November 2022 — MHCE Newsletter
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14 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us NOVEMBER <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
US House win by ex-combat pilot cements<br />
Republican control<br />
LOS ANGELES <strong>—</strong> Republican Rep. Mike Garcia, a<br />
former Navy fighter pilot, scored a U.S. House win in<br />
a strongly Democratic district Wednesday, handing<br />
the GOP control of the chamber and giving the party<br />
a rare reason to celebrate in a state dominated by<br />
Democrats.<br />
The conservative Republican was reelected to a third<br />
term in a district that has a 12.5-point Democratic<br />
registration edge and was carried by then-presidential<br />
candidate Joe Biden by double digits in 2020. It was<br />
Garcia's third consecutive victory over Democrat<br />
Christy Smith, a former legislator.<br />
Garcia was first elected in a special election in May<br />
2020, then was reelected two years ago by just<br />
333 votes. He faced an even tougher challenge this<br />
year, after his left-leaning district was redrawn and<br />
became more solidly Democratic.<br />
With nearly 75% of the ballots counted, Garcia had<br />
54.2%, to 45.8% for Smith.<br />
Even though his victory carried historic weight<br />
by putting Republicans in charge of the House<br />
"the mission remains the same," Garcia said in a<br />
statement, in which he promised to work to "get our<br />
country back on track."<br />
Garcia, who flew over 30 combat missions during<br />
Operation Iraqi Freedom, is the sole GOP House<br />
member with a district anchored in heavily<br />
Democratic Los Angeles County.