LOS ANGELES – A former Navy combat pilot built a double-digit lead in the fight for an open U.S. House seat north of Los Angeles, positioning Republicans to capture a Democratic-held congressional district in California for the first time in over two decades.
Political newcomer Mike Garcia had a 12-point edge over Democratic Assemblywoman Christy Smith in Tuesday's special election for the swing 25th District.
An unknown number of ballots remained uncounted and Los Angeles County, where most of them are located, was not expected to update its tally until Friday.
California routinely counts large numbers of votes after election day, and mail ballots can arrive as late as Friday and still be counted if they were postmarked by election day.