| A new profile on the race for California’s 22nd District highlights growing frustration among Central Valley voters struggling with rising costs, economic uncertainty, and David Valadao’s deciding vote to rip health care coverage away from nearly 70,000 of his own constituents.
From small business owners struggling to keep their doors open from tariff impacts, to longtime Valadao supporters – the Valley is ready for new leadership.
Among those turning away from Valadao are Jimmy Olea and his 87-year-old mother, Angelita, who relies on Medi-Cal. Both previously voted for Valadao, but say his health care vote cost him their support:
“You didn’t vote for our people on this issue, and you don’t represent us, so you have to find yourself another job,” Olea said of Valadao. “We have a saying in Mexico. You fight one bean, you fight the whole burrito.”
Read more in the Sacramento Bee:
- …Reuben Neri Cardenas swept the front of his Bakersfield business on an otherwise quiet downtown block. Inside, rows of fedora hats, lowrider bike accessories and ’90s retro clothing sat untouched. His clothing and accessory store, an ode to Chicano culture, had operated through online sales for more than two decades. Four years ago, Cardenas decided to rent out a modest storefront in downtown Bakersfield.
- Business boomed for the most part, he said. But in the last year and half, the national economic strife has plagued his store. His rent increased, tariffs made imported goods more expensive and customers are buying less. Cardenas estimated his sales have fallen about 70% since the summer of 2025.
- “If it continues, I have to think about closing down,” Cardenas, 51, said. Financial struggles have deepened Cardenas’ frustration with the country’s direction and elected leaders.
- Cardenas, a self-described independent who had backed both President Donald Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris in past elections, was among the nearly dozen Central Valley voters interviewed over the last few weeks who described feeling disillusioned with politics.
- National polls have shown widespread dissatisfaction with Trump’s handling of the war in Iran and rising gas prices.
- Valadao must also contend with his deciding vote for…the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed last year. The law is expected to cause tens of thousands of people in Valadao’s district to lose Medi-Cal coverage…
- “This is somebody who isn’t working for the Central Valley, but working for lobbyists with his billionaire donors, working for his corporate sponsors,” said Villegas, who often calls the legislation a “Big BS Bill.”
- Jimmy Olea, 66, and his 87-year-old mother, Angelita, are among the voters who say Valadao’s vote on the legislation cost him their support.
- Both are longtime residents of Corcoran, a small farming town in King County where campaign signs on front lawns appear to favor Villegas. Olea and his mother previously supported Valadao’s bids for Congress.
- But Olea said his mother is on Medi-Cal and is already struggling to “make ends meet.” “You didn’t vote for our people on this issue, and you don’t represent us, so you have to find yourself another job,” Olea said of Valadao. “We have a saying in Mexico. You fight one bean, you fight the whole burrito.”
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