Mike Garcia

He is also the first Hispanic Republican representative to serve from California since Romualdo Pacheco left office in 1883, after representing the 4th congressional district.

In the November general election, Garcia faced Smith in a rematch.

In August, Garcia was listed as one of the 10 most vulnerable House members by Roll Call.

Votes were still being counted a week after the election, though Smith held a lead.

Garcia ran for reelection in what is now California's 27th congressional district.

He defeated Christy Smith again in the November 8, 2022, general election.

Michael Joseph Garcia (born April 24, 1976) is an American politician and former United States Navy pilot serving as the U.S. representative for California's 27th congressional district.

Mike Garcia was born on April 24, 1976, in Granada Hills, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, to parents who had immigrated from Mexico in 1959.

In 1994, he graduated from Saugus High School and earned a Bachelor of Science in political science, graduating in the top 3% of his class, from the United States Naval Academy after being nominated by Representative Buck McKeon.

He served in the U.S. Navy from 1998 to 2012, participating in multiple combat missions during the Iraq War.

Following his active duty in the Navy he worked at Raytheon Intelligence & Space.

In 1998, he earned a Master of Arts in national security policy studies from Georgetown University.

Garcia joined the United States Navy in May 1998, and was sent to flight school at Naval Air Station Pensacola.

He was deployed as an F/A-18 aviator from the USS Nimitz.

Garcia's victory marked the first time since 1998 that a Republican flipped a California congressional district held by a Democrat; in 1998, Doug Ose won in the 3rd congressional district.

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he participated in over 30 combat missions.

From 2009 to 2018, Garcia worked as a business development manager at Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services, one of four business segments of Raytheon.

For the 118th Congress:

On January 4, 2021, Garcia announced his intention to reject some states' electoral votes based on claims of fraud.

In the 2018 election in California's 25th congressional district, Democrat Katie Hill defeated incumbent Representative Steve Knight.

In April 2019, Garcia announced that he would challenge Hill in the 2020 election.

On November 3, 2019, Hill resigned from Congress due to a scandal involving her relationship with a campaign staffer.

Governor Gavin Newsom ordered a special election to fill the vacancy caused by Hill's resignation.

A Republican, he was first elected in a May 2020 special election and went on to win a full term in the general election.

Garcia was born in Granada Hills, California, and educated at Saugus High School, the United States Naval Academy, and Georgetown University.

Garcia has faced and defeated Democratic nominee Christy Smith in all three of his successful elections: the 2020 special election held to fill the vacancy caused by Representative Katie Hill's resignation; the 2020 general election, when he won his first full term; and the 2022 general election, when he won his second term.

Garcia had initially represented California's 25th congressional district, but the district was renumbered as the 27th district following 2020 redistricting cycle.

Garcia placed second in the nonpartisan blanket primary on March 3, 2020, ahead of former Representative Steve Knight and behind Christy Smith, a member of the California State Assembly.

Garcia was endorsed by the Club for Growth and the Susan B. Anthony List.

Garcia campaigned on strengthening the United States military and cutting taxes to improve the economy, specifically in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also campaigned against the Democratic leadership in the California state government.

His platform included promises to "defeat socialism" and "build the wall."

Garcia said he was in favor of "securing and better surveillance of our borders."

On May 12, 2020, Garcia defeated Smith in the special election in an upset.

She officially conceded the race the next day, but affirmed her intention to run against Garcia in the November general election for a full term in Congress.

Smith conceded to Garcia on November 30, 2020.

Garcia raised $3 million more than Smith.

Garcia won by only 333 votes.

Garcia was sworn into office on May 19, 2020.

In January 2021, he voted to object to Congress's certification of the states' Electoral College votes.