With Election Day looming, Democrat and Republican legislative candidates held final “get-out-the-vote” weekend events to increase voter turnout in the Santa Clarita Valley.   Candidates for local legislative seats were joined by other leaders of their respective parties as the Democrats held a rally Sunday morning at Newhall Park and the Republicans held an early-afternoon event in the Valencia Industrial Center.   Shortly after that, supporters of former President Donald Trump staged the last of a series of car and truck parades on local streets, starting at Bridgeport Elementary School in Valencia.  Hundreds of local residents met at the school parking lot, displaying flags in support of Trump on their trucks, which, for this event, included a trash truck with a Trump sign on it – a nod to Trump’s appearance in a garbage truck at a campaign event last week.   Supporters of Donald Trump do their final car parade before the election on Sunday at Bridgeport Elementary School. Katherine Quezada/The Signal The trash truck, with a sign on the side saying, “Trump: Make America Great Again 2024,” led the car and truck parade as the vehicles departed the school.  Trump’s garbage truck appearance last week followed a comment made by President Joe Biden, who described Trump’s supporters as “garbage” after a comedian made a joke referring to Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage” at a Trump rally in New York the previous weekend.  The parade started from the school parking lot and would end at Route 66 in Canyon Country, said Cindy Josten, the organizer of the event.   Supporters of Donald Trump do their final car parade before the election on Sunday at Bridgeport Elementary School. Katherine Quezada/The Signal Josten said this is the last truck parade they will be having but she did plan on organizing another one to celebrate if Trump is elected president. Josten said she has been organizing events like this for four years and the people who attend understand that America needs help.   “We’re fighting for our freedom. We’re fighting for our rights,” said Josten.  At the Democrats’ event in Newhall, congressional candidate George Whitesides and Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, were joined by Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, D-Woodland Hills, Assemblyman Damon Connolly, D-San Rafael, Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts, and Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena.   They spoke to the crowd of volunteers about how important the next couple of days would be.   “It is going to be up to all of us hitting every door today,” Conolly said, adding that this year’s election race is going to come down to voter turnout.   Gabriel reminded people about the importance of voting, recalling a time when he worked on former President Barack Obama’s campaign and how Obama won the state of North Carolina by less than a third of a percentage point, which is less than two votes per precinct. “That will be the margin of difference in this election, because some of these elections are going to be really close,” said Gabriel. “These are tough districts. We have to get people out to vote.”  Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth during the Santa Clarita Valley and get-out-the-Vote for George Whitesides Rally held at Newhall Park on Sunday. Katherine Quezada/The Signal Schiavo mentioned that she won the previous election by 522 votes and that every vote counted this year, and they wanted to make a difference.  Whitesides said that all the volunteers present were working as hard as possible to increase voter turnout. Just the day prior, volunteers were able to hit a total of 12,000 doors and aimed to increase that number to 20,000 doors by Sunday, he said.   “This is a campaign that centered on improving people’s lives and it is gratifying to see the people power that is showing up today,” said Whitesides.  In the 2022 election, the 27th Congressional District race came down to approximately 300 votes, showing that every single vote mattered, he said, adding that it was important that people express their voice in the election.   Melissa Larson, volunteer captain, said it was her first time volunteering for an election. The goal of Sunday was focused on getting people to vote regardless of their political party standing, she added.   “I think it is a common misconception that our vote here in California doesn’t matter because California always votes at the top of the ticket for Democrats and our electoral college votes always go towards Democrats, but what we don’t really think about is how much the local elections affect us,” said Larson.   Larson added that the local congressional, state Assembly and state Senate seat elections are what end up deeply affecting the local district.   Robynn Abrams and her daughter Jianjia Gettinger made the hour-long commute from Santa Monica to volunteer in knocking on doors because, “This is just as important as if I was doing it in my neighborhood,” Abrams said.   United States Congress candidate George Whitesides during the Santa Clarita Valley and get-out-the-Vote for George Whitesides Rally held at Newhall Park on Sunday. Katherine Quezada/The Signal Volunteer Carolyn Veis with Moms Demand Action said the organization was at the event to support Whitesides.   “We are here to support him. We come from all different organizations. We come from all different divisions or for our own fights and the fights align with what George Whitesides believes in and what he wants to bring to table if he’s elected,” said Veis.  On Sunday afternoon in Valencia, California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millah Patterson and Senate Republican Leader Brian Jones, R-San Diego, joined state Senate candidate Suzette Martinez Valladares and state Assembly candidate Patrick Lee Gipson for a “get-out-the-vote” event.  Volunteers and local legislative candidates pose for a group photo at the CA GOP get-out-the-vote event in Valencia on Sunday. Maya Morales/The Signal They spoke to volunteers about the importance of this election for the Republican Party.   “This is one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime and the difference that we will make on the school board races, city council races, legislative races, what happens in Sacramento, what happens in Washington, D.C., matters particularly right here in Santa Clarita,” said Millah Patterson.   “This can be the difference in the House majority,” she said, referring to Santa Clarita Republican Rep. Mike Garcia’s bid for reelection to the 27th Congressional District.  Millah Patterson said it was important for people to do their due diligence so they could have a say in the people who represent them and make decisions on their behalf.   Gipson advocated voting for people who will bring about real change in California.   “It’s the ones who are staying home and thinking that, ‘Oh, someone else will do it for me.’ We can’t live that way,” said Gipson. “We have to get up, we have to put our shoes on and get out and do some work because our futures are worth it.”  Teenagers were among the volunteers at the Republican GOTV event and Gipson said it was amazing to see so many young people come and show they want to make a change in their district, in their city, and in the state.  From left: State Senate candidate Suzette Martinez Valladares, State Assembly candidate Patrick Lee Gipson, Senate Republican Leader Brian Jones, and CA GOP Chairwoman Jessica Millah Patterson speak to volunteers at the CA GOP get-out-the-vote event in Valencia on Sunday. Maya Morales/The Signal Valladares said that as of Sunday they had knocked on 175,000 doors to talk to people about voting in this election cycle.  “Every single conversation is changing hearts and minds of voters, and you are all a part of that,” said Valladares.  Valladares added that this election is going to be very close, and every vote is going to matter. This weekend was the final push in the race and the last chance to talk to people who are unsure of who to vote for. She also was heartened by the presence of teen volunteers.  Valladares added: “I feel good about the next generation if it is run by kids like these here from Santa Clarita.”   The post SCV Democrats and Republicans host final GOTV rallies before Election Day  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.