Democrats split on who to challenge Valadao

from Maya S. MillerCalMatters

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California Democrats eager to take back the U.S. House of Representatives all agree they must defeat Central Valley Republicans incumbent Congressman David Valadao.

But they cannot agree on who should be his rival.

Months after the critical primary, liberal activists are sharply divided over which Democratic candidate could unseat Valladão in a conservative-leaning, working-class district where a significant portion of Hispanic voters have turned from supporting former President Joe Biden in 2020 to supporting President Donald Trump in 2024.

The dilemma in the 22nd Congressional District, which is likely to be California’s top House race this year, epitomizes a larger tug-of-war within the party over how Democrats can win back voters they lost in 2024 — by playing down the middle, as successful gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia did last fall, or by a progressive brand of economic populismwhich fueled Zohran Mamdani’s rise to the mayoral post of New York.

Political power players in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. — including the massive SEIU California union, several California lawmakers and Emily’s List — rallied behind Member of Assembly Jasmeet Bains. The moderate state lawmaker may also tout his work as a full-time Medi-Cal and wildfire doctor in a year when Democrats want to focus on federal health care cuts. She has also repeatedly voted against her Democratic legislative leadership and even lost her committee duties after falling out with the former Speaker of the Assembly over a vote he didn’t like.

“I’m loyal to my district, not a party or a label,” Baines said in an interview with CalMatters. “I didn’t study politics. I studied my community through the lens of being a doctor. And what the Central Valley wants are people who will put them first in Washington.”

But a grassroots movement led by local Democratic county chairs is backing Randy Villegas, a political newcomer and college professor who has embraced progressive policy platforms like Medicare for All and price caps on prescriptions and some procedures. He argued that diseases such as diabetes and cancer did not discriminate, so universal health care would benefit working-class people regardless of their political beliefs.

“This is not a battle of left versus right. This is a battle of the bottom versus the top and the people of the Central Valley who have been abandoned by politicians who have sold them out in both political parties,” Villegas told CalMatters. “When it comes to your utilities, your mortgage, those bills don’t require your party registration and neither does this campaign.”

While Baines refrained from sharing specific policy priorities, Villegas devoted an entire section of his campaign website to explaining his ambitious plans for how he would fight to implement universal family leave and child care, raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour, ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks and introduce congressional term limits.

Villegas also accepted the support of the Working Families Party and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, against the advice of conventional Democratic strategists, who warned they could be used against him in attack ads. And even hired Mamdani’s media consultant, 26-year-old wunderkind Maurice Katz, whose ads portray the Democratic Party candidates as close, harsh neighbors not hairdos, polished professionals.

Both candidates are also leaning on their ethnic and valley identities to appeal to voters.

Villegas often talks about how his parents, Mexican immigrants who came to the United States in search of work, inspired him to excel in school, earn a Ph.D. and become a teacher. Villegas was born and raised in Bakersfield and now teaches political science courses at the College of the Redwoods in Visalia. He is also a public school trustee and owns an auto repair shop with his father.

Baines also touts her roots in the Valley, from her childhood growing up as the daughter of Indian immigrants in Delano to completing her residency at a health center serving low-income residents in Bakersfield. She still treats patients on weekends when she is not in Sacramento for legislative sessions. Baines is the first Sikh elected to public office in California and the first South Asian woman in the Legislature.

Which Democrat can win?

California delegates meet next week at the party’s state convention in San Francisco to decide whether and who they will support in up-and-down races on the 2026 ticket. Both campaigns say they will support whoever wins the first two primaries in June. But with a majority in the House of Representatives and the ability to block Trump’s agenda, the stakes are even higher to get the right candidate elected.

“We can’t lose,” said Tia Orr, executive director of the influential Service Employees International Union of California, which has endorsed Baines. “We have no choice but to win,” Orr said, “and we believe she is the one who can win.”

A poll funded by SEIU California last fall showed Baines in a dead heat with Valadao, while Villegas trailed the Republican incumbent.

Villegas’ supporters dispute the notion that running as a “Valleycrat” — or a Valley Democrat known for taking more conservative positions than his Democratic colleagues in the Legislature on key local industries like oil and agriculture — is the only way to defeat Valladao, who has also tried to cast himself as a moderate Republican.

“We keep running these moderate Democrats — I consider myself a moderate Democrat for the most part — but we keep losing,” said Christian Romo, chairman of the Kern County Democrats and Villegas’ former high school classmate. “Why so?”

Romo pointed out that Valladao’s last challenger, former Assemblyman Rudy Salas, who has often irritated his progressive colleagues in Sacramento, lost twice by wide margins. Salas glorified his party by voting against Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to raise the gas tax. The only Democrat to defeat Valladao was former Rep. TJ Cox, a more left-leaning candidate who rode the blue wave to victory during Trump’s 2018 midterms.

“People said, ‘Well, Randy doesn’t stand a chance because he’s so progressive,'” Romo said. “Well, the only person who beat Valadao was the candidate who went a little more progressive in his ideals.”

Notably, Valadao regained his spot two years later by defeating Cox in a rematch. (Cox, too, since then pleaded guilty to wire fraud and faces one year in federal prison.)

Villegas and Bains give different reasons why they should be considered favorites.

Villegas, whose fundraising has outpaced Bains’ despite his pledge to forego corporate donations, has about $100,000 more cash on hand than Bains, show campaign financial records. He also received the support of 55 percent of the Democratic delegates in his district in a recent vote before the convention. Baines got 45%.

But Baines and her supporters say she has the advantage of holding office and bringing an identity to the district. Her assembly district, based in Kern County, overlaps significantly with the most populous part of the congressional district, meaning she already represents many of the same people.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.