Democratic Assemblywoman Christy Smith has held onto an early lead over incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Garcia, a Republican, in the battle to represent the 25th Congressional District – but the next few weeks will tell the story when unknown numbers of mail-in ballots are tabulated.

By early morning Wednesday with all precincts reporting, Smith led Garcia by 1 percentage point, 50.53-49.47.

In the 21st State Senate District, incumbent Republican Scott Wilk trailed behind his Democratic challenger, Kipp Mueller, as the initial numbers came in. However, by Wednesday morning, Wilk held a narrow 50.1-49.9 percent lead with 136,296 votes to Mueller’s 135,743.

Santa Clarita City Council

If early results hold, newcomer Jason Gibbs will join Mayor Cameron Smyth on the Santa Clarita City Council.

Although out of the running in initial balloting, by the end of the evening Tuesday, Gibbs had passed challenger Kelvin Driscoll to move into the No. 2 slot.

Smyth, the only incumbent in the race, was handily reelected with 31 percent of the vote, followed by Gibbs at 16.18 percent. Driscoll polled 14.6 percent and Chris Werthe finished with 11.46 percent.

As of early Wednesday, 2,258 votes separated Gibbs (23,156) and Driscoll (20,898).

Voters are electing two people to the five-person City Council this year.

SCV Water Agency

Maria Gutzeit will be looking for late absentee ballots to keep her on the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency Board. As of Wednesday morning, Gutzeit was in third place in an unusually even race for two seats in Division 3. Leaders are B.J. Atkins with 28.32 percent and Kathye Armitage with 24.55 percent, followed by Gutzeit at 23.95 percent and Stacy Fortner at 23.18 percent.

Gary Martin and Beth Braunstein are ahead in Division 1, while Ed Colley and Piotr Orzechowski have solid leads in Division 2.

Two seats in each water board division are up for grabs.

Wm. S. Hart School Board

An upset looms in the William S. Hart Union High School District where longtime member Steve Sturgeon trails newcomer James Webb by a 54.6-45.4 percent margin as of Wednesday morning.

Board President Linda Storli will keep her Area 1 seat, finishing with a 10-point lead in a 3-way race.