In its first ad of the general election season, the campaign for Rep. Mike Garcia, a politically sensitive Republican from Santa Clarita, offers a misleading description of the congressman’s role in passing the Violence Against Women Act, which provides assistance to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

The 30-second ad, titled “Voices,” was released Tuesday and features an anonymous voter who says, “Mike co-sponsored the Violence Against Women Act to protect us from domestic violence. That’s why we need Mike Garcia in Congress.”

Garcia made the same statement of co-sponsorship at a town hall meeting in Santa Clarita last month, calling his support a “big deal” because “not many Republicans” had sponsored the reauthorization of the landmark 1994 law.

But in 2021, Garcia voted against a version of the reauthorization measure that passed the Democratic majority in the House, joining conservatives who protested provisions that would have expanded protections for LGBTQ+ people and tightened gun control for people convicted of abusing or stalking a dating partner. Instead, Garcia co-sponsored an emergency measure led by Republicans to renew the bill for a year without new legislation, which did not materialize.

He did not cosponsor the revised reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act that Democratic President Biden ultimately signed into law the following year as part of a sweeping federal spending measure. It is that version of the bill that remains in effect today.

Garcia’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Garcia’s Democratic opponent, George Whitesides, also released his first ad Tuesday. The 30-second TV spot, titled “Experience,” highlights Whitesides’ time as NASA chief of staff and CEO of Mojave-based Virgin Galactic.

“I will use my business experience to solve problems rather than engage in politics,” Whitesides says in the ad.

The race between Garcia and Whitesides to represent the 27th Congressional District in northern Los Angeles County, which includes the Antelope Valley, is one of the tightest — and most consequential — in the country.

Erin Covey, an analyst for the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan polling firm, said the race will be key in determining whether Republicans can maintain their narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although Garcia has been elected three times, he represents a district where Democrats have a significant voter registration advantage and President Biden won by double digits in 2020.

“I think this is going to be a race to watch,” Covey said during a roundtable discussion at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last month. “It’s suburban. It’s diverse. It’s a race where (Vice President Kamala) Harris should really be a boost.”

George Whitesides, a Democrat who wants to oust Garcia, has boasted about his past as NASA chief of staff and CEO of Virgin Galactic, saying he created hundreds of local jobs.

(Zoe Cranfill / Los Angeles Times)

The new ads by Garcia and Whitesides mark the start of a massive ad campaign that will flood Southern California radio stations leading up to Election Day.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC supporting Republicans seeking a seat in the House of Representatives, has earmarked $18.2 million for advertising in the Los Angeles area this fall, with a focus on the 27th District.

House Majority PAC, a Democratic advocacy group, has booked more than $22.4 million for television and digital ads in English and Spanish in the Los Angeles media market, one of the most expensive in the country.

House Majority PAC said last year it would spend $35 million in California, about three times more than it spent on 2022 reelection campaigns in the Golden State, when Democrats underperformed in some counties that were expected to be strongholds.

Garcia’s new campaign ad references his military credentials. The congressman, a former Navy fighter pilot, flew more than 30 combat missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom before spending 11 years as an executive at defense contractor Raytheon.

“Until I’m in the cockpit, my fight for you and my country will never end,” he says in the ad, wearing a brown leather flight jacket.

Voters chime in, saying his “new mission” includes lowering prescription drug costs and “fighting career politicians” to lower costs for families. The ad doesn’t specify what costs.

The new announcement shows Whitesides created more than 700 jobs in the Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita during his time as head of Virgin Galactic.

Those positions include positions for engineers, technicians, accountants, human relations specialists and others, with a focus on early career development for high school and college graduates, Whitesides said in an interview this week.

Whitesides, who is running for the first time, said his first ad focuses on job creation, since many county residents must commute long distances to work in Los Angeles while also living in the Antelope Valley, where housing prices are more affordable.

“People are hungry for local job opportunities so they don’t have to spend four hours driving,” Whitesides said.

In the ad, Whitesides also says that people are struggling with crime and that he will “get more funding for the police.”

Whitesides spoke in favor of Proposition 36, a state measure that seeks to introduce harsher penalties for certain drug and theft crimes.

The bill, called the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act, calls on voters to partially repeal Proposition 47, a controversial referendum initiative passed in 2014 that reclassified some non-violent felonies as misdemeanors.

Proposition 36 was supported by the California Republican Party.

Democrats are divided on the measure. It has been supported by some major city mayors, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. But Gov. Gavin Newsom and some top Democratic leaders in the state Legislature have spoken out against it, saying it would return California to a draconian era of tough-on-crime laws that swelled the state’s prison population to unconstitutional levels.

Whitesides said he is “one of the few Democrats who have spoken out in favor of reform” because residents want to curb thefts and are “rightfully concerned about public safety.”

At a town hall meeting last month, Garcia said he also supports more funding for law enforcement. He said Proposition 47 must be defeated and that state Democrats have pushed too many “pro-crime” policies.

Times writer Noah Bierman contributed to this article.