The two tightest races for the Santa Clarita Valley in the 2024 General Election continued to be close over the weekend, but after L.A. County’s Monday update, Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, issued a statement saying he had conceded the race for the 27th Congressional District seat to Democrat challenger George Whitesides.
Garcia had led through Friday, though the margin was less than 1,000 votes at that time. Whitesides led by 4,500 votes when updated tallies were released on Sunday and has seen that lead swell to about 7,000 as of Monday.
Whitesides has 51.2% of the votes counted through Monday to Garcia’s 48.8%.
“Since the age of 18 I have served this beautiful country,” Garcia, a Saugus High School graduate and Navy veteran, said in a prepared statement released Monday evening. “Representing the people of California’s 27th Congressional District the last four and a half 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.
“I will always seek to serve this wonderful nation in any capacity and remain at her disposal for the maintenance of her splendor, the security of her people and the protection of her future,” Garcia added. “Most importantly, I thank the people of CA-27 for allowing me to represent them during a tumultuous and critical period in our nation’s history. 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.”
Whitesides also issued a statement after Garcia’s concession.
“It’s the honor of a lifetime to be elected to serve our district in Congress and deliver for Santa Clarita, the Antelope Valley, and the San Fernando Valley. Rep. Garcia called me earlier to concede the race, and I thanked him for his years of service to our district and to the nation,” Whitesides’ statement said. “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: “To my amazing team, I couldn’t be prouder of the hard work and passion you’ve put into this race. And to the thousands of volunteers and supporters who fueled and launched this campaign – you made this possible.”
The L.A. County Registrar Recorder’s office reported that Monday’s update included 144,182 processed ballots to bring the total to 3,622,821 ballots counted. There are an estimated 187,300 ballots outstanding, including 11,300 provisional.
The other local race in which the lead has changed hands in recent days is for the Trustee Area No. 2 seat on the Santa Clarita Community College District board of trustees, which oversees College of the Canyons.
Incumbent Edel Alonso has stretched her lead over challenger Scott Schauer to 184 votes. She had a four-vote lead on Sunday after trailing for much of the reporting period following Election Day last Tuesday.
Alonso’s total sits at 11,110 votes, or 50.42%, while Schauer is at 10,926, or 49.58%.
In the race for state Senate, Republican Suzette Martinez Valladares is holding onto a lead over Democrat Kipp Mueller. While not firmly in control to represent the 23rd Senate District, she has 52.1% of the votes counted thus far, which amounts to 168,274, compared to 154,411 for Mueller.
Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, is continuing to hold off Republican challenger Patrick Lee Gipson to represent the 40th Assembly District. She has 115,620 votes, representing 52.8% of those counted. Gipson trails with 103,390, more than 12,000 behind Schiavo.
Also of note is Planning Commissioner Patsy Ayala’s lead in the first-ever district-based election for the city of Santa Clarita. She now has 381 more votes than fellow Planning Commissioner Tim Burkhart. Bryce Jepsen is behind with 3,927 votes, while Ayala has 4,348, representing 35.52% of votes counted, and Burkhart has 3,967, or 32.4%.
That seat represents a territory that’s mostly Newhall and a gerrymandered portion of west Canyon Country.
Throughout the state, 11,492,704 ballots have been processed and an estimated 4,953,569 remain to be counted, according to the Secretary of State. Monday’s update included 832,893 ballots counted.
