U.S. House Candidate, Assemblywoman Christy Smith Campaigning Instead of Holding Hearing on Coronavirus Crisis

California Assemblywoman Christy Smith (D-Santa Clarita) is campaigning to replace disgraced Democratic Representative Katie Hill in California’s 25th Congressional District. The special election will take place May 12th in an “all-mail ballot election” because of a new executive order by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The governor issued an executive order last week to require vote-by-mail procedures to be used in three upcoming special elections, “protecting public health and safety during the COVID-19 outbreak,” California Globe reported.

However, according to the Washington Free Beacon, Smith is putting important Assembly responsibilities on the back burner.  In Coronavirus Takes Backseat to Campaigning for Dem Congressional Hopeful, “the California legislature’s emergency management committee has failed to hold a single meeting on the coronavirus, but that has not stopped its Democratic chairwoman from touting her handling of the pandemic on the campaign trail.”

“Smith chairs California’s Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management, which handles ‘disaster preparedness, emergency management, and homeland security issues,'” the Beacon reported. “The committee held a hearing on February 11, more than two weeks after California’s first confirmed coronavirus case and 10 days after President Donald Trump restricted travel from China. The meeting focused on wildfires rather than the pandemic.”

Smith actually postponed her March 4^th Emergency Management meeting. The meeting was supposed to occur the day after the March 3 Primary Election, but still hasn’t been held. At the time she postponed this meeting, five California counties and one city had declared states of emergency to combat coronavirus.

However, on March 3, Smith held an election night party at her campaign headquarters, advertised on Facebook.

Smith even bragged on Twitter this week about how hard she was working through the crisis, ironically after cancelling the March 4th Emergency Management legislative hearing:

“It won’t be easy to run a campaign for our 5/12 SPECIAL ELECTION while working through this crisis for my community. But- ELECTIONS MATTER and ensuring everyone can VOTE BY MAIL this year is EVERYTHING!”

The 25th Congressional District was represented by U.S. Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA), who has since resigned from Congress, claiming to be a victim of “revenge porn,” and claimed her husband was abusive, after allegations and photos emerged of Hill and her husband involved in a “throuple” threesome relationship with a young congressional staffer. Hill and her husband Kenny Helsep also had a profile on www.cruiseshipmingle.com, a website used by people going on a cruise to hook up sexually, as California Globe reported.

“As Smith’s emergency management committee failed to address the coronavirus, the Democrat continued to hold campaign events with prominent California liberals,” the Beacon reported. “Smith held a rally in early March featuring Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.), Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D., Calif.), and Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, as well as NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue.”

The Republican candidate for the 25th Congressional District is Mike Garcia, a former Navy fighter pilot and Santa Clarita native. Garcia has been conducting a series of virtual town halls for voters, including another at 6:45 Thursday evening.

“Despite the effect Coronavirus is having on our communities, we still have an election fast approaching on May 12^th and I am going to do everything I can to ensure voters know the contrast they face in this election: I am a former Navy fighter pilot, an outsider who supports lower taxes for Californians fighting an entrenched career politician who wants to take the dysfunction of Sacramento to Washington D.C.,” Garcia said.

In the March 3rd California Primary Election, Democrat Smith received 31.6% of the vote, Republican Garcia received 23.9%, and former Rep. Steve Knight, also Republican, received 19.1%, making this hotly contested race a nail biter.

“It seems the only thing career politician Christy Smith is concerned with in Sacramento is raising taxes and killing jobs with AB5, but when it comes to doing her job overseeing emergency management she’s too busy campaigning,” said Garcia Spokesman Lance Trover.