Democratic Assemblywoman Christy Smith of Santa Clarita and former Navy pilot Mike Garcia, a Republican newcomer, will face off twice in the coming months — once on May 12 to fill the unexpired term of former Rep. Katie Hill, and again in November for a full 2-year term of his or her own.

Smith garnered the most votes both times her name appeared on Tuesday’s ballot with Garcia right behind her. Odd man out was former Rep. Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, who attempted a comeback after losing the seat to Hill two years ago. Combined, all Republican candidates outpolled all Democratic candidates by a margin of 53.7-46.3 in the special election.

Meanwhile, under California’s top-two voting system, Smith’s open Assembly seat will revert to the GOP come November. Finishing first and second, respectively, were two Republicans: Suzette Martinez Valladares, a onetime aide to former Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, with 33 percent; and Lucie Lapointe Volotzky, the cofounder of a regional mattress store chain, with 19.3 percent. The top Democrat, Kelvin Driscoll, garnered just 11.4 percent.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger avoids a runoff election, and District Attorney Jackie Lacey appears to do so as well, with 50.7 percent as of Wednesday at 10 a.m. Provisional and late absentee ballots will continue to be tabulated over the next several days, with certification of the election results due in early April.

State Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, with 55.5 percent at the latest count, will face Democrat Kipp Mueller in November. Mueller, a workers’ rights and immigration attorney, was polling 17.2 percent. Representing the southern end of the SCV, incumbent Democratic State Sen. Henry Stern maintained a 60-40 edge over his Republican challenger, Houman Salem, an Iranian-born fashion industry executive. The two will square off in November.

The Sulphur Springs Union School District’s proposed $78 million school construction bond measure went down in flames, 58 percent saying “no.” The statewide school construction bond measure failed by nearly as wide a margin, 56-44. Both need 55 percent “yes” to pass. The Hart School District, for one, was looking forward to reimbursement through the state bond measure for certain costs incurred during recent school construction and modernization projects.

Measure FD, a parcel tax that would have roughly doubled the amount of a special tax homeowners currently pay for fire protection, needed an even larger two-thirds majority (67 percent) to pass. It polled just 52.5 percent.

County voters overwhelmingly agreed (71-29) to expand civilian oversight of the Sheriff’s Department.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders captured California’s 415 Democratic delegates with a 9-point lead over the runner-up, former Vice President Joe Biden. Locally, Democrats and crossover voters in the 25th Congressional District picked Sanders over Biden by a narrower, 33.5-31.3 percent margin. (Michael Bloomberg finished with 14.3 points overall and 11.3 locally.) But Biden was the big winner on Super Tuesday, apparently scooping up 811 delegates in 10 states including Texas, to Sanders’ 527 delegates in four states. (Asterisk: Unlike the others, Maine, which has 24 delegates and favored Biden, is not a winner-take-all state.)

Local voters waited in line for an hour or more early Tuesday evening to use the new voting system.

Voters wait for an opportunity to cast ballots at Mountainview Elementary in Saugus. Photo: Pearl Obispo.

Voters brave an hour-long line at Mountainview Elementary in Saugus. Photo courtesy of Pearl Obispo.