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“Mike Garcia is a far-right extremist who has established a shameful record in Congress, including a lack of transparency that has seriously undermined the trust of his constituents. Hardworking families in this district deserve better than Garcia’s record of self-service and extremism – and luckily they have a better choice this year in George Whitesides, a job creator and pragmatic consensus-builder with the experience and track record to truly represent the needs of California’s 27th District in Congress,” said DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene.
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To: Interested Parties
From: Dan Gottlieb
Date: March 6, 2024
Subject: The Case Against Mike Garcia
Voters are now learning that, just months after being sworn into Congress, Garcia allegedly engaged in insider trading – accused of using the knowledge he was privy to in the halls of power to benefit his own financial interests and then failing to disclose his stock trades to Californians until after his re-election.
That incident just scratches the surface of this far-right MAGA enabler’s self-serving tenure in Congress – at the behest of himself and extremists in his party. Garcia has also voted to overturn the 2020 election, supported a national abortion ban without exceptions that would endanger IVF access, and campaigned on fully repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Now, voters in this Biden +12.6 district have had enough of Garcia’s shameless extremism and self-service, and have a better choice in George Whitesides – a job creator who understands the needs of the Antelope Valley, the San Fernando Valley, and Santa Clarita. Over the past 20 years, Whitesides served as Chief of Staff for NASA during the Obama administration, was the first CEO of Virgin Galactic, where he created hundreds of good-paying jobs in the Antelope Valley, and supported first responders through his founding of Megafire Action, an organization dedicated to solving our nation’s wildfire crisis. His record stands in stark contrast to Mike Garcia’s, a MAGA Republican who has consistently failed to prioritize the interests and needs of his California constituents over his own personal gain in DC.
CASH-IT-IN CONGRESSMAN: GARCIA SERVES HIS INTERESTS AND ABUSES VOTERS’ TRUST
Voters recently learned that, within months of entering office, Garcia allegedly traded stocks based on insider knowledge around the deadly Boeing 747 crashes – an investigation in which his assigned committee had access to non-public information. Making matters worse, Garcia hid the evidence of these stock trades from the voters until after his re-election, more than two months after the deadline to report. In the wake of public outcry around his stock trade scandal, Garcia has still not personally answered questions as to what he knew and when he knew it. He is currently facing multiple calls from nonpartisan watchdog groups for a congressional ethics investigation into his actions.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the only time Garcia has been dishonest with voters. Just this year, he bragged about “working to secure” $15 million for the district – despite loudly opposing and voting against the legislation that secured the funds.
GARCIA’S RECORD IS FAR TOO EXTREME – PUTTING PARTY POLITICS OVER NEEDS OF CA-27
Garcia’s personal abuse of public trust is only rivaled by his far-right and out-of-touch voting record in Congress. In fact, Garcia has voted 80% of the time with far-right MAGA extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene – and he’s accepted her campaign cash, too.
Garcia co-sponsored a national abortion ban with no exceptions for rape, incest, or threat to a woman’s life, signed an amicus brief that urged the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and threatened access to IVF by co-sponsoring the Life at Conception Act. To make matters worse, he has campaigned on repealing the Affordable Care Act, insisting we need to get the ACA “off the books,” despite the fact that more than 1.7 million Californians rely on it for affordable and accessible care.
Garcia even voted against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – supported by Republicans and Democrats alike – which is now funding construction of roads and bridges in northern Los Angeles County.
On issues of national security, Garcia is no better. He stood with GOP leadership to kill a bipartisan border deal – after spending years claiming he’d work to secure the southern border. And following the January 6th insurrection, Garcia attempted to void Americans’ votes and overturn the results of the 2020 election. He even labeled the Capitol Police – some of whom made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country – ‘the Gestapo.’
