Control of the U.S. House of Representatives could be determined by who wins seats in several swing districts in Southern California. But it’s still too early to call the races.
California is known for lagging behind other states when it comes to vote counts, in large part because of the time it takes to process mail-in ballots. That said, more than half the vote has been reported in each of those districts, and Republicans in the top-watched races have reason to be optimistic.
All incumbents in Republican-held districts that Democrats have been hoping to flip in Southern California were in the lead as of late Wednesday.
- The incumbent in the 27th district, which contains the Antelope Valley, Rep. Mike Garcia is more than 2% ahead of Democrat George Whitesides, former CEO of Virgin Galactic.
- In the 40th district, which includes Mission Viejo and Yorba Linda, Republican Rep. Young Kim is enjoying the biggest lead of all the incumbents. She is about 13% ahead of her Democratic opponent Joe Kerr, a retired Orange County fire captain.
- Rep. Ken Calvert, the longest-serving Republican in California’s congressional delegation, is leading in the 41st district in the Inland Empire — is nearly 3% ahead of attorney Will Rollins, a Democrat.
- In the 45th district, largely located in northern Orange County, Republican Rep. Michelle Steel is leading her Democratic challenger, Derek Tran, a lawyer, by about 4%. This is the country’s most expensive House race, drawing more than $46 million in spending, mostly by outside groups.
Republicans, in the meantime, are trying to capture two Democrat-held districts in Southern California.
- In the 47th district, which includes Irvine, Democrats are trying to hold onto a seat being vacated by Rep. Katie Porter. Democratic state Sen. Dave Min is trailing Scott Baugh, former chair of the Orange County Republican Party, by less than 1%.
- Democratic Rep. Mike Levin is fighting to hold onto his seat in the 49th district in San Diego and Orange counties. He leads Republican challenger Matt Gunderson by less than 2%.
Republicans came into Election Day with a 220-212 majority. Democrats need to pick up four seats to prevent a full GOP sweep of Congress.
