The Brief

This is an excerpt from Make It Make Sense, our pop-up newsletter on the 2024 election. If you want updates on election results and what they mean for your life, sign up here.

As of Tuesday night, Republicans are just two seats away from snagging control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Here in Southern California, a few of our swing seats aren’t settled yet — and they could help tip the balance.

One was settled Tuesday when Republican incumbent Scott Baugh conceded to Dave Min in Orange County's District 47. And on Monday, Republican incumbent Mike Garcia conceded to George Whitesides in the closely watched race for District 27.

That leaves just four federal and one statewide races in California that so far have less than a 2% difference between first and second place and between “yes” and “no” votes for ballot measures.

Here’s a look at what’s driving our tightest races in the House.

A two-county race could go blue

In District 45, a key swing seat, Republican Rep. Michelle Steel’s lead shrunk again Tuesday evening to 50.4% over Democrat Derek Tran’s 49.6%. Steel’s win appeared solid in the early counts after Election Day, but Tran has been inching up consistently as votes drop.

This district straddles parts of southeast L.A. County and north O.C., with voters split 37.07% Democrat and 33.05% Republican. Unsurprisingly, L.A. votes have so far favored Tran, while a majority of O.C.’s have gone to Steel.

If the trajectory of votes over time continues on its current path, the district could flip blue. That would be a blow to House Republicans who have largely viewed it as a safe seat since it was created through redistricting after the 1980 census. (The only exception was Rep. Katie Porter’s term between 2019 and 2023.)

It could also spell political trouble for Steel as state senators criticized her recently after an LAist investigation found she awarded a pandemic meals contract to her campaign mail vendor during her time as an O.C. supervisor.

Orange County seat goes blue

Until Baugh's concession Tuesday night, it was a similar story further down south. 

Democrat Dave Min (50.9%) grew his small edge over Republican Scott Baugh (49.1%) again Tuesday night, after first taking the lead Friday. By Tuesday's tally, Min was ahead by nearly 6,000 votes.

A few hours after the latest tallies were in, Baugh acknowledged he'd been defeated.

"It has become clear that despite running a strong campaign, connecting with voters, and mobilizing an incredible volunteer effort — that effort is going to come up a little short," Baugh said on X. "I am grateful to an outstanding campaign team and the most dedicated supporters any candidate could."

This is for the seat where Porter chose not to run for reelection, instead trying to win as U.S. senator. The tight race is the unmistakable mark of a really purple district — which has left-leaning Irvine (the district’s largest city) and right-leaning Huntington Beach.

Voter registration is nearly split in two: 38.83% of registered voters are Democrats and 34.87% are Republicans.

A House seat flips

One of our most-watched races finished Monday night.

In District 27, Republican Rep. Mike Garcia conceded, saying he will ensure a smooth handoff to Democratic challenger George Whitesides, a former CEO of Virgin Galactic. Garcia thanked his constituents for allowing him to represent them during what he called a “tumultuous” and “critical” period.

Whitesides credited voters for fueling his campaign’s success. His win gives Democrats a much-needed leg up in their House efforts. It was a Democratic stronghold for more than 20 years before Garcia took office.

Garcia took the district in a special election in 2020, then won a full term by just 333 votes in a stunning conclusion that same year. The district mostly covers rural Antelope Valley and parts of the San Fernando Valley, with 30.23% of voters registered as Republican and 40.41% Democrat.

The exit came after Whitesides pulled ahead Saturday with a lead that grew to 6,983 votes by Monday evening.

As of the latest vote count, Garcia has 48.79% of the vote and Whitesides has 51.21%. 

These close races aren’t our first rodeo

We’ve experienced close calls with the not-so-supernatural at local and state levels. Margins can even be as small as a single-digit or double-digit gap.

While O.C. Supervisor-elect Janet Nguyen won her race for District 1 a few days ago, she had a very close call in one of her previous campaigns for the seat. She became a supervisor in 2007 after a recount confirmed a margin of just three votes.

Long Beach voters got a recount over Measure A in 2020, which passed by just 16 votes. Then, of course, there was Garcia’s 333-vote race win.

Close races can also pop up during the primary. This year, a congressional race in Silicon Valley faced a tie for second and a recount, which resulted in a single-second place candidate for the general election.

Could recounts happen?

Recounts are always possible in theory.

Keep in mind, a gap of a couple thousand votes may seem small but that’s typical in certain city elections. That kind of margin can be much tighter for federal district races with hundreds of thousands of voters.

Overall, it’s quite rare for a recount to make a dramatic difference, but that doesn’t stop candidates or voters from checking in.

There’s no hard-and-fast rule for when, but a couple of close races could fall into the usual recount territory if things are very close.

Unlike other states, California doesn’t have an automatic recount threshold.

State election law allows any voter to request a recount for any contest as long as they pay for it (which can wildly range from around $10,000 to upwards of $100,000). For most races, this has to be done within five days after the election is officially certified (that’s by Dec. 5). For statewide or cross-county elections, that request can only be done within five days after Dec. 6.

California law also allows the governor to order a state-funded recount for any statewide office or ballot measure if the difference is less than 1,000 votes.

Huntington Beach will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision striking down the city’s controversial voter ID law.

What’s the backstory?

Huntington Beach voters approved a measure in 2024 allowing the city to require people to show ID when casting a ballot. That contradicts state law — voters in California are asked to provide ID when they register to vote but generally not at polling places.

