California’s 27th Congressional District just north of Los Angeles has become a hotly contested seat for both parties over the last several election cycles — and this one is no different.

Republican incumbent Mike Garcia, who is running for his third full term, is facing political newcomer George Whitesides in a race that the nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated as a tossup. The district first elected Garcia in a special election in 2020 following the resignation of Rep. Katie Hill, beating Democrat Christy Smith in three consecutive races — the special race in March 2020, the general election a few months later, and then again in 2022. 

This is the first time Garcia will face a fresh opponent, with the added challenge of a presidential race on the ballot. The district voted overwhelmingly for President Joe Biden in 2020, with more registered Democrats than Republicans in the district and roughly a third of registered voters not affiliated with either major party.

Spectrum News sought an interview with both candidates for this piece, but only Whitesides accepted. (The invitation to speak with Garcia still stands.)

Whitesides, who previously served as NASA chief of staff during the Obama administration and later the CEO of Virgin Galactic, said he feels both roles have prepared him to represent the diverse communities of the 27th Congressional District, citing his longstanding professional ties to the district.

“I ran a company in the Antelope Valley for 10 years called Virgin Galactic. We created about 700 jobs up in the Antelope Valley, and I'm really proud of that,” Whitesides said. 

“I've really tried to help my community wherever I've been, and a consistent theme is — how do we activate the American entrepreneur? How do we support small businesses? How do we grow jobs locally? And that's what I want to do as a congressman.”

Whitesides, who made a personal fortune through his work at Virgin Galactic, has self-financed over $1 million to his campaign. With the median household income in the district at $98,000 a year, Spectrum News asked Whitesides whether he thinks that would hinder voters from connecting with him or representing their struggles at the national level.

“I've been super lucky and been successful in the business world, and I believe in the importance of hard work. I believe in the importance of growing businesses. And I think a lot of people in our district actually resonate with that,” Whitesides explained. “But more importantly, I've been somebody who's been kicked off health insurance plans when I was a kid … I have experienced all kinds of different things that… we need to make sure that we're centered on the issue of job growth.”

Whitesides charged that it’s Garcia who is out of touch with his constituents and using his position in Congress to make a profit. 

“The idea that Congressman Garcia sold this huge Boeing stock position of up to $50,000 right before an incredibly damning report came out on Boeing's accidents is very concerning, but equally concerning is that he hid that information from the voters until after the election,” Whitesides said. “That's exactly the kind of thing that I find is wrong with Washington, where people are, you know, taking advantage of their position to enrich themselves, while families in the district are hurt by their policies.”

Late last year, End Citizens United, a political action committee focused on campaign finance reform, filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics against Garcia, alleging violations of the Ethics in Government Act by the congressman.

Garcia eventually disclosed the trade of the Boeing stock, but the report was more than two months past the 45-day reporting period set by Congress and weeks after the November 2020 election. 

Nothing was ever made public about an investigation into Garcia by the OCE, and Garcia has maintained his innocence on the matter.

“Rep. Garcia was not aware of the content of the subject report until it was released. He also engaged in no meetings or hearings on the subject. This makes claims of insider trading an impossibility. In short, he was not privy to any information that wasn’t public domain,” Liam Anderson, a spokesman for Garcia, told Spectrum News at the time.

It’s unclear what sort of impact last year’s incident will have on this year’s election, with Pomona College professor Sara Sadhwani pointing out that “voters tend to have a short memory.”

“There are plenty of reasons why voters who are registered as Democrats or who prefer Democrats in general continue to go back and support Mike Garcia and I do think a large part of it is his connection with voters on the ground in local areas,” Sadhwani explained. 

“I think it'll be a real question whether or not George Whitesides can actually appeal to the growing Latino and Black residents of the Antelope Valley beyond just the City of Santa Clarita, which the district incorporates both and I think Mike Garcia has done a really good job of building support from the Latino base.” 

The district has struggled with voter turnout, with just over 135,000 voters participating in the March 2024 primary. According to the California Secretary of State’s February 20, 2024 report, 446,768 total voters were registered in the district, meaning just 30% of eligible voters actually participated in the district primary.

Whitesides said he feels positive heading toward November, especially when it comes to the fact the district voted overwhelmingly for the state’s Proposition 1, which protected abortion rights in California by enshrining it into the state’s constitution. Whitesides has made abortion rights a key pillar of his campaign.

“I'm strongly supportive of reproductive freedom. That's a major reason why I'm running. And the fact that Representative Garcia co-sponsored the national abortion ban is a serious concern to voters across the district,” Whitesides said, referencing Garcia’s sponsorship of the Life at Conception Act that would heavily restrict abortion rights nationwide if passed. 

“A huge percentage of American women now live in states where abortion is either prohibited or is restricted to a very small number of weeks, and that is something that is crazy to me. You know, I have a daughter, and I don't want her to live in a country where she has less rights than her mom did growing up.”

Whitesides and his campaign have been out knocking on doors throughout the district and encouraging voters to remain engaged.

“When people come out, we win. I think the core thing is that, you know, we believe that our message of job growth is resonating with folks across the district,” Whitesides explained. “We need local jobs — we can grow local jobs — and that's going to be my main agenda as a congressperson.”

With Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket, University of Southern California professor Christian Grose said the new enthusiasm could benefit Whitesides, but that Garcia does have the advantage of incumbency.

“Garcia does a really good job as a Republican in a district, which is basically a Democratic leaning district. It's a competitive, but Democratic leaning district,” Grose said. “It's a majority-minority district. There's no racial group that has a majority in the district, but there's a pretty large percentage of Black voters in that district relative to other districts in California that are competitive. And so that's where I also think Black enthusiasm for Harris, whether there was less with Biden at the voter level, I think could hurt Garcia in that district and could help Whitesides.” 

But Grose added the caveat it will all come down to turnout.

“That district really depends on who's showing up — and so if there are Trump enthusiasts voting, and then enough people who are independent, there's a lot of independents…who are willing to maybe vote Democratic at the top of the ticket and vote Republican for the House. Garcia could hold it, but that's gonna be really competitive.”

In the final weeks of the election, Democrats are doubling down on the party’s efforts to flip California’s 27th District blue: Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries visited the district for a canvassing event with Whitesides in the Antelope Valley.

“Are you ready to elect George Whitesides and flip the majority?” shouted Jeffries to a room full of cheering supporters. Jeffries, who called Whitesides “a good man, a hard working man, a family man, a community man,” said that the former CEO is “exactly the type of public servant we want in Washington, D.C.”

It will become clear in a matter of weeks if voters agree with Jeffries.