Rep. Garcia won the seat in 2022 by 6 percentage points over Democrat Christy Smith and held on to advance from the March primary. Whitesides finished second in the primary and had 50.9-percent of the votes counted early Monday in one of five California districts that voted for Joe Biden in 2020. Garcia stood at 49.1 percent.

A ray of positive light for Democrats is shining in the Golden State on Tuesday after last week’s bruising election results gave major wins to Republicans across the country. Republican incumbent U.S.

Calif., conceded his race to Democratic challenger George Whitesides on Tuesday as the final House races across the country start to get called. Despite Garcia's concession, the Associated Press has yet to call the race for Whitesides.

With control of the House on the line, Valadao's victory moved Republicans within two wins of retaining the gavel.