A special election was held last night in the 25th Congressional district. Political junkies will remember that the seat was held formerly by Rep. Katie Hill who stepped down after admitting too engaging in inappropriate conduct with a campaign staffer.

With her term almost over, Republican Mike Garcia and Democrat Assemblywoman Kristy Smith were thought to be deadlocked for the seat.

As this is being written, Mike Garcia has significant lead of 11.8%.

Last night, Garcia’s campaign released a statement saying they would wait to declare victory until they had a clearer picture of the results. Due to the shift in mail-in ballots, the final vote tally is not expected for at least another 7 days.

While there is little chance the 11.8% lead slips away from Mike Garcia, calls for Assemblywoman Smith to concede the election have already begun.

It’s likely she won’t for at least a few days considering how Democrats have performed late in California elections post-2018.

In 2018, Rep. Hill won the seat that was previously held by Republican Steve Knight by 8 points. Many other congressional seats saw a Republican come out as the front runner on election night, but overtaken as more votes rolled in.

Let’s see if the trend continues.