Located north of Los Angeles, CA-27 now includes a bit of San Fernando Valley, a chunk of Antelope Valley, and Santa Clarita. The historically conservative valley swings from blue to red to back again. Republican Mike Garcia, who currently represents CA-25, narrowly beat Smith in 2020 by 333 votes but he is now running in the re-configured CA-27. The district is D+4 and rated a Toss-up.
Christy Smith is a 40-year resident of f Santa Clarita where she fought for Californians in the state legislature. Her experience allows her to bring nonpartisan expertise to a divided Congress.
Mike Garcia was elected to office touting his experience as a veteran. On Jan. 6, Mike Garcia betrayed his sacred oath to his country, voting to throw out Americans’ votes and perpetuating the same conspiracy that led to a deadly attack on our Capitol.
HER BACKGROUND
A graduate of Hart High School in Santa Clarita, Smith attended College of the Canyons and graduated with honors from UCLA with a B.A. in political science. As a student worker, Smith negotiated her first contract at the age of 24, with wage and benefit increases on behalf of over 400 classified employees. After graduating, she started her career in public service as an analyst at the U.S. Department of Education.
Smith eventually returned to California with her husband to raise their family. While raising her two daughters, she was active in local education, serving as a PTA and site council member before being elected to the Newhall School Board in 2009. She additionally founded the Valencia Valley Technological Education Foundation and served as its initial chairwoman. In 2018 she was selected for the California State Assembly.
As a distinguished state legislator, Smith authored nine bills focusing on education reform, homeowner protections, college affordability, and good governance, which were signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom. This legislative package also included a landmark measure, now law, that removes barriers for survivors of human trafficking to access victims’ compensation.
ON THE ISSUES
With abortion rights under attack, Smith has been a steadfast defender of the right to choose. She’ll protect abortion rights in federal law and protect the ability to buy contraceptives. During Smith’s first pregnancy, she experienced eclampsia and endured multiple seizures that threatened her life. When she became pregnant a second time, she had to make the tough decision to continue her pregnancy, knowing she might leave her daughter without a mother should complications occur. This experience solidified for Smith that no politician can make these private and difficult decisions for women and families.
Smith knows that the people of California are all too familiar with the emerging threat of the climate crisis—experiencing wildfires in nearly every part of the district, air and water pollution, drought, and more. She believes we have a lot of work to do to protect the air our children breathe and the water they drink here at home, including shutting down the Aliso Canyon gas facility and ensuring aggressive oversight of our district’s two toxic waste clean-up sites. Smith supports building a fully renewable and clean energy infrastructure using wind and solar to create good mortgage-paying jobs and combat the climate crisis.
As a mother, Christy Smith believes that every one of us has the right to live without the fear of gun violence and protect our families. That’s why she will fight for comprehensive and mandatory universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and “red flag” laws that allow families to ask courts to take guns away from domestic abusers and others who are a danger to themselves and others.
