California Republican who voted to impeach Trump falls behind Democrat in election returns

A competitive midterm election in California’s San Joaquin Valley came into focus Tuesday night with a Democratic state lawmaker taking on one of the most vulnerable Republicans in Congress.

The Associated Press said that Democratic Assemblyman Rudy Salas of Bakersfield would advance from the primary to the November general election in the 22nd Congressional District at 11:00 p.m. Pacific Time Tuesday.

They had yet to call it for incumbent Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, as of 6:06 a.m. Wednesday. Salas, 45, had 48.3% of the votes as of then. Valadao, also 45, had 25.6%.

Fewer than 30% of the votes have been counted.

Analysts say the election in the Central Valley’s new 22nd, which captures Hanford to Shafter, is a toss-up.

Redistricting, the once-a-decade redrawing of legislative boundaries, favored Democrats in California, experts said. While Valadao survived a tough election in his old district, the new one he is running in is bluer.

The district he currently represents would have elected Joe Biden with by 11% margin over Donald Trump in 2020. The new district he and Salas are running in would have gone to Biden by 13%.

But Valadao has distanced himself from Trump. The Hanford dairy farmer was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him the over the insurrection in 2021. Since voting for, then against, a House commission to study Jan. 6, Valadao has stayed quiet on Trump and the Capitol riot.

He was one of a few California Republicans who Trump did not endorse ahead of the primary.

Valadao easily won election in 2012, 2014 and 2016. When Trump was in office during the last set of midterm elections in 2018, he lost to Democrat TJ Cox by less than a 1% margin.

He regained the seat in a 2020 rematch, besting Cox by less than 1 percentage point in an election that was too close to call for weeks.

The party of the president historically does worse in midterm elections. And with Biden’s approval rating slipping in the wake of inflation and pandemic issues, experts predict more of a “red wave” in 2022.

When Valadao ran for the United States House of Representatives in 2012, Salas won his old California Assembly seat. Progressives think Salas, who has held the Assembly seat since, could be the Central Valley’s first Latino House representative.

Both Valadao and Salas stressed water access as one of their top legislative priorities.

Adam Thomas Medeiros, a businessman and member of the Kings County Board of Education, and Chris Mathys, a pro-Trump conservative who was on the Fresno City Council, are both running as Republicans in the 22nd district.