The Antelope Valley could prove a key battleground in both parties’ effort to control the House as Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Santa Clarita) faces a Democratic challenger with deep pockets in the race for California’s 27th congressional district.
Garcia was first elected to represent the communities of Santa Clarita, Palmdale and Lancaster in a May 2020 special election. He defended the seat in the 2020 and 2022 general elections.
Now, Democratic candidate George Whitesides is now hoping to flip it.
The former NASA Chief of Staff and CEO of Virgin Galactic was endorsed by Sen. Alex Padilla and is on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue list,” which gives him access to fundraising and organizational support from the party. He has raised more than $3 million so far and entered the year with a $500,000 cash on hand advantage over Garcia.
Steve Hill, a former prison guard, veteran and self-professed satanist, is also running against Garcia as a Democrat and has not filed any contribution reports. Hill said he feels confident in his candidacy, noting “I’ve been in a prison riot before… I think I can handle Congress.”
Garcia acknowledged he faces real competition, but expressed confidence in his ability to hold onto the seat having defeated Democratic challenger Christy Smith in the last three elections. He has raised more than $2.9 million so far.
“I take every opponent seriously and I respect every opponent, but they better run hard and they better be prepared,” said Garcia in an interview. “You can raise all the money in the world, but it’s not about money. It’s about the candidate’s willingness to knock on doors and meet people and build bridges and gain their trust.”
Republicans and Democrats alike are keeping a close eye on the battleground district.
The area has historically been conservative. But it turned blue in recent years as more families — and in particular Black and Latino families — moved to the region in pursuit of cheaper housing, said Lawrence Becker, professor of political science at Cal State University Northridge.
In 2020, its constituents voted +12.5% for Biden and its registered voters are 30% Republican and 42% Democrats, according to the California Secretary of State.
“That suggests that all other things being equal, which of course they’re not, a Democrat should have a slight advantage, particularly in a presidential election year like this one,” said Becker. “But Mike Garcia has held the seat for a few years, which means that he’s had time to build his own brand, do casework and bring money home to the district and that gives him at least some kind of advantage.”
Whitesides feels that the district is ready for Democratic leadership noting “right now we have a representative who is not representing the majority of the desires of the folks in his district.”
Whitesides is running on a platform of investing in local jobs, decreasing commute times, building housing and reducing wildfire risk. He believes his leadership experience at NASA and Virgin Galactic will enable him to get things done in congress and deliver on quality of life improvements for his constituents.
“So many of the problems that we face today are related to technology and science and an innovation,” he said. “Having somebody with real demonstrated experience in those areas will concretely help our district and also help our country.”
Hill said he is running “to give the people with less resources a voice” and that “education is key” to improving people’s lives.
Garcia believes his although he has an R next to his name, his values align with those of his constituents. His top priorities include stopping inflation, building housing, affordable healthcare and decreasing crime.
“This is a blue district that’s represented by a conservative and there’s a reason for that,” he said. “Democrats value security, value sanity, they value having someone who’s willing to work for them and across party lines.”
He’s proud of his record processing casework packages for constituents needing help with passports or the IRS and of bringing funding to community causes, he said. His other favorite achievements include safely extracting 16 Americans and Afghan partners out of Afghanistan and the passage of his Military Spouse Licensing Relief Act, which make it easier for military spouses to transfer professional licenses between states.
Becker said Garcia is indeed popular with residents and noted that his background as a veteran and a Latino resonates with the district’s strong Latino population and its many residents who work in the defense industry.
“He doesn’t come across as a MAGA Republican, he comes across as a very reasonable Republican who’s trying to find compromise particularly on issues that matter to people in the district like helping small businesses,” he said.
At the same time, Becker said that party politics are becoming more relevant to local races. The GOP’s stance on such issues as abortion access and the Jan. 6 riots may hurt Garcia, he added.
“House elections have become increasingly nationalized,” he said. “That means the individual candidates matter a little less than they used and what matters more is the value of the party brand for each candidate.”
Whitesides is campaigning hard for reproductive rights and for countering the threat of a national abortion ban.
“I’m going to be a strong voice for choice and for reproductive freedom,” he said, adding that Garcia’s pro-life stance “is a huge problem for the majority of folks in this district.”
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Garcia said he is against all abortions except in cases of incest/rape, risk to the mother’s life or fatal fetal anomalies. However, he doesn’t believe abortion rights should be determined at a federal level, he said.
“We in California have basically unlimited access to abortions and that was voted on by the voters last election cycle, so he’s (Whitesides) picking an issue that isn’t a federal issue and he’s trying to create fear among our voters.”
Garcia also said that the singular issue of abortion is not enough to district voters from the many priorities they hold in common.
“Even though even though we may not agree on an issue, like that one, voters value their security, they hate inflation, they hate the out of control spending and they hate the crime sprees that we have,” he said.
27th Congressional District race
Candidates: Rep. Mike Garcia, Former aerospace executive George Whitesides, Former prison guard Steve Hill
Term length: Two years
District boundaries: Santa Clarita, Lancaster, Palmdale
Registered voters: 448,314, as of Jan. 5, according to the California Secretary of State’s office.
Key issues: Inflation, housing, public safety, abortion and jobs
Information: lavote.gov
2024 presidential primary election
Election Day: March 5, 2024. Polls close at 8 p.m.
Early voting: You can vote at the Los Angeles County registrar’s office beginning Monday, Feb. 5. The registrar’s headquarters are at 12400 Imperial Highway, Room 3002, in Norwalk. That office is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday.
Vote-by-mail: Ballots began going out on Thursday, Feb. 1. You can submit VBMs in three ways: By mailing them to the registrar’s office (VBMs include return envelopes with the correct address and postage already included); by placing them in an official drop box; or by dropping them off at any county Vote Center.
VBM deadline: VBMs sent via mail must arrive no later than seven days after the election, but they must be postmarked by March 5. The deadline to place VBMs in a drop box or deliver them to a Vote Center is 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Vote Centers: Vote Centers open 10 days before Election Day. This year, that’s Saturday, Feb. 24. You can vote at any Vote Center in Los Angeles County. Prior to Election Day, the Vote Centers will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Election Day, they will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
About the ballots: In California, the order races are listed on ballots goes from local to federal, meaning the nominees for president will be listed at the bottom. Except for presidential races, California’s primaries for “partisan” offices – now known as “voter-nominated offices” have a top-two system. That means the top two vote getters in a given race advance to the general election, regardless of political party.
To find a drop box or Vote Center and for more information: lavote.gov.