LOS ANGELES (AP) — First-time candidate Josh Harder defeated four-term Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham Tuesday in California's farm belt, giving Democrats their fourth pickup of a GOP House seat in California.
Harder, 32, a venture capitalist, had anchored his campaign to Denham's vote against the Affordable Care Act, while arguing that he would push for universal health care in Congress. He also argued that Denham and other Washington Republicans ignored poverty and health care in the agricultural 10th District in California's Central Valley.
"Washington is broken because our leaders have put party over country. I pledge that I will always put this community before anything in Washington," Harder said in a statement.