Assemblywoman Christy Smith Still Campaigning Instead of Holding Hearings on Coronavirus Crisis?

Assemblywoman Christy Smith (D-Santa Clarita) has been campaigning to replace now-disgraced Democratic Representative Katie Hill in CA-25. The special election will take place May 12th in an “all-mail ballot election” because of a recent executive order by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The governor issued the executive order 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, Smith has been putting essential Assembly responsibilities on the back burner.  In Coronavirus Takes Backseat to Campaigning for Dem Congressional Hopeful, the Washington Free Beacon recently reported “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.”

“Liberal Politician Christy Smith is chair of the Joint Committee on Emergency Management but hasn’t held one hearing on the Coronavirus epidemic,” Mike Garcia Spokesperson Lance Trover said. “The fact is she did nothing, focusing her time on campaigning rather than doing her job.”

As California Globe reported Monday, the Cook Political Report’s most recent write-up on the race in CA-25, where they just moved their analysis from “lean Democrat” win to a “toss-up,” Smith is quoted as saying that attacks for her failure to hold hearings on the Coronavirus are, “frivolous.” Out of work employees and struggling business owners in California still closed under shelter in place orders may think that is is not “frivolous” to question why Christy Smith’s Assembly emergency management committee has failed to hold a single meeting on the coronavirus, but has the Democratic chairwoman touting her handling of the pandemic on the campaign trail.

The Cook Report explained:

“But simultaneously playing up her emergency management credentials and explaining that her committee’s role is only to look at crises retroactively might seem curious to voters at a time the virus is all-consuming.”

The Garcia campaign sent California Globe a new ad focusing on Smith’s failure to hold any hearings while claiming to be an emergency management official.