Christopher Smith (California)
Christopher Smith (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent California's 25th Congressional District. He lost in the primary on March 3, 2020. Smith unofficially withdrew from the race but appeared on the primary election ballot on March 3, 2020.
In January 2020, Smith announced he suspended his campaign.[1] He still appeared on the primary ballot.[2]
Elections
2020
See also: California's 25th Congressional District election, 2020
General election
General election for U.S. House California District 25
Incumbent Mike Garcia defeated Christy Smith in the general election for U.S. House California District 25 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mike Garcia (R)  | 50.0 | 169,638 |
 | Christy Smith (D) | 50.0 | 169,305 | |
| Total votes: 338,943 | |||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 25
The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 25 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Christy Smith (D) | 31.7 | 49,679 |
| ✔ | | Mike Garcia (R) | 23.9 | 37,381 |
 | Stephen Knight (R) | 18.9 | 29,645 | |
 | Cenk Uygur (D) | 5.9 | 9,246 | |
 | Getro Elize (D) | 4.0 | 6,317 | |
 | David Lozano (R) | 4.0 | 6,272 | |
 | Anibal Valdez-Ortega (D) | 3.1 | 4,920 | |
 | Robert Cooper (D) | 2.9 | 4,474 | |
 | George Papadopoulos (R) | 1.8 | 2,749 | |
 | Otis Lee Cooper (Independent) | 1.4 | 2,183 | |
 | Christopher Smith (D) (Unofficially withdrew) | 1.3 | 2,089 | |
 | Daniel Mercuri (R) | 0.6 | 913 | |
 | Kenneth Jenks (R) | 0.4 | 682 | |
| Total votes: 156,550 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- David Rudnick (D)
- Charles Patron (R)
- Mark Cripe (R)
- Suzette Martinez Valladares (R)
- Angela Underwood Jacobs (R)
- Katie Hill (D)
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Christopher Smith did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
| “ |
ECONOMIC EQUALITY Growing income inequality might be the single biggest challenge facing our country. The promise of the American Dream is growing increasingly out of reach for the majority of Americans. Wages for the middle class have stagnated or gone down. Hard working families are falling behind and are often falling into poverty. Meanwhile, the top 1% of earners are now wealthier than at any point in history. Around the country, its increasingly harder to ignore the difference between the ‘haves' and the 'have nots,’ and it's my belief that it’s a major contributing factor to many of our country’s toughest problems. I believe that being a citizen of the wealthiest, most innovative, and most productive country in the history of the world should guarantee everyone a life free from poverty. No one in our country should go hungry. No one should have to live in their car, on the street, or on the edge. We deserve an economy that works for us all. All Americans deserve to flourish, regardless of the circumstances of their lives. I will work with any member of Congress that’s willing to help grow the economy and increase equal prosperity for hard working Americans that have been left behind in this new Gilded Age. Economic inequality is a result of the intersection of many public issues. The number one cause of bankruptcy is due to healthcare emergencies and new technological advances are automating away millions of jobs. If we truly want to solve income inequality, then our solutions must incorporate bold ideas that touch on every aspect of our lives and economy. We must support workers rights and strength our labor unions. Central to this plan is the Green New Deal. The Green New Deal will create upwards of 20 million jobs working with technologies of the future. It will generate economic growth while transitioning away from non-sustainable technologies. Policies I will fight for include:
IMMIGRATION REFORM I believe in an immigration system that keeps compassion for the human at it its center. This belief comes from a personal place. Very recently, in the fall of 2019, my stepmother was sworn in as a US citizen. She, like most immigrants, is a wonderful person that works hard and contributes a great deal to her community and our country. About 10 years ago I spent two weeks in El Paso and Juarez learning about the complex issue of immigration. Through my discussions with Border Patrol agents, local politicians, immigration attorneys, and nonprofit services I learned first hand that the people coming to this country are just like me and you. Migrants don’t choose to leave their homes and communities for no reason. They leave their lives behind because they are looking to provide a better life for their families or escape violence in the countries from which they come. They still believe that America is the place where one can come to have an opportunity, to stand on their feet, and to have the protection of functioning governmental institutions. Let there be no doubt that immigrants are rightful keepers of the American Dream. For too long now our President, and other people in leadership roles in our country, have vilified good people and implemented cruel policies to keep them away. To create a compassionate immigration system I would pursue legislation to:
PROTECTING OUR WATER SUPPLY As a result of the changing climate, droughts are now a constant presence in the American West. The depletion of our freshwater resources has severely impacted our farmers and agricultural sector. Many of our cities fight over the scarce water that remains available for use, and their residents are far ed with skyrocketing water bills. While addressing climate change is a fundamental part of solving this problem, there are ways to help ease the burden on our farmers and cities. In Congress I would propose:
RESTORING AMERICAN LEADERSHIP ABROAD Under this current administration, our foreign policy and leadership is in shambles, and people around the world have stopped looking to the US for leadership on the challenges facing the international community. America is ceding this leadership role to our adversaries in China and Russia. Developing nations are increasingly looking to them for investment, aid, and protection. We are abdicating our leadership role and ceding it to authoritarian regimes around the world. As a member of Congress I would advocate for increasing our role in the world. I would pursue policies of engagement rather than avoidance. International affairs policies I would support include:
ANIMAL WELFARE Animal welfare is not often discussed in our political discourse, but it’s an issue I care deeply about. As a (non-annoying) vegan and dog dad, I believe we should extend compassion to all living beings, not just our fellow human beings. As a member of Congress, I would champion the welfare of animals. I would sponsor legislation that:
FAIR ELECTIONS As our partisan politics have become increasingly more divisive, we have seen the GOP co-opt our elections as a way to tilt the playing field to their advantage. We have seen a dramatic increase in voter suppression laws and tactics. We have seen state legislatures extensively gerrymander districts to favor one party over the other. This needs to change. In order to fix many of these issues we need to first fix our elections first. We need to limit corporate money in elections and pursue an amendment to effectively stop Citizens United. We also need to increase voter turnout, not try to make it harder for people to vote. While serving in Congress I would tirelessly pursue all of these policies and be a champion for more democratic elections. Specifically I would:
