David Valadao

Valadao announced his candidacy for California's 30th State Assembly district after the 2010 retirement of Republican Assemblyman Danny Gilmore. He defeated Stephanie Campbell in the Republican primary, 78%–22%.[8] In the general election, he defeated Shafter Mayor Fran Florez, 61%–39%.[9][10]

In August 2011 Valadao announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for California's 21st congressional district.[11] The district had previously been the 20th District, represented by four-term Democrat Jim Costa, but redistricting had shifted most of the district's share of Fresno to the new 16th District, and Costa sought reelection there.

In the June 5 open primary, he ranked first with 57% of the vote, ahead of Democrat John Hernandez – the head of the local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce – and Fresno city councilman Blong Xiong.[12] In the November 6 general election he defeated Hernandez, 58%–42%.[13] A Wall Street Journal op-ed cited his victory in a district that had long been held by Democrats as a potential template for the GOP, while other analysts cited his opponent's "weakness as a candidate and a campaigner" as playing a major role.[14]

Valadao ran for reelection in November 2014. His challengers were Democrat Amanda Renteria, a former political aide to Dianne Feinstein and Debbie Stabenow,[15] and John Hernandez, the Democratic nominee Valadao defeated in 2012.[16] In the June 3 primary Valado finished first once again with 63% of the vote, and received majorities of 60% or higher in every county except for Kern. In the November 4 general election he was reelected with 58% of the vote.[17]

Valadao ran for reelection to a third term in 2016. His first challenger was Democrat Daniel Parra, the Mayor pro tem of Fowler, California.[18] Another Democratic challenger was Connie Perez, an accountant in Pasadena, California, who grew up in Tulare, but due to issues regarding her residency outside of the district, as well as an alleged recent change in party affiliation, Perez dropped out less than a month after announcing her candidacy.[19][20] In January 2016 Emilio Huerta, son of United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, announced his candidacy in the race as a Democrat.[21] In the June 7 primary Valadao finished first with 54% of the vote and Huerta finished second with 24.2%.[22][23] In the general election Valadao was reelected with 56.7% of the vote to Huerta's 43.3%.[24]

In 2018 Valadao was initially set to face Huerta again in a rematch, with Huerta announcing his bid in May 2017.[25] But in March 2018 Huerta suspended his campaign for lack of funds.[26][27] After Huerta’s withdrawal, engineer T. J. Cox of Fresno announced that he would challenge Valadao.[28] Cox had previously announced a challenge to Republican Congressman Jeff Denham in the 10th district before switching to Valadao’s seat.[29]

Valadao declared victory on November 6 after AP initially called the race in his favor, but the counting of mail-in ballots gave Cox the lead. Cox officially won the race on November 28,[30][31][32][33][34] and Valadao conceded on December 6.[35] It was one of the last U.S. House races to be decided in the 2018 cycle.[34]

Valadao is running to reclaim his former seat in 2020.[36]

According to Vote Smart's 2016 analysis, Valadao generally supported pro-life legislation, opposed an income tax increase, opposed requiring states to adopt federal education standards, supported lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth, supported the building of the Keystone Pipeline, supported government funding for the development of renewable energy, opposed the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, opposed gun-control legislation, supported repealing the Affordable Care Act, opposed requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship, opposed same-sex marriage, and supported increased American intervention in Iraq and Syria beyond air support.[39]

Valadao was one of the first Republican supporters of Donald Trump's candidacy. He expressed support for Trump from October 2015 to May 2016 but temporarily rescinded his support in June 2016, saying he could not support a candidate who "denigrates people based on their ethnicity, religion, or disabilities."[40]

In February 2017 Valadao voted against a resolution that would have directed the House to request ten years of Trump's tax returns, which would then have been reviewed by the House Ways and Means Committee in a closed session.[41]

FiveThirtyEight found that, as of September 2018, Valadao had voted in line with Trump's position 99% of the time, and was the most partisan Trump supporter in the U.S. House as compared to his district's voting patterns.[42]

