DCCC - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

06/28/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/28/2022 12:48

ICYMI: Nearly Three Weeks After Primary, Vulnerable Incumbent David Valadao (Barely) Advances

After three weeks of anticipation, Californians finally have the results of an election that should have been a cake walk.

In a primary election where incumbents typically sail through, David Valadao advanced to the general three weeks after the election with a mere 3-point margin over Republican Chris Mathys, while Democratic nominee Rudy Salas cleared the field primary night and outperformed previous Democratic candidates. The New York Times deems Salas Democrats' "strongest challenger yet."

As the New York Times reports: Valadao is "one of the most endangered House Republicans in the country." Thanks to once-in-a-decade redistricting, Rep. David Valadao now resides in a Biden district with the second-widest margin of victory of any Republican in the country. His record of attacking Central Valley voters' health care and reproductive rights makes his re-election chances in this blue district all the more unlikely.

"The writing is on the wall: Central Valley voters are sick and tired of David Valadao's attacks on their health care and reproductive rights. David Valadao cannot even get his own party excited about his re-election. This November, voters will gladly choose new leadership in Rudy Salas," said DCCC spokesperson Maddy Mundy.

Read more about vulnerable Republican David Valadao's poor primary performance here:

New York Times: In California, a Republican congressman who voted to impeach Trump survives his primary
By Jonathan Weisman
June 27, 2022

  • Representative David Valadao, a Republican running in a strongly Democratic district in California's Central Valley, will face off in November with his strongest challenger yet.

  • Mr. Valadao, whose victory was called by The Associated Press weeks after the June 7 primary, is one of the most endangered House Republicans in the country.

  • Mr. Valadao's Democratic challenger - Rudy Salas, a five-term assemblyman who is a popular fixture in the Fresno area - cleared the Democratic field the night of the primary in a district whose lines shifted in his favor, away from the outskirts of conservative Bakersfield.

  • In the end, Mr. Valadao's two Republican rivals, Mr. Mathys and Mr. Madeiros, seemed to have split the anti-Valadao vote. That cleared the way for the strongest candidates to compete in one of the Democrats' few pickup opportunities in the House in November.