共和党人在倾向民主党的加州第25选区进行了一场激烈的竞选，这成为投票中心的一个热点，并引起了唐纳德·特朗普总统的注意。
前海军战斗机飞行员麦克·加西亚在特别选举中以56%的票数击败加州议员克里斯蒂·史密斯，取代因争议于10月辞职的前国会议员凯蒂·希尔。加西亚和史密斯将在11月的选举中面对面，决定谁来填补两年的国会任期。
史密斯在一篇承认胜利的脸书帖子中写道:“虽然我们确保每一张选票都被统计和记录是至关重要的，但我们相信目前的统计显示麦克·加西亚很可能在5月12日的特别选举中获胜。”。“因此，我想祝贺他。”
最近几天，随着政治数据公司(PDI)的选票追踪显示45%的共和党人寄回了他们的选票，只有31%的民主党人和22%的无党派人士在周二下午这么做，这场竞争似乎向共和党人靠拢。
2020年3月3日，超级星期二，在加利福尼亚州伯班克的布埃纳维斯塔分馆，选民们排着长队等待投票。
上周，兰卡斯特的长期共和党市长雷克斯·帕里斯，加西亚和总统的支持者，提出了增加亲自投票中心的要求。在该地区的正常选举周期中，将有近1000个投票站，但周二只有13个，包括兰卡斯特的新投票站。做出这一改变是为了避免出现想投票的人无法投票的情况，此前民主党人表示，缺少亲自投票选项将剥夺更有可能亲自投票的非洲裔美国人的投票权。
特朗普周六在推特上表达了他对这一决定的不满，指责民主党人“操纵”了“骗局”选举。
特朗普在推特上写道:“所以在加州，民主党人疯狂地争取只在选票上获得所有邮件，并取得了成功，他们刚刚在该州最民主的地区开了一个投票站。”。“他们正试图窃取另一场选举。外面都装了东西。这些选票不能算数。骗局！”
一周前，总统曾在推特上给予加西亚“完全完全的认可”。
冠状病毒危机已经改变了这个种族和整个国家的面貌。随着流行病的持续，除了增加邮寄投票措施以避免人与人之间的接触之外，COVID-19还存在党派分歧。加西亚支持特朗普迅速重新开放该州和经济的计划，而史密斯支持加州州长加文·纽瑟姆以更有条不紊的方式开放该州的计划，只是地方政府出台了追踪和追踪计划来应对新的病毒事件。
该选区近年来似乎倾向于民主党，希拉里·克林顿在2016年以7个百分点的优势胜出，而希尔在2018年以9个百分点的优势取代了共和党。希尔后来辞职了，因为她的照片未经她同意就被泄露了，众议院道德委员会调查了对她与一名国会工作人员关系不当的指控。
REPUBLICANS PICK UP KATIE HILL'S FORMER CALIFORNIA SEAT, IN UPSET FOR DEMOCRATS
Republicans pulled off an upset in Democratic-leaning California's 25th district in a tight race that became a flashpoint over voting centers and drew President Donald Trump's attention.
Former Navy fighter pilot Mike Garcia defeated California State Assemblymember Christy Smith by 56 percent in the special election to replace former congresswoman Katie Hill who resigned due to controversy in October. Garcia and Smith will face each other in the November election to decide who fills the full, two-year congressional term.
"While it's critical that we ensure every vote is counted and recorded, we believe that the current tally shows Mike Garcia is the likely victor in the May 12 special election," Smith wrote in a Facebook post conceding victory. "As such, I'd like to congratulate him."
The race had appeared to be trending toward Republicans in recent days with the Political Data Inc. (PDI) ballot tracker showing 45 percent of Republicans had mailed their ballots back, with only 31 percent of Democrats, and 22 percent of independents doing so as late as Tuesday afternoon.
Voters wait in a long line to cast their ballot in the presidential primary at the Buena Vista Branch Library in Burbank, California on Super Tuesday, March 3, 2020.
In the last week, the longtime Republican mayor of Lancaster, Rex Parris, a supporter of Garcia and the president, made the request for additional in-person voting centers. In a normal election cycle in the district, there would be close to 1,000 polling locations, but Tuesday there were only 13, including the new one in Lancaster. The change was made to avoid the appearance that people who wanted to vote weren't able to after Democrats said a lack of in-person voting options would disenfranchise African-Americans who are more likely to vote in-person.
Trump expressed his displeasure with that decision on Twitter Saturday, charging that Democrats "rigged" the "scam" election.
"So in California, the Democrats, who fought like crazy to get all mail in only ballots, and succeeded, have just opened a voting booth in the most Democrat area in the State," Trump wrote on Twitter. "They are trying to steal another election. It's all rigged out there. These votes must not count. SCAM!"
The president had previously given Garcia his "complete & total endorsement" on Twitter a week earlier.
The coronavirus crisis has changed the landscape of this race and those across the country. In addition to increased mail-in voting measures to avoid person-to-person contact as the pandemic continues, there was also a COVID-19 policy disagreement along partisan lines. Garcia backed Trump's plan to reopen the state and economy quickly, while Smith supported California Governor Gavin Newsom's plan to open the state in a more methodical manner, only with a track and trace plan in place from local governments to deal with new incidents of the virus.
The district had appeared to be trending towards Democrats in recent years, with Hillary Clinton winning it by seven points in 2016 and Hill taking the seat from Republicans in a nine-point win in 2018. Hill later resigned after photos of her were leaked without her consent and a House Ethics Committee probe looked into a charge of an improper relationship with a congressional staffer.
