November 3, 2019
after reports of an inappropriate relationship with a campaign staffer and allegations of sexual relations with her congressional staff, as well as nude photos of her which were published without her consent.
, who had represented the district until 2019, ran in the primary but did not advance to the runoff.
By winning the special election, Garcia finished the remaining balance of Hill's term in the
116th Congress
The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2019, and ended on Janua ...
. A separate primary and general election on March 3, 2020, and on November 3, 2020, respectively, was held to determine the representative for the
117th Congress
The 117th United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on ...
; Garcia narrowly defeated Smith in a rematch.
Background
Buck McKeon
Howard Philip "Buck" McKeon (born September 9, 1938) is an American politician who served as a U.S. representative from California's 25th congressional district from 1993 to 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is a former chairman of ...
(R) represented the district from 1993 until he retired in 2014.
Steve Knight (R) then won over
Tony Strickland
Anthony A. "Tony" Strickland (born February 17, 1970) is an American politician. He was voted mayor of Huntington Beach by the Huntington Beach City Council in December 2022. He is a former California State Senator who represented the 19th Dist ...
(R) in the 2014 election and served until he was defeated by
Katie Hill (D) in 2018 by 8.8 percentage points.
Hill
resigned
Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...
in October 2019 following a scandal in which she admitted to an "inappropriate relationship" with a campaign staffer and nude photos of her were published without her consent.
On November 15, 2019, the
Governor of California
The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard.
Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...
,
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fr ...
, issued a proclamation declaring a special election for the 25th Congressional District on May 12, 2020, with a primary on March 3, 2020.
In recent presidential elections the district narrowly voted for
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
(D) in 2008 and
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...
(R) in 2012, while
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
(D) won the district by 7 percentage points in 2016.
Candidates
California uses a primary system in which all candidates run in a single primary regardless of political party. In regular congressional elections, the top two vote getters in the primary advance to a runoff election regardless of party affiliation or vote tally. However, in the special election for the balance of Hill's term, had a candidate received more than 50% of the primary vote, they would have been automatically elected and the runoff election cancelled.
On October 31, 2019, at least a dozen people had filed paperwork with the
FEC to run for the seat.
[ According to the certified list of candidates signed by the ]Secretary of State of California
The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's other constitutional officers; the officeho ...
on January 15, 2020, six Democrats and six Republicans had filed for the special election and would appear on the ballot.Cenk Uygur
Cenk Kadir Uygur ( ; ; born March 21, 1970) is a Turkish-American progressive political commentator, media host, attorney, journalist, and politician. Uygur is the creator of ''The Young Turks'', an American left-wing, sociopolitical, progressi ...
."
Democratic Party
Declared
* Robert Cooper III, university professorCenk Uygur
Cenk Kadir Uygur ( ; ; born March 21, 1970) is a Turkish-American progressive political commentator, media host, attorney, journalist, and politician. Uygur is the creator of ''The Young Turks'', an American left-wing, sociopolitical, progressi ...
, co-founder, CEO, and host of ''The Young Turks
''The Young Turks'' (TYT) is an American progressive news commentary show on YouTube that additionally appears on selected television channels. TYT serves as the flagship program of the TYT Network, a multi-channel network of associated web se ...
''; co-founder of Justice Democrats
Justice Democrats is an American progressive political action committee founded on January 23, 2017, by former leaders from the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign Saikat Chakrabarti and Zack Exley, as well as political commentators Kyle ...
and founder of Wolf PAC
Declined
* Alex Padilla
Alejandro Padilla ( ; born March 22, 1973) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from California since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Padilla served as the 30th secretary of state of California from 2015 ...
, Secretary of State of California
The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's other constitutional officers; the officeho ...
* Henry Stern, state senator
Withdrawn
* Christopher C. Smith, documentary filmmaker
Republican Party
Declared
* Mike Garcia, U.S. Navy veteran and businessman
Declined
* Mike Cernovich
Michael Cernovich (born November 17, 1977) is an American right-wing social media personality, political commentator, and conspiracy theorist. Though he initially called himself alt-right, he dissociated from the movement after Richard Spence ...
, political commentatorSimi Valley
Simi Valley (; Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in the valley of the same name in the southeast region of Ventura County, California, United States. Simi Valley is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. The ...
Tony Strickland
Anthony A. "Tony" Strickland (born February 17, 1970) is an American politician. He was voted mayor of Huntington Beach by the Huntington Beach City Council in December 2022. He is a former California State Senator who represented the 19th Dist ...
, former state senator
Withdrawn
* Mark Cripe, Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
deputy sheriff
Special election
The special election and the primary election
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...
for the regular general election for California's 25th congressional district was held on March 3, 2020. The normal primary election determined which two candidates would advance to the 2020 general election, while the special election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...
was to determine who will finish the remainder of Hill's term. No candidate in the special election received more than 50% of the vote so the top two candidates advanced to a runoff to be held on May 12, 2020.
Several candidates were on the ballot in both elections on March 3, as these elections concern two different Congresses
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...
.
Debates
On December 22, 2019, Democratic candidates Christopher Smith, Aníbal Valdéz-Ortega and Cenk Uygur called on Christy Smith, Robert Cooper III and Getro Elize to attend a primary debate "to be held tentatively at College of the Canyons
College of the Canyons (COC) is a public community college in Santa Clarita, California. It comprises the Santa Clarita Community College District. The college is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and has campus loc ...
on Thursday, January 9, 2020". The Talk of Santa Clarita, an interview podcast within the district that hosted a Democratic debate during the 2018 election and has interviewed both Christy Smith and Cenk Uygur, also volunteered to host a primary debate for the Democratic candidates on January 25, 2020.
Uygur stated on January 4 that all of the Democratic candidates, with the notable exception of Christy Smith, will attend a debate in Palmdale
Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. The city lies in the Antelope Valley region of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south.
On Aug ...
(at Transplants Brewing Company) on January 9, 2020.
Predictions
Endorsements
Results
Runoff
Since no candidate in the March 3, 2020 special election received more than 50.0% of the vote, a runoff election
The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...
between the top two finishers was held on May 12, 2020.
Endorsements
Predictions
Polling
Results
See also
*
*
* Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominating co ...
Notes
;Partisan clients
References
External links
;Official campaign websites
Mike Garcia (R) for Congress
Christy Smith (D) for Congress
;Public forum with candidates
*
{{California elections
California 2020 25
California 2020 25
2020 25 Special
California 25 Special
United States House of Representatives 25 Special
United States House of Representatives 2020 25