The balance of power in Congress could be decided with this race in Orange County
The battle for Congress could be decided in Southern California as Rep. Katie Porter is locked in an unexpectedly tight race.
While the two-term Congresswoman is optimistic she will hold her seat, she is only ahead of her opponent, Republican Scott Baugh by 3,000 votes.
"I think we always knew this was going to be a close election," said Porter. "First, I just think, as a Democrat in Orange County in the past few cycles and probably in the next few, there's going to be some close races. And also I think anytime that you're trying to meet hundreds of thousands of new voters in a relatively short time frame because of redistricting it's a big lift."
As professor of politics Fernando Guerra explains, Orange County was not an easy place to be for Democrats on Election Day.
"That's a very conservative district," he said. "If you took a look at that district and took Katie Porter out, I cannot imagine a Democrat winning. We talked about a red wave nationally that did not materialize. A red wave totally materialized in Orange County. If you take a look it was the only Southern California county Newsom lost."
Another tight race is in the 41st District where Republican Ken Calvert hopes to keep his seat in the Inland Empire. Just over a thousand votes separate Calvert from his opponent Democrat Will Rollins, who is optimistic he will win the race despite trailing slightly.
"We feel great about where we are," said Rollins. "We've got an even split right now. And what the registrar has told us is that in-person election counts. We expect main-in ballots to break for us."
Calvert released a statement saying he expected his lead to only grow when more votes are counted.
Further south in Orange County former San Juan Capistrano Mayor Brian Maryott hopes to unseat incumbent Democrat Mike Levin, who holds a slight lead of 3,000 votes.
"Four years ago we were talking about how all the Congressional districts had become Democratic and now you could completely reverse that if in fact Porter and Levin were to lose, although I don't think they will," Guerra said. "I think they will be able to hang on."
Baugh's office did not respond to requests for comment.
