The race for the 27th Congressional District, which is most of the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys, tightened considerably with Friday’s vote total.  Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, now leads Democrat challenger George Whitesides by just under 1,000 votes, with the tally at 127,061 to 126,088 votes, 50.19% to 49.81%.  The post-Election Night updates have been trending toward Whitesides for two days, with Garcia up more than 4,500 votes Wednesday night, then by 2,200 votes after Thursday’s batch.  His campaign posted a statement on the social media platform X noted that his campaign claimed a majority of the update for the second day in a row:  “Last night, over 11,000 ballots were tabulated by the LA County Registrar, and we continued to win the majority of the new votes counted and gain ground on Mike Garcia,” he posted Friday. “There are still tens of thousands of uncounted ballots, so thank you for your continued support. #CA27.”  Garcia’s campaign also issued a statement saying the congressman remained confident and expressed gratitude for his supporters Friday:  “It is essential that every vote cast by the people of our district is thoroughly and accurately counted. While we await the final results, variations in daily vote totals are to be expected as the process continues,” Garcia wrote. “I am confident that when all votes are in, our message of economic security, safe neighborhoods, and protecting critical programs like Social Security and Medicare will have resonated with CA-27 families.”  Senate  In the race for the seat vacated by state Sen. Scott Wilk’s term limit, Republican challenger Suzette Martinez Valladares maintained a healthy lead over Democrat challenger Kipp Mueller.   As of the Friday evening update, Valladares led by a little over 18,000 votes, 151,561 to 133,339. The current margin of the race is 53.3% to 46.8%, which is a slightly smaller margin than the previous day (145,076 to 125,797).  Assembly  Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, received a boost in her reeelection bid, approaching the 100,000-vote mark and putting nearly 6,000 votes between her and Republican challenger Patrick Gipson, a retired sheriff’s deputy.  Schiavo led 99,028 to 93,046, or 51.6% to 48.4%, after the Friday evening vote count. Similar to Whitesides and Mueller, post-Election Night results have trended blue for the Santa Clarita Valley.  Schiavo led by more than 2,500 votes after Wednesday’s update and then more than 4,400 after Thursday.  After winning the election by 522 votes in 2022, and an even-closer 521-vote margin of victory in the March Primary, she said her growing lead Friday was a clear message from voters.  “While it’s critical that every single vote is counted, with this recent update it’s clear that our lead will only continue to grow. Currently nearly 6,000 votes ahead — in a region where most Democrats are behind — sends a clear message that the work we’ve done to deliver for the community on the economy and safety has really had an impact,” she wrote in a text Friday evening. “Now, it’s time to get back to work and build upon the impactful work we’ve already started.”  Santa Clarita City Council  The returns for the city’s District 1 seat, which includes Newhall and a portion of Western Canyon Country, continued to trend toward Planning Commissioner Patsy Ayala.  Ayala is now leading Planning Commissioner Tim Burkhart by 201 votes.  Ayala’s lead has grown from about 37 votes to 93 votes between Wednesday night and Thursday night.  Bryce Jepsen gained 79 votes on Burkhart but remained in third Friday. Their respective vote tallies were 3,828 (Ayala, 35.25%), 3,627 (Burkhart, 33.40%) and 3,405 (Jepsen, 31.35%).  The post Garcia clings to narrow lead  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.