Republican Mike Garcia wins Democrat Katie Hill's vacant House seat in special election

California special election.
(Image credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

For the first time in nine years, Republicans have picked up a congressional seat previously held by a Democrat. Mike Garcia defeated his Democratic opponent, Christy Smith, in the race for California's 25th Congressional District seat, left vacant when former Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.) resigned last year after it was revealed she had an inappropriate relationship with a staffer.

Smith conceded Tuesday's election in a Facebook post Wednesday, but said she will now turn her attention to November's general election, where she plans to challenge Garcia again.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.