“He's become part of the problem. We've got to make a change.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – ICYMI: NewDem Candidate George Whitesides (CA-27) appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss why he is the best candidate to represent this key district.
Throughout his 20+ year career, George has faced and solved tough problems - from his time as Chief of Staff at NASA and his role as CEO at Virgin Galactic to his work founding an organization dedicated to fighting wildfires. Meanwhile, Republican Mike Garcia has become a problem for California’s 27th district. He has compared federal law enforcement officials to Nazis, voted to decertify the 2020 presidential election, and has taken money from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. This seat is a top pickup opportunity for Democrats and will be critical to NewDems’ mission to take back the House.
You can read the full transcript of the interview below and watch the video here:
Mika Brzezinski: Joining us now is the other Democratic candidate for Congress in California, George Whitesides. He was the NASA Chief of Staff under President Obama and previously served as the CEO of Virgin Galactic.
It's really good to have you on the show. We appreciate it. I’ve been looking into your announcement, campaign announcement, and one of the things that you brought up is it really is time to not have timid leadership. Who and what are you talking about?
George Whitesides: Well, look, I'll tell you I'm an optimist, but I'll start with sort of a profoundly depressing story, which is that when my daughter was 5 years old, she went off to kindergarten and she came back and she told me in her first week that she had done an active shooter drill. And I said to myself, this is not the society that we want to be building. I want to be building an inspiring future for our kids, right? With great jobs, clean energy jobs, great schools and all that stuff. And right now, we have a Republican Congress that's not going to be working on any of these issues and we've got to make a change in California's 27th district.
Mika Brzezinski: Yeah, I'm a parent of kids that did school shooter drills and that was as eye opening as it gets as you watch your kids get traumatized by them and live basically in fear every day that they go to school. I'm curious, your Republican opponent, if you win the primary, why do you think that you need to replace him?
George Whitesides: He's really out of touch with the voters in our district now. As you probably know, Mike Garcia is someone who cosponsored the national abortion ban bill. He voted to decertify the 2020 presidential election. He's taken money from Marjorie Taylor Greene. He voted against background checks last year. I mean background checks - everybody supports background checks! And he voted for this budget last week that would potentially cut up to 22% of NASA and the V.A. and all these green energy incentives that are going to be so beneficial to our district. So he's become part of the problem. We've got to make a change.
Jonathan Lemire: George, good morning it’s Jonathan Lemire. You just hit upon a lot of the national issues and your concerns with the current Republican incumbent. But talk to us about your district there, the 27th district of California you’re running to represent in Congress. What are some of the challenges, the big concerns you have for the local community?
George Whitesides: Thanks for the question. We've got a beautiful district. It runs from Santa Clarita on the south up over the mountains to Lancaster, where I lived for you know 12 years, now we’re in Agua Dulce in the middle of the district. It's a district that there are a lot of commuters in the district. A lot of people drive from their homes down into Los Angeles for their employment. They're on the roads for three, four, five hours a day. And you know, to have Mike Garcia, who voted against the infrastructure bill, which could dramatically help those kinds of things is crazy, I think. It's a wonderful community. It's the stuff that everybody thinks. We want to have strong education for our kids, we want good local jobs and we want to have safe communities where we don't have to worry about getting shot. We had a school shooting in our district in Saugus High School in 2019 where tragically two young people lost their lives. So this is a very real issue for our community.
Mika Brzezinski: Democratic candidate for Congress in California's 27th Congressional District, George Whitesides. Thank you very much for being on this morning.
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The New Democrat Coalition counts more than forty percent of the House Democratic caucus as Members. The nearly 100 NewDems represent a central core of the Democratic Party and advocate within Congress, and the party as a whole, for innovative approaches and constructive solutions to move America forward. Formed by Members of the New Democrat Coalition, the NewDem Action Fund helps re-elect NewDems and elect new, like-minded leaders who can help develop a positive policy agenda and message.