ANTELOPE VALLEY, Calif. — For the past few years, clipboards have been a big part of Tiffany Countryman’s life. She’s been known to hold them on many a weekend while canvasing around what she sees as the all important Antelope Valley.

“This is the democratic heart of the district,” she said, pointing to the northernmost area of a large map.

Clipboard aside, Countrymen also holds several titles. She’s a democratic delegate for Assembly District 39, the first vice president of the Democratic Club of the High Desert and a lead organizer for Indivisible Antelope Valley. She’s also a volunteer for the Christy Smith campaign.

“I prefer to canvas,” she explained, even though she describes herself as an introvert. Countryman loves going door to door, engaging with voters about the candidates and the issues she believes in. It’s something she couldn’t do the last time Smith ran for the same seat because with the pandemic still in its early months, she said Smith made a choice.

“Christy did say, ‘Hey, I’m putting everybody’s safety above everything else. We’re not going to canvass,’” Countryman said. “She chose to put integrity first and have her volunteers and staff stay safe.”

Smith ultimately lost that race to Republican Rep. Mike Garcia by 333 votes — one of the tightest congressional outcomes that year. It was a tough loss, but Countryman believes COVID had a lot to do with it.

“She could have easily won by much more than 333 votes,” she explained, “because face-to-face contact is what wins elections.”

This is now the third time Smith is coming up against Garcia. There was the special election after Rep. Katie Hill’s resignation and then the regular election less than a year later. Danny Kaye voted in those races too, for Garcia.

But here’s the twist, he’s a registered Democrat.

“The Democratic Party left me,” Kaye said, standing outside the Santa Clarita Activities Center. “They went further to the left than I’m very comfortable with.” He hasn’t changed his affiliation officially because he said he’s hoping the party he joined comes back.

“At my age, I was really strongly influenced by John F. Kennedy,” he explained. “I know John F. Kennedy’s policies and they’re way to the right of the Democratic party today.”

While he did vote for Barack Obama in 2008, he says he’s “not too happy” with President Joe Biden and his policies.

“I don’t think he thinks about the little guy like us,” he said. “He doesn’t feel our pain. He doesn’t think we’re in pain. And every time I hear him, he says, ‘The economy’s good, and everything’s great.”

But that’s now how Kaye sees it. He’s concerned about the direction of the economy and its impact on his wallet. When asked what issues are on his mind this election cycle, he said inflation and gas prices, adding, “It’s getting to where I can’t afford to live in California anymore.”

Since the last time Smith and Garcia went head to head, the district has been redrawn and the demographics have changed. There are now more registered Democrats in the district and GOP heavy Simi Valley is no longer part of the map. In a democratic-led state like California, Kaye feels like the 27th Congressional District is his only chance to make a difference. And it’s important to him that Republicans control the House, to keep the president’s spending in check, he said. 

But while the Democrats may lean too left for him, for others, Garcia skews the opposite way. He voted against the certification of the 2020 election results and called the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence tyranny, saying on a podcast that it was “more like a Third Reich.”

He also opposes reproductive rights, a major issue for Countryman.

“I have two young nieces,” she explained. “So I want to make sure that as young women that they have the same rights and more than me.”

There is a lot on the line and this seat is being watched closely by local constituents and people around the country. Polls show another tight race, with the balance of power in the house of Representatives on the line. It’s something both Kaye and Countryman are aware of. Registered with the same party, they clearly see the election through very different lenses. But there is one thing they agree on — the importance of participating in the democratic process.

“You want to make people voters for life,” Countryman said of her canvassing work. “So that is — that’s my goal.”

“I hope everybody who wants to vote — no matter who they vote for — shows up and votes,” Kaye said. “It’s the best thing I can do as an American citizen is come out and vote.”