Your guide to the California Congressional District 27 race: Whitesides vs. Gibbs

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred Democratic Rep.George Whitesides is facing off against Republican challenger Jason Gibbs, who serves on the Santa Clarita City Council, in the race to represent Santa Clarita and Antelope Valley in Congress.This district sits in the northern corner of L.A.

County and includes the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale as well as rural swaths of the High Desert.It was considered a swing seat when Whitesides ousted the Republican incumbent last election cycle, but it has since been redistricted under Proposition 50 to include more Democratic areas in the northwest San Fernando Valley.

It now is ranked as a solidly Democratic seat by the Cook Political Report.In the June primary election, Gibbs received 40.98% of the vote, Whitesides received 40.63%, and two other Democratic candidates collectively received the remaining 18.39%.California California’s general election takes place on Novemer 3.

Learn about L.A.’s city and county races as well races for state office.Whitesides was the first chief executive of Virgin Galactic, which employed hundreds of people in Antelope Valley.Previously, he worked on President Obama’s 2008 transition team and was chief of staff for NASA in the Obama administration.

Whitesides co-founded nonprofit organization Megafire Action to advocate for policy solutions to prevent massive wildfires and served as a member of the Antelope Valley Economic Development and Growth Enterprise board of directors.He was elected to Congress in 2024 and is running for reelection to continue creating jobs and expanding opportunity in California’s 27th District.Gibbs was elected to Santa Clarita City Council in 2020 and chosen by his fellow council members to serve as mayor in 2023.He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Cal Poly and, according to his campaign website, worked on the the Delta II, Delta IV and Atlas V rocket launch systems i...