Abstract
Five Southern California congressional districts flipped from Republicans to Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections, apparently a tipping point in the California Republican Party’s long decline. Yet, the star of the freshman class, Katie Hill, resigned after extramarital affair allegations went viral, leading to a close special election victory for Republican Mike Garcia. The newly minted incumbent barely held on to the seat and two other seats flipped back to Republicans. Extraordinarily high turnout, Democratic miscues on strategy and campaign finance, and high name recognition for the Republican challengers contributed to split-ticket voting. Korean Americans Young Kim and Michelle Steele were elected part of a more diverse Republican freshman class even as Democrat Katie Porter was easily reelected and assumed the mantle of rising star.