Whitesides More Than Doubles Garcia Fundraising In Pre-Primary Fundraising Period, Has $1 Million Cash-On-Hand Advantage

AGUA DULCE, CA – Former NASA Chief of Staff and aerospace businessman George Whitesides raised over $575,000 in the first six weeks of 2024, the FEC’s pre-primary reporting period. Whitesides reported over $2.5 million cash-on-hand, leaving him with a $1 million cash advantage over incumbent Rep. Mike Garcia’s $1.5 million.

Gaining momentum, Whitesides’ haul is more than twice as much as Garcia raised in the same period and larger than the totality of Garcia’s Q4 raise over the final three months of 2023. Garcia raised $561,000 in Q4, and only $216,000 during the pre-primary fundraising period.

Whitesides is one of only two challengers nationwide to have a larger warchest than their incumbent opponent in every single fundraising quarter since launching his campaign. Over the last year, Whitesides has raised over $3.5 million, raked in endorsements from the California Democratic Party, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, and U.S. House leadership, and built widespread labor and in-district support.

Whitesides was recently endorsed by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Reproductive Freedom for All because he will always stand up for freedom and defend reproductive healthcare – unlike Rep. Garcia, who cosponsored the national abortion ban.

“I’m excited for Election Day and grateful for this windfall of support,” said George Whitesides. “It’s clear that this district wants a representative in Washington who will actually vote for their interests – not themselves or the whims of their party like Congressman Garcia. I’ve worked to solve problems my whole career, and I’m excited to get to Washington to deliver real results for our district.”