The ensuing court battle

The state and a Huntington Beach resident promptly sued the city over the voter ID law and won an appeals court ruling striking down the law. The California Supreme Court declined to review the decision earlier this month. The state also passed a law prohibiting cities from implementing their own voter ID laws.

Then, the City Council voted unanimously this week to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in.

Does the city have a shot?

The Supreme Court gets 7,000 to 8,000 requests to review cases each year. The Court grants about 80 of these requests, so the city’s chances of getting the court’s attention are statistically slim.

There’s also a question of whether or not the city’s voter ID case meets the Court’s criteria for review — SCOTUS addresses questions of federal law. Mayor Casey McKeon said it does, in a news release, noting a 2008 Supreme Court decision that upheld a state’s voter ID law — in Indiana. But Huntington Beach is a city, and the question in its voter ID case is whether or not a city can implement its own requirements for voting, even if it clashes with state law.

Go deeper

• Huntington Beach's controversial voter ID law is illegal
• Huntington Beach clashes with California over voter ID requirement in court
• HB Mayor defends Voter ID measure as Gov. Newsom seeks to ban it
• Listen 26:32

  The Trump Administration wants your confidential voter data. What’s behind their battle with CA and other states?

When last year’s Eaton Fire burned the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, cantor Ruth Berman Harris helped save what she could from the flames.

Despite best efforts, the campus and nearly everything in it was destroyed.

“I had a colleague calling me and asking me what I needed, and I wasn't able to say,” Berman Harris, one of the spiritual leaders of the synagogue, told LAist. “I don't think I was able to say what I needed for about a year.”

In the months that followed the fire, people from around the world stepped up to replace what was lost, including prayer books, clothes and candlesticks. Several donated challah covers, a decorative cloth that’s placed over the braided bread before being blessed and eaten on Shabbat.

A parking sign at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center after the Eaton Fire.

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And while much of the community’s focus is directed toward larger items that need to be replaced — the buildings included — smaller, ceremonial items can make a big difference, too.

Karen Fink, a Van Nuys resident, donated a hand-woven challah cover that she made for the temple. Her weaving guild was already making dish towels for L.A. fire survivors.

“You've got so many things that need to be done and replaced,” Fink said.

“I just always like to think about who it's going towards, what it's going to be used for, that it should be used well and loved,” she continued.

‘Love through the threads’

On Jan. 7, 2025, as the flames closed in on the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, Berman Harris rushed through smoke and falling embers to rescue all 13 sacred Torah scrolls, pieces of parchment with Hebrew text used at services, including weekly on Shabbat.

Berman Harris now works out of an office building in Pasadena, a few miles away from where the center stood.

More than 400 families gathered to worship at the temple before the fire. About 30 families lost their homes, and 40 others were displaced, she said. The congregation has been gathering at the First United Methodist Church in Pasadena.

The Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, which burned during the Eaton Fire, in January 2025 (top) and in January 2026 (bottom).

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“The silver lining of when you go through a traumatic loss is that you don't realize A, how strong you are and B, how not alone you are,” said Berman Harris, who has been a part of the congregation for 14 years.

She said the temple has received many gifts to help them rebuild, but Fink’s challah cover will be used for communal celebrations and holidays to give it an extra layer of “kavod” — of holiness.

Challah covers, usually embroidered with Hebrew words and symbols, are a traditional sight on a table prepared for a Shabbat meal, where both the bread and a cup of wine are blessed before eating. The decorative cover is a symbolic way of honoring the bread, while the wine is being blessed first.

“Because you say the blessing over the bread last,” Fink told LAist. “It gets to have this lovely cover so it doesn't get embarrassed.”

Fink said she used one of her more intricate patterns, featuring white and blue threads in a repeating pattern of the Star of David.

The challah cover woven by Karen Fink when it was fresh off the loom.

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She said it took a couple of hours to wind the thread, about a day to get the project set up on her small loom and another three days to get through the top six rows of stars.

Once the challah cover was complete, it took a few months to get it to Berman Harris, but Fink said she wanted to help in a way that felt more personal than mailing a check.

“They were able to get their Torah scrolls out,” Fink said. “But all the other things that maybe aren't required, but are helpful in enhancing the spirit of Shabbat, the spirit of a synagogue, you know, that was all lost.”

Starting to settle

Berman Harris said the donations have not only helped rebuild their ritual spaces, they were gifted “with love.”

“They're not things you buy on Amazon,” she said. “These are things that you cherish because you can feel the love through the threads.”

Cantor Ruth Berman Harris showing off the handmade challah cover Karen Fink weaved for the congregation.

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The synagogue has received other challah covers that they’ve distributed to families in the congregation.

On the anniversary of the fire, Josh Ratner, senior rabbi at the temple, told LAist’s AirTalk program that Jewish people have overcome “so much” throughout history.

People embrace inside a tent on the grounds of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center during a commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire on Jan. 6.

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“I think that that gives us some firm foundation to know that we can recover from this as well,” he said. “And not just recover, but really our [history] … is one of rebuilding even stronger than before.

“Each time there's been a crisis, we've been able to reinvent different aspects of Judaism and to evolve."

Students carry lanterns they created as symbols of hope as they enter the grounds of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center during a commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire.

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