Valadao ousted in blue wave, redrawn boundaries
Running for his seventh term to represent Central Valley residents in Congress, incumbent Republican David Valadao was handily swept out of office November 3, caught up in a nationwide “blue wave” tide-changing vote this week. Valadao lost to college professor and Democrat Randy Villegas by a two to one margin in this redrawn 22nd Congressional District.
In what was expected to be a close race, the winning margins were surprising with Villegas getting 54,337 votes vs 27,480 for Valadao districtwide.
The race between Valadao and Villegas had been rated as a “toss up” by the nonpartisan election website Cook Political Report.
Notably even in Kings County, a GOP stronghold that has never supported a Valadao opponent in each of his six races, the Hanford native ran out of luck this year. In Kings County Democrat Villegas got the support of 64% of voters to 36% for Valadao.By contrast Kings County in the last 6 races supported Valadao in each contest except this one.
Of course the 22nd district was redrawn by Democrats as a result of the California Prop 50 vote.The district now divides up Kings County and the county portion of the 22nd voter base is small. Valadao in Kings County got support from just 2257 voters to 4037 for Villegas.
If you wonder if Kings County is going “blue” – in general voter registration figures suggest no – as the percent of Democrats in the county has actually shrunk slightly since 2020.
But Kings County,as a result of the redrawn 22nd District boundaries, plays a much smaller role in the vote totals.The 22nd had 33,400 voters from Kings County within the 2024 boundary but in 2026 – after the redraw – Kings contributed just 16,000 voters, half the number.
Districtwide, the 22nd registration lists Democrats at 136 thousand in 2026 compared to 130 thousand in 2024. Meanwhile, GOP voters shrunk to 82 thousand from 88 thousand in 2024. So Dems enjoy a larger majority this round.
This time,Valadao lost in each county in the district except for Madera. The 22st district was redrawn to include the Hwy 99 corridor in Kern County where the largest voter base is. In Kern, Villegas received 69% of the vote with 34,267 votes compared to 15,437 for Valadao.The redrawn district now includes the east side of Bakersfield; the west and south sides of Tulare, the south side of Hanford; and all of Porterville, Lindsay, Shafter,Wasco, Delano, McFarland, Arvin, Lamont, and Corcoran.
The 22nd district is heavily Hispanic – 73% of all voters within its multi-county boundaries. With Medicaid enrollment of 68%, it is the highest rate represented by a Republican. The healthcare issue loomed large with Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill reducing benefits for enrollees and the hospitals and clinics that care for them.Valadao voted in favor of the bill. Now the new Dem majority in Washington is likely to roll back those cuts.
Nationwide, a key factor in the blue wave was the strong anti-Trump vote by Hispanics upset over the president’s policies on healthcare and his vigourous immigration enforcement.
“Mexican Americans draw the line if they go after my abuelita” one activist has noted.Also, the increase in cost of living expenses under President Trump appeared to unify critics.
First elected to Congress in 2012, David Valadao was born and raised in Hanford in the center of the agriculturally rich region. The Valadao family emigrated from the Azores Islands of Portugal to the US in 1969. After settling here Valadao’s father started a small dairy farm in the Central Valley in 1973. The family business now includes two dairies, as well as over 1,000 acres of farmland in Kings County, where his family grow almonds, corn, and wheat as dairy feed stock. He is active in the dairy industry, the region’s top crop.Valadao has maintained his status as a moderate even voting to impeach Trump after the Jan 6 attack,
Randy Villegas is a COS college professor and community organizer.He is also on the Visalia Unified School District board and owns a car repair business.In his ads he is seen changing an oil filter under a car emphasizing his working man credentials.Randy lives in Visalia.
In a statement, Villegas’ campaign said he was “running for Congress to stand up for hard working families who are working hard but falling through the cracks, struggling to find jobs that pay a living wage and afford health care costs. Because he understands what it’s like to be a working person in California’s Central Valley, he’ll fight for a more just economy, where everyone who can afford to feed their family, have a safe place to live, save for the future, and get the health care they need without going bankrupt.”
Like other highly contested races across the country, Valadao negative ads focused on Villegas as a “socialist radical” and criticized him for a school employee sex case settled by the school district.
Villegas concentrated his ads on lifting his profile as a working man’s candidate and as a progressive voiced his support for Medicare for All campaigning alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders. He vigorously criticized ICE and raids on farmworkers, an issue farmers share concern over.