GOP’s Garcia faces Democratic challenge in race for 27th Congressional District – Daily News

The Antelope Valley may show a key battleground in each events’ effort to regulate the Home as Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Santa Clarita) faces a Democratic challenger with deep pockets within the race for California’s 27th congressional district.

Garcia was first elected to signify the communities of Santa Clarita, Palmdale and Lancaster in a May 2020 special election. He defended the seat within the 2020 and 2022 general elections.

Now, Democratic candidate George Whitesides is now hoping to flip it.

The previous NASA Chief of Workers and CEO of Virgin Galactic was endorsed by Sen. Alex Padilla and is on the Democratic Congressional Marketing campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue list,” which supplies him entry to fundraising and organizational assist from the celebration. He has raised greater than $3 million thus far and entered the 12 months with a $500,000 money readily available benefit over Garcia.

Steve Hill, a former jail guard, veteran and self-professed satanist, can be operating towards Garcia as a Democrat and has not filed any contribution studies. Hill mentioned he feels assured in his candidacy, noting “I’ve been in a jail riot earlier than… I believe I can deal with Congress.”

Garcia acknowledged he faces actual competitors, however expressed confidence in his means to carry onto the seat having defeated Democratic challenger Christy Smith within the final three elections. He has raised greater than $2.9 million thus far.

“I take each opponent severely and I respect each opponent, however they higher run exhausting and so they higher be ready,” mentioned Garcia in an interview. “You’ll be able to increase all the cash on the planet, nevertheless it’s not about cash. It’s concerning the candidate’s willingness to knock on doorways and meet folks and construct bridges and achieve their belief.”

Republicans and Democrats alike are conserving a detailed eye on the battleground district.

The world has traditionally been conservative. But it surely turned blue lately as extra households — and particularly Black and Latino households — moved to the area in pursuit of cheaper housing, mentioned Lawrence Becker, professor of political science at Cal State College Northridge.

In 2020, its constituents voted +12.5% for Biden and its registered voters are 30% Republican and 42% Democrats, in accordance with the California Secretary of State.

“That implies that each one different issues being equal, which in fact they’re not, a Democrat ought to have a slight benefit, notably in a presidential election 12 months like this one,” mentioned Becker. “However Mike Garcia has held the seat for a number of years, which signifies that he’s had time to construct his personal model, do casework and produce cash house to the district and that provides him no less than some form of benefit.”

Whitesides feels that the district is prepared for Democratic management noting “proper now now we have a consultant who will not be representing nearly all of the needs of the parents in his district.”

Whitesides is operating on a platform of investing in native jobs, reducing commute instances, constructing housing and decreasing wildfire danger. He believes his management expertise at NASA and Virgin Galactic will allow him to get issues completed in congress and ship on high quality of life enhancements for his constituents.

“So most of the issues that we face at present are associated to know-how and science and an innovation,” he mentioned. “Having anyone with actual demonstrated expertise in these areas will concretely assist our district and likewise assist our nation.”

Hill mentioned he’s operating “to offer the folks with much less assets a voice” and that “schooling is essential” to bettering folks’s lives.

Garcia believes his though he has an R subsequent to his title, his values align with these of his constituents. His prime priorities embrace stopping inflation, constructing housing, reasonably priced healthcare and reducing crime.

“This can be a blue district that’s represented by a conservative and there’s a motive for that,” he mentioned. “Democrats worth safety, worth sanity, they worth having somebody who’s keen to work for them and throughout celebration traces.”

He’s happy with his report processing casework packages for constituents needing assist with passports or the IRS and of bringing funding to group causes, he mentioned. His different favourite achievements embrace safely extracting 16 Individuals and Afghan companions out of Afghanistan and the passage of his Navy Partner Licensing Reduction Act, which make it simpler for army spouses to switch skilled licenses between states.

Becker mentioned Garcia is certainly standard with residents and famous that his background as a veteran and a Latino resonates with the district’s robust Latino inhabitants and its many residents who work within the protection trade.

“He doesn’t come throughout as a MAGA Republican, he comes throughout as a really affordable Republican who’s looking for compromise notably on points that matter to folks within the district like serving to small companies,” he mentioned.

On the identical time, Becker mentioned that celebration politics have gotten extra related to native races. The GOP’s stance on such points as abortion entry and the Jan. 6 riots might damage Garcia, he added.

“Home elections have develop into more and more nationalized,” he mentioned. “Meaning the person candidates matter rather less than they used and what issues extra is the worth of the celebration model for every candidate.”

Whitesides is campaigning exhausting for reproductive rights and for countering the specter of a nationwide abortion ban.

“I’m going to be a powerful voice for alternative and for reproductive freedom,” he mentioned, including that Garcia’s pro-life stance “is a large downside for almost all of oldsters on this district.”