While the election is still about 16 months away, the fundraising race is already heating up in the 27th Congressional District.
Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, reported a fundraising total of $1.7 million for the cycle, with $875,000 collected in the last quarter from April to June.
“I want to thank all our supporters who helped make this such a successful quarter,” Garcia said in a prepared statement. “I’ve been relentlessly committed to passing common-sense policies that preserve your freedoms, protect your communities, and restore America’s standing on the international stage. For me, it’s not about party politics — it’s about ensuring our beautiful nation recovers from a blizzard of crises and ultimately thrives.”
His closest competitor in terms of fundraising totals is George Whitesides, a former chief of staff at NASA.
Whitesides, a Democrat, reported raising $515,000 in the second quarter, with a fundraising total of $1.5 million for the year.
“I’m so grateful and proud of the support we’ve earned so far in this campaign,” he wrote in a statement to The Signal. “This fundraising report adds to what we already know: Folks are eager to unseat Rep. Mike Garcia because he does not represent our values and he has not delivered for our district. While he spends his time cozying up to special interests and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, I’m working hard to ensure that we can send a representative to Washington who will put our district first.”
The quarterly report deadline for the second quarter is July 15, so both totals are reported by the candidates and unverified by Federal Election Commission filings. Also, the totals released by the candidates this week do not include details such as the names of contributors, amounts of contributions, etc. That information is to be included in the official FEC filings.
There is a third declared candidate, Franky Carrillo, a Newhall man who serves on the Probation Oversight Commission and as chief policy advisor for the Los Angeles Innocence Project. He was not immediately available Thursday for comment on his fundraising total via email.