LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries crisscrossed Southern California over the weekend in communities far from the presidential battlegrounds 鈥 Little Saigon in Orange County and the high desert of Antelope Valley 鈥 as he works to wrest control of the U.S. House from Republicans.
The Golden State is a Democratic stronghold but the party in recent elections, giving the speaker's gavel to Republicans. Jeffries, who is in line to become the next House speaker if Democrats regain control in November, needs to pick up four GOP-held seats to win back the majority 鈥 and there are , more than any other state in the nation.
鈥淐alifornia is an incredibly important state at all times, but particularly this cycle given the volume of races that will help decide control of the House of Representatives,鈥 Jeffries told The Associated Press in between stops.
With the race for as tight as ever, Democrats are trying to reverse what they view as the shortcomings of recent election cycles when Republicans scored victories in unexpected places, including districts President had just won in 2020.
It鈥檚 not just California, but Jeffries鈥 home state of New York, that have become the surprising blue-state battlegrounds, which could very well and determine which party wins the House majority and speaker鈥檚 chair.
Jeffries did not have the state to himself over the weekend. , the Republican nominee for the White House, declared California a under Democrats, who hold every statewide office, as he rallied MAGA supporters in Coachella on the grounds of the iconic annual music festival.
The Republican House Speaker was in the state as well, attending private events in California, including in South Orange County, as he works to save and potentially expand his party's majority. Republicans are trying to flip Democratic-held seats. Johnson was at an event for Republican candidate , a newcomer who is challenging Democratic Rep. .
鈥淚 believe Republicans are going to win the House, grow the House majority,鈥 Johnson said on CBS.
In what was once the Republican bastion of Orange County, Jeffries touched down Saturday in Anaheim, home to Little Saigon, a community with more Vietnamese Americans than elsewhere in the nation, many having settled and raised families in migration waves after the .
At a restaurant and banquet hall not far from Disneyland, a who鈥檚 who of Vietnamese community leaders and entertainers gathered in support of Democratic candidate Derek Tran, who would become the first Vietnamese-American to represent the area in its nearly 50 years. He is challenging the Republican incumbent, Rep. , who first won in 2020.
鈥淭his is going to be a close race,鈥 Jeffries told the crowd, noting that Tran would be the only Vietnamese American in the House Democratic caucus, if elected. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important.鈥
Miles away in the farthest reaches of Los Angeles County, where the space industry shares space with Joshua trees, Jeffries rallied more than 200 volunteers who showed up early Sunday morning at an machinists鈥 and aerospace workers' union hall in Palmdale to start knocking on doors to get out the vote.
It鈥檚 the only Los Angeles County congressional seat held by a Republican, Rep. , a Navy fighter pilot who served in the Iraq War and first won office in 2020. Trying to unseat him is Democrat , a former NASA chief of staff and Virgin Galactic executive, and a newcomer to politics.
Republicans remain confident in their candidates and message, particularly in California where Democrats hold such sway.
鈥淪outhern California races are always competitive, but Republicans keep having success,鈥 said Lance Trover, a Republican strategist working on both the Steel and Gunderson campaigns.
Before sending the volunteers out to canvas, Jeffries ran through his itinerary over past few weeks 鈥 from Phoenix to Portland to Albuquerque to New Haven, Connecticut to New York to Pennsylvania to Ohio and now California 鈥 all key races to win the House, alongside Vice President , the Democratic presidential nominee.
Dave Guttman, an aerospace engineer from Pasadena who has volunteered to door knock for Democrats in past elections, including for Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, said he didn鈥檛 want to sit this one out. 鈥淵ou just got to try,鈥 he said. He said he ended up knocking on 35 doors.