In 2014, President Obama blamed a drought that California began experiencing in 2011 on global warming. According to The Hill, Valadao was among Republican candidates in three swing districts in California who said "climate change has nothing to do with the drought." Valadao argued that regulations by the Obama administration had worsened the drought.[43]

In 2013 Valadao was one of just 15 House Republicans to vote against a Republican-backed bill to make deep cuts in food stamp spending.[44]

In September 2013, in response to threats of a government shutdown over defunding of the Affordable Care Act, Valadao cosponsored the Government Shutdown Fairness Act, which would prevent all members of Congress from receiving their salaries if a shutdown occurred.[45]

Valadao favored repealing the Affordable Care Act. On May 4, 2017, he voted to repeal it and to pass the American Health Care Act (AHCA).[46][47] Valadao said, "The American Health Care Act will stabilize our health-care system, ensuring our community has access to high quality, affordable health care."[48] He also said that one aspect of the AHCA he liked was $8 billion in funding over five years to help insure those with preexisting conditions in so-called "high-risk pools".[49] Deborah Kelch, a former legislative analyst for the state of California, expressed doubt that there was enough funding available to establish affordable and effective high-risk pools.[49] The revised version of AHCA allowed states to get waivers to allow insurers to charge individuals with preexisting conditions more.[50]

In June 2017 Valadao and Jeff Denham (CA-10) introduced the Assessing Critical Care Efforts to Strengthen Services (ACCESS) Act. It would correct California's Medicaid reimbursement method in order to encourage physicians to operate in the Central Valley and to ensure patient access to doctors and specialists.[51]

In July 2017 Valadao and five other members of Congress introduced the Training the Next Generation of Primary Care Doctors Act of 2017, which would reauthorize the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) Program. It would expand existing programs at health centers and establish new teaching health centers. "By reauthorizing the THC Graduate Medical Education (GME) Program, and prioritizing rural and medically underserved areas, our bill will ensure our most disadvantaged communities, like California's Central Valley, have access to the primary care services they deserve."[52]

Valadao supports comprehensive immigration reform.[53][54]

On February 23, 2017, Valadao called for a bipartisan solution to the U.S. immigration system. Later in 2017 Valadao and nine other lawmakers wrote to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan asking for legislation to address DACA's future.[55]

In June 2018 Valadao released a statement about the Department of Justice's "zero tolerance" policy, which involved separating children and parents at the Mexican border. "The substantial increase of minors at our southern border is both a humanitarian and national security crisis," Valadao wrote. "While we must work towards a solution that reduces the occurrence of illegal border crossings, it is unacceptable to separate young children from their parents. This is exactly why passage of a compromise solution, such as that being discussed in Congress right now, is absolutely necessary."[56]

The marijuana legalization advocacy group NORML gave Valadao a "D" grade in 2016 for his voting history on cannabis-related causes.[57]

In December 2017 Valadao voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.[58] He said the "outdated tax code" affected his constituents negatively, that the new tax code would be simpler, and that his community would see more jobs, improved economic growth, and higher wages.[59]

Valadao has criticized the Trump administration's imposition of tariffs against Chinese steel and aluminum imports, which prompted China to impose retaliatory tariffs on a range of U.S. agriculture products. In May 2018 he sent a letter to United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expressing concern over the tariffs' impact on the Central Valley's economy, writing, "Not only do the proposed tariffs fail to adequately remedy China's unfair practices, such tariffs seriously jeopardize our farmers' access to export markets, which accounts for roughly twenty percent of their production."[60]

In January 2017 Valadao introduced H.R. 299, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act, "to grant presumptive Agent Orange exposure status to U.S. service members who served in the territorial seas of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. This would enable eligible veterans to receive expedited consideration for Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits if they suffer from any of the diseases the U.S. Government has linked to Agent Orange." In August 2017 Valadao and Representative Joe Courtney sent a letter urging the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans have access to medical care from the VA.[61]