Although the former president stayed out of the race, his name might as well have been the first words uttered by Chris Mathys, a conservative challenging Rep. David Valadao in the Republican primary in a U.S. House district in the Central Valley. “I will do everything in my power to defeat Congressman David Valadao, who voted to impeach President Trump,” says Mathys on his campaign website, while Valadao offers “strong, practical leadership in Congress” on his.
Valadao, a member of the House subcommittee overseeing USDA and FDA spending, was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021. “Unlike most of his GOP compatriots in the same situation, Valadao never attracted a high-profile Republican challenger,” said the analytics site FiveThirtyEight. Nor did Trump or his allies get involved.
The heavily Latino 22nd House District, stretching from Hanford to beyond Bakersfield, is regarded by political handicappers as a toss-up seat in the general election on Nov. 8. The primary on Tuesday could be “uncomfortably close” for Valadao, said a Politico newsletter on Monday. Seeking his fifth term, Valadao raised five times as much money as Mathys and spent 10 times as much through March according to Ballotpedia.
“But even without Trump’s support or the funds to run any TV ads, Republican Chris Mathys appears to pose a serious threat to Valadao,” said Politico. Mathys is a former city councilman from Fresno.
Comparatively few Californians voted early in the primary election — 15 percent statewide as of Monday, said a ballot tracking site run by PDI. An even smaller portion of voters, 9 percent, returned their ballots early in the 22nd House District. Turnout in California traditionally is light during mid-term election years. In 2018, 37 percent of California voters participated in the primary election; the figure was 25 percent in 2014.
“A combination of personal relationships, political realism and powerful allies has insulated Valadao from the worst of the impeachment vote fallout,” said the Los Angeles Times in late May, noting that “anger still simmers” in pockets. In an interview with the newspaper, Valadao, a dairy farmer, said, “I’d say the average voter — they’re just not paying attention to that (the impeachment vote) anymore. They’re sick of talking about it.”
Two national political groups poured money into advertising in the district in the final days before the primary because of the district’s potential impact on Republican and Democratic margins. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC supporting House Republicans, called Mathys “soft on crime.” A Democrat-oriented group, House Majority PAC, rans ads promoting state Assemblyman Rudy Salas, the only Democrat in the four-way race. Adam Medeiros is the third Republican on the ballot.
California runs a so-called jungle primary in which all candidates are on one slate and the top two finishers, who could be from the same party, advance to the general election. Voting hours on Tuesday were 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Pacific Time.
The top three issues on Mathys’s campaign site are socialism, immigration and gun rights. Valadao’s list of issues begins with agriculture and is followed by military veterans and water supplies.