Since President Donald Trump was first elected, and particularly in light of the challenges we’ve faced as a nation the last several months, it has never been more apparent that Americans need leaders in Washington who will work with the administration and fight for us.
This Tuesday, the special election in California’s 25th Congressional District presented Republicans with a unique opportunity to send just that type of fighter to D.C. in former Navy fighter pilot Mike Garcia.
In a devastating blow to the Democratic Party, Garcia defeated the Democrats’ hand-picked candidate, Christy Smith. Not only did he win, he did it while promising to work with President Trump – proving the president’s “Promises Made, Promises Kept” agenda is just what Californians are looking for as they have grown tired of the same socialist policies that have torn their state apart.
No matter how much California Gov. Gavin Newsom or the Democratic Party attempted to interfere in the election, what they did not seem to realize is that Californians have had enough with their political games.
As Election Day drew closer, Newsom and his fellow California Democrats realized they hitched their wagon to the wrong horse in Christy Smith. Smith publicly mocked Garcia’s military service, lied about her record, and political analysts ultimately determined the race was a toss-up after initially deeming it “lean Democratic.” As a result, Democrats did everything they could to attempt to fix the election in Smith’s favor.
In March, Newsom issued an executive order requiring election officials mail a ballot to every registered voter in the 25th District, supposedly so voters could remain compliant with the state’s “stay-at-home order,” but Newsom still allowed ballot harvesting – or strangers going door-to-door to collect ballots – to continue for the special election.
This practice not only increases the opportunity for ballot fraud, it also jeopardizes the health and safety of Californians.
Because of this, the California Republican Party, supported by the RNC, sued Newsom, noting the practice of ballot harvesting was not permitted under his own order. However, instead of addressing matters head-on, Newsom quietly updated a website to allow left-wing groups to continue to ballot harvest – all with no announcement, no concern for the safety of Californians, and entirely for political gain.
Then came the initial ballot returns, and the Democrats didn’t like what they saw. By the Friday before the election, nearly 40% of Republicans had returned their ballots compared to just 25% of Democrats – a bad sign for Democrats who had hoped to hold this seat.
Rather than play by their own rules, the Democrats changed them once again. Late on the Friday before the election, shady election official Dean Logan announced a single new in-person voting location in a Democrat-heavy area, despite the fact that voters in this neighborhood had the same opportunities to mail in their ballots like other voters across the district.
The same Democrats who fought to conduct the special election entirely by mail ignored their own advice, opening up an in-person voting location in the midst of a pandemic and purposely singling out this neighborhood in an attempt to boost Smith.
Ultimately, Newsom and the Democrats’ unlawful attempts to rig this election did not work, and California’s 25th Congressional District is finally back in responsible hands with Mike Garcia.
But this is not the end of the fight. After his failed attempt in the 25th District, Gov. Newsom has now turned his attention to November with an executive order to mail ballots to every voter in the state, regardless of their eligibility.
Republicans have always supported absentee voting, but California is a case study of why automatically sending this many ballots is a problem. Just last year, a court found that L.A. County had 1.5 million ineligible voters on their registration lists, meaning there were 112% more registered voters than adults living in the county.
So while Democrats like Newsom fight to break down the integrity of our election system, the Republican National Committee doubled our legal budget and launched ProtectTheVote.com to fight back as Democrats use COVID-19 as a ploy to legalize ballot harvesting, implement a nationwide mail-in ballot system, and eliminate nearly every safeguard in our elections.
Luckily, despite Democrats’ best efforts to steal the election from Mike Garcia, Californians rejected the Democrats’ games and democracy won this week. Garcia is the leader Californians deserve, and he will work tirelessly to help Californians in the greatest American comeback story in history.
Ronna McDaniel is chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.