If the Democratic Party was dreaming up a good candidate to challenge the Republican Rep. Mike Garcia, former Navy fighter pilot and business executive, for the 27th Congressional District they could not imagine a better person than George Whitesides.
In a district that stretches from Santa Clarita to Lancaster and where aerospace is one of its leading industries, Whitesides has had a career focused on space in both the private and public sectors. He served as chief of staff for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration during the Obama administration and later as chief executive of Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson’s commercial space company based in Mojave. That’s the job that brought him and his family to the Antelope Valley in 2012.
Resume, however impressive, is not the most compelling reason that voters should pick Whitesides on November 5. He is a smart, pragmatic Democrat whose goal in Congress is to work with colleagues, regardless of party, to solve the problems facing America. That is an important trait for the representative of this district. This has traditionally been a safe seat for Republicans, but changes in voter registration in recent years have meant that Democrats have made some inroads. For example, President Biden won the district in 2020, but Governor Gavin Newsom came in second in 2022.
Recently, the problem that Whitesides has focused on is one that afflicts California: “megafires”, huge wild fires such as the Camp fire that leveled the city of Paradise in 2018. In 2020, Whitesides left Virgin Galactic to find a new advocacy. organization, Megafire Action, which focuses on pushing policies to prevent wildfires, harden homes in high-risk areas and use science to fight better. He plans to turn what he has learned into legislation dealing with related issues such as the insurance crisis, wildlands management and incentivizing homeowners to make their properties more fire resistant.
But most importantly, he is the only candidate in the race who will fight to protect two fundamental rights that have come under attack in recent years: women’s right to self-control and the right to vote freely. fair elections.
Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Santa Clarita) is one of the lawmakers working to undermine that right. While winning the seat in a special election in 2020 after Democrat Katie Hill resigned amid a sex scandal, Garcia is a political unknown with a record of military service, a business-friendly platform, and real-world experience. estate and as an executive at Raytheon.
But the vote quickly showed that Garcia was no moderate. After the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, he chose not to certify the results of the election. He sponsored the Life at Conception Act, a bill that would ban abortion nationwide, with no exceptions including saving the woman’s life. They even voted against bills that protect birth control rights. If voters send her back to Congress, Garcia will be a reliable voter for restrictions on reproductive rights.
He also appears to have used Donald Trump’s penchant for misrepresenting the truth. In his first campaign ad of this election, Garcia boasted that he supported the Violence Against Women Act to protect women from domestic violence. What he is sponsoring is a fake version put forward by Republicans to undermine the Democratic bill to reauthorize the 1994 law with expanded protections for LGBTQ+ people and firearms restrictions for people convicted of domestic abuse. Fortunately, that tactic didn’t work and the updated legislation passed — without Garcia’s vote.
Whitesides also identifies as business-friendly moderates, especially “New Democrats.” This coalition of central members says it is focused on innovative solutions and working across the aisle. Furthermore, he has a record of building the kind of bridges that Congress wants.
At the start of the COVID pandemic, Whitesides helped organize local aerospace leaders to work with hospitals and local governments to provide resources to frontline health workers. The group, which eventually became the Antelope Valley COVID Task Force, instead tapped its engineering skills to develop medical equipment such as oxygen hoods that help COVID patients breathe. Anyone can vote on party lines. But being able to build alliances is a critical skill to get anything done in Congress.
Whitesides said she is running to build a better future for her two children. “I don’t want to leave them with a government that doesn’t work. I don’t want to leave them with a climate in crisis. I don’t want to leave them with a gun safety epidemic.
Neither do we. It’s time for a change in leadership in the 27th Congressional District.