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Roll Call: In key House battleground, GOP’s Garcia faces new challenger. [Roll Call, 12/27/23]
In a key House battleground north of Los Angeles, Republican Rep. Mike Garcia defeated the same Democrat three times in four years. Democrats are seeking to rewrite the script in 2024, however, by backing George Whitesides, a political newcomer with a pragmatic streak, a background in aerospace and an abundance of campaign cash. ‘He’s raising the resources to win a tough seat,’ said Rep. Ann McLane Kuster of New Hampshire, who leads the center-left New Democrat Coalition and is honorary chair of its political arm. ‘I’m very aware of what it takes to flip these seats from red to blue and then hold them.’”
New York Times: Who Will Win Control of the House in 2024? California May Hold the Key. [New York Times, 3/3/24]
“Democrats have improved their position in at least one California House race. Mr. Garcia’s district in northern Los Angeles County, redrawn in 2022, would have gone for Mr. Biden over Mr. Trump by more than 12 percentage points. […] This time, Democrats have cleared the field for a new challenger, George Whitesides, a former NASA chief of staff and the former chief executive of the private space company Virgin Galactic.”
Spectrum News: “In one of the most-watched House races of 2024, Democrat George Whitesides’ campaign raked in over $770,000 dollars in the final 3 months of 2023 to build his war chest to challenge incumbent Rep. Mike Garica, R-Calif..” [Spectrum News, 1/17/24]
The Daily Beast: GOP Rep. Mike Garcia Secretly Sold Boeing Stock Ahead of Damning Report. [The Daily Beast, 12/13/23]
“In August 2020, Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) sold up to $50,000 in shares of aerospace giant Boeing, weeks before his committee released the damning results of its investigation into deadly crashes involving the company’s 737 Max airliner. But while other incumbent campaigns were dogged by blockbuster stock scandals that year, the Garcia campaign never had to answer for this trade. That’s because Garcia blew the mandated deadline to report the transaction, only filing the paperwork on Nov. 23—more than two months after the 45-day reporting window had closed. When he finally did disclose the sale, it was two weeks after the 2020 general election votes were cast, and three days after Garcia declared victory. He won by 333 votes.”
Spectrum News: Ethics investigation request filed against Rep. Mike Garcia pertaining to 2020 stock trades. [Spectrum News, 12/18/23]
“End Citizens United has filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics against Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., Spectrum News has learned. In a copy of the complaint first obtained by Spectrum News, Tiffany Muller, president of the political action fund, wrote a request to the committee to have Garcia investigated for alleged violations of the Ethics in Government Act. Earlier this week, the Daily Beast reported that Garcia sold up to $50,000 in shares of Boeing weeks before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which Garcia served on at the time, released its report investigating the deadly crashes involving Boeing’s 737 Max airliner.”
CBS Los Angeles: Congressman Garcia accused of selling Boeing stock before devastating report. [CBS Los Angeles, 12/14/23]
Business Insider: How Republicans rail against government spending on TV — only to brag about its benefits back home. [Business Insider, 1/23/24]
“Congressional documents from December 2022 confirm that Garcia requested that funding, even though he ultimately voted against the bill that delivered it.”
Los Angeles Times: Column: These California Republicans voted for Jim Jordan and against the good of the country. Remember their names. [Los Angeles Times, 10/17/23]
PATH TO VICTORY
Mike Garcia is one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the country – and the news of his self-serving scandals has only made matters worse for the endangered incumbent. Following redistricting, his seat reflects the widest margin in California of any Republican in a Biden-won district – 12.6 points in the two-way vote share. Democrats now boast a 12-point registration advantage over Republicans as well. Garcia’s re-election pathway is further diminished by how far right he has moved throughout his time in Congress. Factor that on top of Whitesides’ million-dollar cash-on-hand advantage – a rarity against any incumbent across the map – and the Democratic candidate will have the resources and support he needs to oust Garcia.
This November, voters in California’s diverse and left-leaning 27th Congressional District will choose to reject Mike Garcia’s embrace of extremist policies and abuse of public trust. With a top-tier candidate and elite fundraiser in former NASA Chief of Staff and Antelope Valley job creator George Whitesides, Democrats are primed to replace Mike Garcia’s record of self-service and extremism in Congress.
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