Editing Lois Capps (section)

===Elections===
Walter Capps was elected to Congress in 1996 in a rematch of his 1994 race against [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Andrea Seastrand]]. However, he died of a heart attack on October 28, 1997, only nine months into his term. His widow won the then-[[California's 22nd congressional district|22nd District]] seat by defeating Republican [[Tom J. Bordonaro, Jr.|Tom Bordonaro]] in a [[special election]] on March 10, 1998. She was sworn into the 105th Congress on March 17. Lois Capps defended her seat against Bordonaro in a general election later that year and commenced her first full term in office.

In 2000, Capps retained the 22nd district seat, defeating Republican Mike Stoker with 53% of the vote. She was the first Democrat to hold the district for more than one term in over 50 years (the district, known as the 11th from its formation in 1943 until 1953, the 13th from 1953 to 1975, and the 19th from 1975 to 1993, had been held by Republicans from 1947 until Walter Capps was sworn in 1997).

Capps' district was renumbered as the 23rd after the 2000 census and made somewhat safer, and she was reelected without serious opposition in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010. Her district was renumbered as the 24th District after the 2010 census.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cappsforcongress.com/news/capps-running-for-re-election-in-new-central-coast-congressional-district |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241126194743/https://www.cappsforcongress.com/news/capps-running-for-re-election-in-new-central-coast-congressional-district |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 26, 2024 |title=Capps Running for Re-Election in New Central Coast Congressional District |date=July 29, 2011 |publisher=Re-Elect Lois Capps |access-date=December 20, 2011 }} </ref> David Wasserman, House editor of ''[[The Cook Political Report]]'', predicted that this would be a more difficult race, and local Republicans confirmed that Capps was one of their top targets in California.<ref>{{cite news |title=New district maps threaten Republicans' seats in Congress |author=Jean Merl and Richard Simon |url=https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-congress-republicans-20111212,0,3290683.story |newspaper=LA Times |date=December 11, 2011 |access-date=December 19, 2011}}</ref> The reconfigured district still includes Santa Barbara and [[San Luis Obispo]], but was redrawn to include most of the more Republican inland areas of Santa Barbara County.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/map|title=Members of Congress & Congressional District Maps - GovTrack.us|access-date=November 17, 2016}}</ref> Capps eventually beat her opponent, [[Abel Maldonado]], with 54.8% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theadobepress.com/articles/2012/11/09/news/news55.txt |title=Capps beats Maldonado in 24th District race &#124; the Adobe Press |access-date=2012-11-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130203203457/http://www.theadobepress.com/articles/2012/11/09/news/news55.txt |archive-date=February 3, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In 2014, Capps ran against Republican [[Christopher Mitchum|Chris Mitchum]], an actor, screenwriter, and businessman. Mitchum is the son of legendary film star [[Robert Mitchum]]. This was Mitchum's second consecutive try for the 24th district, having previously lost the 2012 primary to Abel Maldonado.<ref>{{cite web | title=Dems rush to save suddenly vulnerable incumbents | website=US News & World Report | date=29 October 2014 | url=http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2014/10/29/dems-rush-to-save-suddenly-vulnerable-incumbents | access-date=28 June 2023}}</ref> In the closest race of her entire congressional career, Capps ultimately won with only a 3.8% margin over Mitchum.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/us-rep/district/24/ |title=2016 General Election Results - California Secretary of State|access-date=November 17, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117020823/http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/us-rep/district/24|archive-date=November 17, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Capps announced in April 2015 that she would not seek reelection in 2016.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hulse|first1=Carl|title=Representative Lois Capps Announces Retirement|url=https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/04/08/representative-lois-capps-announces-retirement/|work=The New York Times|date=April 8, 2015}}</ref>