Republican Rep. Mike Garcia Monday conceded to Democrat George Whitesides in the 27th Congressional District race in the Santa Clarita Valley and Antelope Valley.
Whitesides added 2,253 votes to his lead in Monday’s count of previously unprocessed ballots to take a 6,983-vote lead, 147,567-140,584,51.21%-48.79%, according to figures released by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
The former NASA chief of staff led by 4,730 votes following Sunday’s count and 2,114 votes following Saturday’s count after trailing by 973 votes after Friday’s count, 3,240 after Thursday’s and 4,767 after Wednesday’s.
“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,” Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, said in a statement.
“Representing the people of California’s 27th Congressional District the last 4.5 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.”
Whitesides called it “the honor of a lifetime to serve you in Congress.”
“Rep. Garcia called me earlier to concede race and I thanked him for his years of service to our district and to the nation,” Whitesides said in a statement. “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.”