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.

Boosted in part by two pivotal Arizona races, Republicans have won a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, helping to cement total GOP control over the federal government’s elected bodies. Reps.