Newsom stumps for Democratic candidates at get-out-the-vote rallies in OC hours before Election Day

ANAHEIM, Calif. (KABC) — In the hours leading up to election day, Gov. Gavin Newsom made at least half-a-dozen stops across Orange County, rallying alongside Democratic candidates including Dr. Asif Mahmood, who is up against Rep. Young Kim in California’s 40th Congressional District.

“We have the profound opportunity do what Orange County does best,” Newsom said, calling the municipality “one of the most populous counties in the country, one of the most important counties in the country.”

Greeting Democratic volunteers in Tustin and Anaheim Monday, Newsom prepared them for the home stretch, encouraging everyone to cast their vote.

“You’ve got forces that want to bring us back to the pre-1960s and others that want to transform,” Newsom said. “We’ve always been in the future business in California, and so has Orange County, and I want to continue to see that progress.”

In Buena Park, Republicans, including the California Republican Party’s chairwoman, Jessica Millan Patterson, worked to hang on to seats in the House.

“Not a single victory will be given to us tomorrow,” Millan Patterson said. “We have to earn it and we have been earning it over the last two years.”

Newsom rallied alongside candidates, one of whom, Mahmood, is running for California’s newly created 40th Congressional District, up against Kim, the current 39th District representative.

Mahmood said he found a calling serving people as a doctor more than two decades ago and could use that experience in the political sector.

“Right now, everything which is on ballot is related to health care,” Mahmood said. “Whether it is getting on the right health plan, whether it’s getting the prescription cost, which is very high, whether it’s getting a procedure done with your mental health and women’s reproductive rights, contraceptive rights, even gun safety.”

Representative Kim said, after speaking with constituents, she felt their greatest concern was inflation.

“They’re frustrated by it. People are feeling the impact of high inflation everywhere. From the grocery store, to the gas pump and my opponent supports policies that have made inflation worse,” Kim said.

California’s 40th Congressional District includes portions of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.