2 weeks Ago By Linh Tat
For the second day in a row , Democrat George Whitesides further closed in on Republican U.S. Rep.
Mike Garcia’s already slim lead in the race to see who will represent California’s 27th Congressional District. The latest vote tallies by the Los Angeles County registrar’s office, released Thursday afternoon, Nov. 7, showed the incumbent, Garcia, with 50.
68% of the vote while Whitesides, a political newcomer, had 49.32% — a difference of 1.36 percentage points.
A day earlier, Garcia led by 2.1 percentage points. It’s unclear how many more ballots are left to count for this race, but 3,240 votes separated the two candidates as of Thursday.
The registrar’s office won’t finish tabulating votes for days and has until Dec. 3 to certify the results of the election. LIVE ELECTION RESULTS: See a chart of the latest vote counts This high-stakes U.
S. House race is being followed closely by political observers nationwide since the outcome could help determine which party controls the lower chamber of Congress. As of Thursday, Republicans had won 210 seats while Democrats claimed 198 seats with 27 more races to be decided.
The party with at least 218 seats would have a majority in the House. With Republican Donald Trump’s win in the presidential election and Republicans’ reclaiming control of the U.S.
Senate in this election, Democrats are hoping to seize control of the House to act as a check against the GOP. That the outcome of California’s 27th Congressional District race remains up in the air is not surprising. This race was considered a toss-up heading into Election Day – and Whitesides’ campaign manager acknowledged Wednesday that it could be days before a winner is declared.
George Whitesides, candidate for California’s 27th Congressional District, speaks to volunteers at his campaign headquarters in Palmdale, CA, on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Rep.
Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, is seen in this file photo. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) George Whitesides, candidate for California’s 27th Congressional District, speaks to volunteers at his campaign headquarters in Palmdale, CA, on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.
(Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Data analyst Paul Mitchell, who tracks election results throughout the state, also predicted Wednesday that Whitesides would continue to chip away at Garcia’s lead and that the gap between the candidates would only narrow with each subsequent vote tally update. That’s because the ballots left to be counted tend to be cast by voters who skew younger and more Democratic, Mitchell said. The question is who will prevail in the end.
Once a conservative stronghold, the demographics of California’s 27th Congressional District have shifted over the years, with more voters now registered as Democrats. Just over 40% of voters in the district are registered Democrats compared to 30% who are registered Republicans . Another 21.
5% are registered as “no party preference.” Related Articles.
