Interesting Anecdote re/ local candidates and CA27

[Hestia]

As I was browsing Twitter today, I found this interesting thread from an Election Twitter account: 

It was about the race in CA-27 between Christy Smith and the incumbent Republican. Christy Smith ran in 2020 for the seat and narrowly lost by 333 votes in a seat that was taken after Katie Hill was forced to resign after a scandal. She got a *ton* of grief for losing in a D+12 district (which isnt that blue when you look closer) to someone who didn't accept the results of the 2020 election. 

It was started with this thread from the candidate herself: 

I really recommend that you read both in their entirety, doesn't matter what order. But its clear from what she says that the DCCC (and likely the Republican campaign committee as well, but since she's a Dem we know this) simply didn't work this cycle. Democrats did as well as they did because of candidates like Christy Smith, not despite it. Despite losing by just 333 votes in the last cycle, Smith was faced with a number of institutional challenges, often set up by the DCCC themselves. 

 

 

Those were the most important parts for me. There's been a lot of recrimination for Sean Patrick Maloney for the way he ran this cycle, and I think that's only going to get bigger with what Christy Smith is saying. I realized myself that sometimes we can be hard on candidates themselves without realizing all the factors that are going into their struggles. Smith had no outside support for a district that is 1) expensive and 2) flippable. How on Earth is that acceptable in trying to turn a district from red to blue? It isn't. Democrats, especially at the DCCC, have to wake up and realize local candidates are what have made the 2022 midterms what they are and support them, not stick knives into them because they think a candidate is better.

 

 

[Hestia]

As I look more, turns out California Democrats were blaring the alarm weeks before Election Day, yet nothing changed.

 

Similar things happening in the tight AZ-06 race which could still flip.