Katy Hill

In the special election held in the spring of 2020, Hill endorsed her longtime friend, State Assemblywoman Christy Smith, who ultimately lost the election. Hill, whose PAC contributed $200,000, said that Smith had been considered "the mom of Democratic politics" in the district for years, and that "there's no one else that I could even think of that I would want to run for this." Some Democrats regretted Hill's involvement in the campaign.

On October 18, 2019, RedState, a conservative blog, published a report on an alleged affair between Hill and a staffer, which led to Hill admitting on October 23, 2019, that she had an "inappropriate" relationship with a campaign staffer. On October 27, 2019, Hill announced she would resign from Congress after reports of such alleged sexual indiscretions with a congressional staffer and an admission to a relationship with a campaign aide. In addition to the media story, nude photos of Hill were published by the Daily Mail, a British tabloid, without her consent. Hill called the release of the photos an invasion of privacy and vowed to advocate for victims of revenge porn. Hill resigned on November 3, 2019, and her last day on the floor was two days earlier.

On October 18, 2019, the political blog RedState published allegations that Hill was involved in an extramarital affair with her male legislative director, Graham Kelly. Hill denied allegations of a relationship with Kelly, saying that her estranged husband, whom she described as "abusive", was doing everything he could to humiliate her, and that her political opponents were exploiting a private matter for political gain. Her husband denied the allegations of abuse and Hill's subsequent marriage dissolution petition did not allege abuse nor wrongdoing.

The House Ethics Committee announced on October 23, 2019, that it would conduct an investigation into the allegation that Hill had an affair with a male staffer, which, if true, would be in violation of House ethics reforms that were implemented in 2018 in response to the #MeToo movement. On that same day, Hill sent an email to constituents in which she admitted to an "inappropriate relationship" with a campaign staffer before becoming a representative (hence out of scope of the Congressional investigation) and promised to cooperate with the Congressional ethics investigation regarding allegations of wrongdoing as a member of Congress. The earlier relationship Hill admitted to was with a 22-year-old female subordinate recently out of college.

In her last speech before Congress on October 31, 2019, Hill said there was a "double standard" and "misogynistic culture" that resulted in her decision to step down from her position when faced with allegations of an improper relationship with a staff person. In the address to Congress she said, "I'm leaving, but we have men who have been credibly accused of intentional acts of sexual violence and remain in boardrooms, on the Supreme Court, in this very body, and worst of all, in the Oval Office." She closed by saying, "as my final act I voted to move forward with the impeachment of Donald Trump on behalf of the women of the United States of America."

On December 7, 2019, Hill penned an op-ed in The New York Times in which she described the events that led to her decision to resign, and mentions that she was suicidal during that time period.

In 2018 Hill came in second place in the primary election for California's 25th Congressional District, allowing her to advance to the November 6, 2018, general election, where she faced incumbent Republican Representative Steve Knight. In the general election, Hill defeated Knight by a 54% vs. 46% tally.

Hill reportedly ran a grassroots campaign that didn't accept money from corporate political action committees. In the first quarter of 2018, Hill raised over $400,000, bringing her total to $1,092,025 raised, with more than 9,800 individual contributions and more than 5,100 individual donors.

According to an October 2018 article in Rolling Stone, Hill is a gun owner, saying, "We have the highest number of law enforcement officials of any district my country. And we have the second-highest number of veterans of any district in the country. On top of that, a quarter of our district is rural. So people do own guns. That's how my husband and I both grew up. Forty percent of our district owns a gun or lives in a household with a gun."

Hill began her career as a policy advocate at People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), a non-profit organization developing affordable and supportive services for the homeless in California. Her husband allegedly worked there as well and it is claimed Hill was his boss. Later as the Executive Director for PATH, she raised the organization from a local force in Los Angeles County to one of the largest non-profit providers of homes for the homeless in California. Hill helped pass a ballot initiative, Measure H, during spring of 2017 to help alleviate homelessness by providing $1.2 billion in funds for homeless services in Los Angeles County. Hill and her husband also raised goats in Agua Dulce, California.

On March 8, 2017, Hill announced her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives for California's 25th congressional district, her home district, challenging incumbent Steve Knight, a Republican who had held the office since 2014. Knight won re-election in 2016, despite Hillary Clinton carrying the district by 7%.

Before the start of the 116th Congress, Hill and Colorado freshman U.S. Representative Joe Neguse were chosen as the freshman class representatives for the Democratic Caucus.

In July 2010, Hill married Kenny Heslep, an artist. They resided in Agua Dulce, California, on their farm, where they fostered rescue animals. By July 2019, Hill was in a romantic relationship with Alex Thomas, a political reporter. Hill also rented an apartment in Washington, D.C., with freshman representative Lauren Underwood. Heslep filed for divorce in 2019.

Hill was born in Abilene, Texas, and grew up in the Saugus section of Santa Clarita, California. Her mother, Rachel, is a local registered nurse and her father, Mike, is a police lieutenant. Hill attended public schools in the Santa Clarita Valley and graduated from Saugus High School in 2004. Hill attended California State University, Northridge where she earned a bachelor's degree in English and a Master of Public Administration.

Katherine Lauren Hill (born August 25, 1987) is an American politician and a former social services administrator from Agua Dulce, California. She served as the U.S. Representative for California's 25th congressional district from January to November 2019. Hill is the former executive director of People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), a statewide non-profit organization working to end homelessness throughout California. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She won her seat by defeating incumbent Republican Steve Knight in the 2018 midterm elections.