Republican Rep. Young Kim, who in 2020 was one of the first Korean American women elected to Congress, fended off a challenge from Democrat Joe Kerr, a retired fire captain, to secure a third term representing inland Orange County in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Associated Press called the race in California’s 40th Congressional District on Thursday, though official results will take longer. Control of the House remained too close to call.

Kim said in a statement Thursday night that she plans to “be an independent voice, bring common sense to Washington, and through bipartisanship, deliver results.”

“There is so much to do to get our country back on track, and I am ready to get back to Washington and continue to fight on behalf of my community,” she said.

The race for the 40th Congressional District, which covers some of the most conservative cities in Orange County and portions of Corona in Riverside County and Chino Hills in San Bernardino County, remained relatively under the radar for most of the election cycle.

In past years, congressional Democrats’ campaign arm included the district on their list of seats that could be flipped from red to blue.

But this year, the 40th Congressional District did not appear on Democrats’ roster and the nonpartisan Cook Political Report deemed it “likely Republican.”

Though President Biden won the district by a narrow margin in 2020, Republicans maintain a voter registration advantage of nearly 5 percentage points.

Kim, who was born in South Korea and lives in Anaheim Hills, served in the state Assembly and unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2018 before winning two years later. She focused her campaign on lowering taxes and the burden of rising costs on middle class families, a time-tested message for Southern California conservatives that resonates with voters in the suburban district.

Kerr spent 34 years as a fire captain with the Orange County Fire Authority and served 17 years as president of the Orange County Professional Firefighters Assn., a labor union that represents 800 firefighters. He ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate in 2022 and for the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 2018.

Kerr could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday night.

Much of Kerr’s message centered on his time as a firefighter. In a recent advertisement, Kerr promised to help push for federal legislation that would provide firefighters with healthcare.

Kim raised $7.4 million for her campaign while Kerr amassed just under $800,000, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison fired back at Bernie Sanders in a post on X after the progressive senator from Vermont claimed that Democrats have lost the working class.

“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” wrote Sanders in a Nov. 6 post.

Harrison slammed the recently re-elected Senator Sanders in a post earlier on Thursday, claiming “this is straight up BS…”

BERNIE SANDERS EXCORIATES DEMOCRATIC PARTY, CALLS CAMPAIGN ‘DISASTROUS’ AFTER TRUMP VICTORY

“Biden was the most-pro worker President of my life time- saved Union pensions, created millions of good paying jobs and even marched in a picket line and some of MVP’s plans would have fundamentally transformed the quality of life and closed the racial wealth gap for working people across this country,” wrote Harrison. 

“From the child tax credits, to 25k for a down payment for a house to Medicare covering the cost of senior health care in their homes. There are a lot of post election takes and this one ain’t a good one,” he concluded. Harrison’s post currently has over 18,000 likes.

Harrison’s post comes as many fingers are being pointed within Democratic circles to attribute Vice President Harris’ definitive loss to any possible guilty party.

Sanders referred to the Harris campaign as “disastrous” in his X post, asking “Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign?”

“Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing?” added Sanders. “Do they have any ideas as to how we can take on the increasingly powerful oligarchy which has so much economic and political power? Probably not.”

HOUSE DEMOCRAT SAYS THE PARTY NEEDS TO GET PAST ‘TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME’

Vice President Harris has gained only 226 Electoral College votes thus far, according to the Fox News Decision Desk. She has been projected to lose critical swing states Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

Jaime R. Harrison, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, speaks onstage during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 19, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois.   (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Democrats didn’t just suffer defeat at the top of the ticket, but across the board. According to projections from the Fox News Decision Desk, Republicans are set to take the majority of both the House and Senate.

Harrison is not expected to seek re-election as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, per Reuters. He was first chosen for the post in 2021 after President Biden took office.

Sanders, 83, has served as senator since 2007 and won another six-year term on Tuesday despite many seats in the chamber flipping red.