Jan. 6 still has the power to shock. But will it drive voters' decisions?
LOS ANGELES — In a competitive Los Angeles-area congressional district, the campaign playbooks are well-defined. Republican Rep. Mike Garcia is relying on voter discontent about the economy. His Democratic challenger, Christy Smith, wants abortion rights to be top of mind.
One issue, though, is far less prominent than many anticipated: Garcia's vote to block the results of the 2020 presidential election. It was a perplexing move by the Santa Clarita Republican who had just won his swing district on a whisper-thin margin.
Garcia was put on the defensive, while Democrats planned to make it a defining issue in this election. Then they didn't.
In the battle over Garcia's district, as well as in the national political landscape, the Capitol siege on Jan. 6 has been a minor subplot. There have been efforts — notably by President Joe Biden and the congressional panel investigating the attack — to elevate it in the public's consciousness as a do-or-die moment for democracy.
Still, there is little sign that the riot, along with the continued denialism about Donald
