Republican Rep. David Valadao managed to once again fend off Democratic challenger Rudy Salas to keep his seat representing California’s 22nd Congressional District in the Central Valley.
Valadao’s win bolsters the Republican Party’s effort to retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives and brings the GOP closer to controlling both arms of Congress after flipping the U.S. Senate last week.
The Associated Press called the 22nd District race for Valadao Tuesday night, though official results will take longer. After Valadao’s victory, Republicans need just two more seats to win control of the House. About a dozen more seats remain to be called.
The 22nd Congressional District contest was one of several California seats seen as pivotal to determining which party will control the House. It is often a race won by slim margins. Both parties invested heavily in the district, pouring millions into ads.
The rural swing district spans portions of Kern, Kings and Tulare counties and includes Hanford south to Bakersfield. The economy is dominated by agriculture, and more than 70% of residents are Latino. Here, 43% of voters are registered Democrats compared with 26% registered as Republican and 23% with no party preference. The Central Valley is home to many conservative Democrats, who often vote differently than those in liberal metro areas like Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
The district has long been represented by Valadao, who was first elected to Congress in 2012 and reclaimed the seat in 2020 after losing in 2018. Valadao was considered a vulnerable Republican because he is one of the few lawmakers still in office who voted to impeach then-President Trump in 2021 and declined to endorse the Republican presidential nominee this election. Valadao’s position in Congress will be closely watched after former President Trump won the presidential race.
The two congressional candidates offered opposing views on abortion rights. While in the Assembly, Salas supported the 2022 statewide ballot measure that enshrined the rights to contraception and abortion in the California Constitution. Valadao previously co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act, a failed House bill that would have banned abortion nationwide with no exceptions. He has since shifted his position to support exceptions for rape, incest and if the mother’s life is at risk. In an interview with the Times, Valadao said abortion was not an often talked about topic in his district and insisted that it was a “nonissue” for Californians.
The candidates hail from different parts of the Central Valley’s agricultural landscape: Valadao is a dairy farmer with Portuguese heritage while Salas grew up in a Latino farmworking family. Valadao campaigned on his record in Congress, pointing to funds that he secured for local projects and police departments to show his advocacy for the region.
Salas served in the California Assembly for 10 years and later became a lecturer in political science at Cal State Bakersfield. He told The Times earlier this year that he decided to run again because he felt residents were excited about the prospect of change.