Control of Congress could be decided by these competitive House races in SoCal

You can't miss their ads on T.V. and radio. Candidates for a handful of congressional seats seem to be dominating the airwaves in recent weeks. Here's a closer look on why so much money is being spent on so few races.

Former President Bill Clinton campaigned in Orange County for House candidates in the final days of the 2024 campaign. Leaders of both parties are doing the same, including Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.

Even former President Donald Trump held a rally earlier this month in the Coachella Valley - all signs the House majority runs through California and four of the most competitive races in the country are in Southern California. Even if you're not paying attention, you've likely seen the ads.

"California is an incredibly important state during every election cycle, but it is particularly significant during this election cycle. There are eight competitive races throughout the state of California. That's the largest concentration of seats anywhere in a given state throughout the country," said Jeffries.

Jeffries campaigned for George Whitesides in the Antelope Valley earlier this month. Whitesides is in a very tight race against Republican incumbent Mike Garcia in California's 27th District which includes Santa Clarita, Lancaster and Palmdale.

Another close race is California's 41st District which includes Corona, Menifee, Lake Elsinore and Palm Springs. Democrat Will Rollins is once again running against Republican Ken Calvert, who has held that seat for 32 years.

"Get out and vote for Ken Calvert everybody," Trump said in the Coachella Valley earlier this month.

Then you have California's 45th District in Orange County where Democrat Derek Tran is up against Republican incumbent Michelle Steel. Also in Orange County, voters will decide if Katie Porter's open seat will be filled by either Democrat Dave Min or Republican Scott Baugh.

"The only sure way to keep any guard rails on Donald Trump and his 2025 agenda people is to win back the House of Representatives and it starts with Derek Tran," Bill Clinton said in Buena Park over the weekend.

"It is worth asking yourself do you want to provide the next president, whether it's Trump or Harris, with a Congress that helps them or rather a Congress that balances them out? So you're vote in one of these House races, in many ways, is just as important as the ballot you cast for president," said Dan Schnur, a political communications professor at USC and Berkeley.

Big money is pouring into these races from inside and outside of the districts. Republican candidates have raised between $5 million and $10 million each. Meanwhile, the Democrats in these races have raised between $5 million and $12 million each. In total, the Republican candidates for these highly contested seats have raised $27 million. The Democratic candidates have topped that, raising almost $32 million.