George Whitesides

ON THE ISSUES

• Former executive director of the National Space Society 
• Co-founded Megafire Action, the first organization dedicated to fighting the wildfire crisis in California
• Former chief of staff at NASA after serving on the transition team for President Obama’s administration

WHY THIS RACE MATTERS

• Toss-up race
• Flipping this seat in California will help win a pro-environmental majority in the House, making it easier to pass climate legislation at the federal level
• Whitesides is seeking to replace anti environment Republican Mike Garcia who has earned lifetime score of 18% on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard

CANDIDATE BACKGROUND

George Whitesides is running to represent California’s 27th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. A graduate of Princeton University and King’s College in Cambridge, Whitesides is the former chief of staff at NASA after serving on the transition team for President Obama’s administration. He is a former executive director of the National Space Society and recently left his position as CEO of Virgin Galactic, a firm developing commercial space vehicles. 

He also co-founded Megafire Action, the first organization dedicated to fighting the wildfire crisis, co-chaired the Antelope Valley Covid-19 Task Force and is a board member of the Antelope Valley Economic Development and Growth Enterprise. Whitesides is running for Congress to continue his efforts to create green jobs in California’s 27th District and to fight the climate crisis, including the devastating wildfires impacting California and other western states. Whitesides is endorsed by LCV Action Fund, NRDC Action Fund, and California Environmental Voters.