Garcia Concedes 27th Congressional District Race To Whitesides

LOS ANGELES, CA — In California's first Congressional district flip of the election, Republican incumbent Rep. Mike Garcia Monday conceded to Democratic challenger George Whitesides in the 27th Congressional District race in the Santa Clarita Valley and Antelope Valley.

Though the Los Angeles County congressman led the vote tally on election night by 5,000 votes, the mail-in ballots counted since have gone largely for Whitesides, giving him a 6,983-vote lead Monday with the remaining returns expected to continue going in his favor.

Garcia was the last Republican congressman anchored in heavily Democratic Los Angeles County, A former Navy pilot who flew more than 30 combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Garcia displayed a surprising ability to beat the odds in a district with an 11-point Democratic registration edge. But Whitesides, a former NASA chief of staff, hammered Garcia on issues such as abortion rights, election denialism and support for Trump.

Garcia called Whitesides Monday evening to formally concede the race.

"I spoke with George Whitesides this evening to congratulate him, and I will ensure a smooth handoff of open constituent case work packages to him and his team," Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, said in a statement.

"Representing the people of California's 27th Congressional District the last 4.5 years has been an honor of a lifetime. I want to thank my family for making the sacrifices, and my team and my volunteers for working harder than any other team in the nation during this journey of providence. We achieved so much in a short period of time. We truly made history and saved lives. I'm proud of all we've done."

For his part, Whitesides, issued a statement declaring victory and calling it "the honor of a lifetime to serve you in Congress."

"Rep. Garcia called me earlier to concede race and I thanked him for his years of service to our district and to the nation," Whitesides said in a statement. "In Congress, you can count on me to fight to create more good local jobs, lower everyday costs, build safe communities, protect Social Security and Medicare and protect reproductive freedom."

Whitesides added 2,253 votes to his lead in Monday's count of previously unprocessed ballots to take a 6,983-vote lead, 147,567- 140,584,51.21%-48.79%, according to figures released by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.

He led by 4,730 votes following Sunday's count and 2,114 votes following Saturday's count after trailing by 973 votes after Friday's count, 3,240 after Thursday's and 4,767 after Wednesday's.

The once-conservative 27th District runs through suburbs and high desert north of Los Angeles. Garcia, a supporter of former President Donald Trump with a conservative voting record, was first elected running against California’s liberal-leaning government. “I don’t want my country to turn into what my state has become,” he said at the time.

Whitesides, who also is a former CEO of Virgin Galactic, says he would use his business experience to solve problems.

City News Service, The Associated press and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.