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Democrat George Whitesides, a former NASA chief of staff and first-time candidate, defeated Republican Rep. Mike Garcia in one of the nation’s most competitive House races and will represent northern Los Angeles County in next year’s Congress. I will be representing.
Garcia acknowledged defeat in a statement released Monday night.
Whiteside’s narrow victory is a bright spot for Democrats amid a decisive rightward shift in American politics, with voters sending President-elect Donald Trump back to the White House and Republicans wresting the Senate majority from Democrats. It has become. Republicans appear likely to maintain a majority in the House, but it remains uncertain and Democrats may have a long way to go before they take control.
“I will always strive to serve this great country in any capacity, and I will continue to do everything I can to preserve its greatness, keep its people safe, and protect its future,” Garcia said in a statement. ” he said.
The race between Mr. Garcia and Mr. Whiteside to represent California’s 27th Congressional District is seen as a closely contested race and is being watched nationally as one of several battleground districts that will determine which party controls the House of Representatives. was.
Once a staunchly conservative district that stretches from Santa Clarita to the Kern County line and includes the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale, it has become a lucrative district for Democrats in recent years, with a growing voter registration advantage. Mr. Garcia, who has been elected three times, has become one of the most powerful candidates. A vulnerable Republican incumbent in this country.
Redistricting after the 2020 Census removed conservative Simi Valley and turned the district bluer. Just over 41% of registered voters are Democrats and about 30% are Republicans. More than a fifth are independents.
Garcia, a former Navy pilot and former executive at defense contractor Raytheon Corp., was first elected in a 2020 special election after Katie Hill, a millennial Democrat who defeated a Republican incumbent in 2018, resigned amid a sex scandal. won a seat.
Mr. Garcia retained his seat in the next two elections. He defeated his fellow Democratic rival, former Rep. Christy Smith, in all three elections.
Mr. Whiteside, a deep-pocketed former chief executive of Mojave-based Virgin Galactic who lent more than $1 million to his campaign, had received significant support from Democrats; did not rally as strongly around Mr. Smith. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the top Democrat in the House, visited the Antelope Valley last month to campaign for Whiteside, a sign of the importance of the Whiteside race to the party. .
Whiteside campaigned on reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, job creation and increased funding for law enforcement. He painted Mr. Garcia as a pro-Trump sycophant, calling for lawmakers to vote against the certification of the 2020 presidential election results after the January 6, 2021 insurrection, and Mr. Garcia’s insistence on reversing Roe v. Wade. emphasized.
Whiteside, a first-time candidate, had no voting record to scrutinize. There, Garcia highlighted his opponent’s hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to progressive candidates and causes, and the far-left mega-donors who are using their personal finances to win seats in Congress. I tried to portray him as
Garcia focused on California’s cost of living and the high price of gas. That’s a powerful message in the area, where many residents commute to Los Angeles, drawn to affordable housing.
Mr. Garcia, the son of Mexican immigrants who came to the United States in 1959, also leaned toward the Republican message of toughening immigration enforcement along the southern border.
At Santa Clarita’s summer town hall, he said his late father “came here legally” and “did the right thing” and said illegal immigration is one of the country’s biggest threats. He voted in Congress against creating a path to citizenship for so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the United States as children.
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