LOS ANGELES — In a competitive Los Angeles-area congressional district, the campaign playbooks are well-defined. Republican Rep. Mike Garcia is relying on voter discontent about the economy. His Democratic challenger, Christy Smith, wants abortion rights to be top of mind.
One issue, though, is far less prominent than many anticipated: Garcia's vote to block the results of the 2020 presidential election. It was a perplexing move by the Santa Clarita Republican who had just won his swing district on a whisper-thin margin.
Garcia was put on the defensive, while Democrats planned to make it a defining issue in this election. Then they didn't.