MEDICARE FOR ALL Everyone in our country deserves access to quality healthcare and preventative care. Millions of Americans are struggling to pay their rising insurance premiums, many others will slip into poverty because of an unplanned health emergency. While the quality of our healthcare remains high, access to that care is out of reach for many of our fellow Americans. In the wealthiest country in the history of the world, we can do better, we must do better. Providing comprehensive coverage at low or no cost is a moral imperative for an advanced society. A few years ago, when I didn’t have health insurance, I started to have scary symptoms that could indicate a serious health condition. After many difficult years, Congress passed the Affordable Care Act and I was finally able to afford the care I needed. The illness turned out to be minor, but during that period I understood how vulnerable America’s millions of uninsured people are. I never want anyone to have to go through what I went through. And the most frustrating thing is that no one needs to. While growing up as the son of an Army officer, my family had access to excellent healthcare at no cost. The military has been providing our men and women in uniform universal healthcare coverage for decades. If we can find away to provide care for our service members, then we can find a way to provide it for our citizens. More specifically, I believe that the best way to fix our healthcare crisis is to gradually implement Medicare For All. Under a Medicare For All system, our net out-of-pocket expenses would go down and no one would have to go without quality healthcare again. As part of a comprehensive healthcare plan, we will need to implement prescription drug reform, address medical malpractice lawsuit abuse, and the unjustifiable profit margins of some medical device manufacturers and medical service providers. PROTECTING OUR PLANET & THE GREEN NEW DEAL Climate change is the looming crisis that haunts the future of our children but affects every person in the United States today. In Southern California we’re already feeling the devastating impact of our inaction on climate change. We have decades long droughts that harm our farmers and increase our water costs. Our fire season gets increasingly longer while the fires become more frequent and more severe. District 25 has seen several fires this year. Sea level rise has already begun to erode the beautiful California coastline, affecting personal property and our beaches. It’s no longer possible to kick the can down the road. Instead, it’s imperative to face climate change head-on, as soon as possible, with every resource at our disposal. Solutions will include reimagining our energy infrastructure and developing renewable technologies of tomorrow. But that won’t be enough. We will only have a true sustaining environment once we confront our society’s troubled relationship with the natural world. To this end I will support and pursue the following policies through legislation:
EQUALITY AND CIVIL RIGHTS FOR ALL
Everyone citizen enjoys the undeniable right to pursue a meaningful life - one free of judgement, obstacles, or lack of opportunity based solely on one's race, sex, gender, sexual identity, or ability status. After the optimism of electing our first black president, we seem to have slid backwards about 50 years. Racism, sexism, and all the other isms seem to have found safe harbor in our country again. We must all stand up and say “Enough!” As a member of Congress, I would be a tireless champion for the underrepresented, underprivileged, and those who are most vulnerable in our society. I support the Equal Rights Amendment and would back any legislation that furthers the cause of equality and justice. Specifically I would like to support or sponsor legislation that:
TECHNOLOGY AND SECURE ELECTIONS Our world is going through a period of rapid technological advancement the likes of which we have never seen before. This presents many complex challenges that take a great deal of technical knowledge in order to craft effective policies. With SOPA and PIPA, we have seen misguided attempts to change copyright laws in a way that would cripple the internet, and industries of the future. With the Trump Administration and the appointment of Ajit Pai, we have scene the giant telecoms weaken net neutrality laws and protections for the consumer. Our elections are currently being attacked from state and non state actors from around the world and the GOP in Congress have show no appetite to try to address this pressing issue that cuts to the heart of our democratic process. Compounding this problem further is that most members of congress are technologically illiterate. As a former software developer I am passionate about issues of technology, privacy, and network security. I would champion the following policies:
STRENGTHENING OUR INSTITUTIONS Under the Trump Administration, we have seen a deliberate and coordinated effort to undermine, dismantle, and tarnish the reputation our longstanding federal institutions. We have seen unqualified people appointed to head agencies that have been diametrically opposed to their mission for their entire career. We have seen the Justice Department be co-opted and used as a political shield and weapon against the Administration's perceived enemies. The State Department has been used as a tool to further the political interests of the President, and career public servants have been attacked, dismissed, and sidelined. As a member of Congress I will fight every day to restore these institutions and remind our fellow Americans of the great services they provide to us and our country. When an option, I would exert oversight on the executive branch and hold political appointees accountable for their actions. I would also seek legislation requiring one full year of civics education for students in public high schools. COMMON SENSE GUN LAWS My father grew up working on ranches out west and served for 20 year sin the US Army. He loves guns. He taught me how to shoot at a young age and he now keeps a blog about gun rights. My experience being raised by him has shown me that guns can be owned and operated responsibly and that in many cases they can be used as a legitimate tool. However, if common sense gun laws can save even a small percentage of lives, then we must implement them. I support:
|
” |
| —Christopher Smith's 2020 campaign website[4] | ||
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Twitter, "Christopher Smith tweet January 28, 2020," accessed January 29, 2020
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Certified List of Candidates," accessed January 29, 2020
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Christopher Smith's 2020 campaign website, "Issues," accessed January 28, 2020
