Democrat Gray challenges Republican Duarte in rematch for 13th Congressional District seat

Former state Assemblymember Adam Gray, D-Merced, announced Wednesday that he will run next year for the 13th Congressional District against first-term incumbent John Duarte, a Republican from Modesto.

Gray’s candidacy sets up a potential rematch of the November election, when Duarte narrowly edged Gray by 564 votes out of more than 133,000 ballots cast across Merced, Stanislaus, Madera, Fresno and San Joaquin counties. It was the nation’s second-closest race last fall for a U.S. House of Representatives seat.

The top two candidates in the March 5 primary – regardless of party affiliation – will move on to the general election in November 2024.

In 10 years in the state Assembly, “I worked with Democrats, Republicans and independents,” Gray told The Fresno Bee in a telephone interview Wednesday. “I even founded the California Problems Solvers Caucus specifically to bring Democrats, Republicans and independents together to find solutions to California’s most vexing issues. And a lot of good work got done.”

“I’ve always focused not on what my political party needs or what my political party is fighting about, but rather what we can do to bring more resources and improve lives here in the Central Valley,” he added.

Gray cited his role in securing more than $200 million for the creation of a new medical school program at UC Merced and funds for flood control for rural communities in the region.

Gray’s willingness to stand up to Democratic leaders in the Assembly led to ramifications including losing a committee chairmanship and being removed from the Assembly’s water committee. “We all have a political party preference, …” Gray told The Bee. “But I think people ought to be advocating for their community regardless of their party, and that’s always been my line. And I have paid a price for it.”

He added that by defying party leadership, “I was also able to demand some of the investments that the state has made in this community,” including funds for extending the Altamont Corridor Express or ACERail commuter train system from Stockton to Merced and for construction of the Campus Parkway, a new thoroughfare linking the UC Merced campus to Highway 99.

“By standing your ground, you make people negotiate with you on getting resources into the district,” Gray said. “When you go along with the party leaders, they take care of the party’s agenda – but either party’s agenda rarely serves our community.”

Duarte “is another one of those politicians who just wants to blame the other side, that the answer to every problem is the other side,” Gray told The Bee. “But I think both parties have played a role in creating problems and stopping progress.”

“We don’t have to agree on everything, but we do have to work together in the interest of this country,” he added.

Since leaving the Assembly at the end of his last term, Gray has worked with a commercial construction company and continues to teach a class in political science at UC Merced.

In his announcement, Gray is touting endorsements from current Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, as well as a cadre of other current and former elected officials from throughout the district including city council members, county supervisors and school board members.

He said he is hopeful that if the primary election shapes up like 2022, the results in the November general election will be different.

“If you look at those results (from November), it was a low-turnout election,” he said. “I think a lot of people were frustrated, and rightfully so, with inflation and coming out of COVID, and the way the Central Valley has been treated.”

“I’m obviously disappointed that I lost that election, but I’m confident that going into this presidential election, there will be a lot more participation here in the Central Valley, that we’re going to do well,” Gray added.

The National Republican Congressional Committee quickly responded to Gray’s announcement, issuing a statement dubbing Gray as a “Sacramento swamp creature.”

“Central Valley voters rejected Adam Gray after he betrayed them to collect lavish special interest perks,” the NRCC’s western press secretary Ben Peterson declared, repeating a frequent refrain from the 2022 campaign. “Gray skipped over 150 votes – and when he did show up, Gray drove up inflation, raised the gas tax and waged war on the Valley’s way of life.”

The district encompasses all of Merced County and parts of Fresno, Madera, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Gray carried Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin, which included much of the Assembly district that he represented. But Duarte outpolled Gray by about 1,300 votes in Fresno County and by more than 3,600 votes in Madera County, providing the Republican with the margin of victory.

Compared to the 2020 presidential election, voter turnout in each of the five counties was considerably lighter last fall, ranging from between 20 and 27 percentage points lower than 2020’s near-record turnout.

President Joe Biden carried the district overall in 2020 by 11 percentage points, and Democrats outnumber Republicans districtwide. The 13th Congressional District is expected to once again be one of the most hotly contested races in the country, and potentially a key to whether Republicans can maintain their slim majority in the House.