News · Press Release

Noticias Telemundo: The Fight Over A Handful Of Republican Seats in Democratic States [Like California] Could Decide Who Controls The House

New reporting from Noticias Telemundo focused on the congressional races in California and New York that will be key to determining control of the House.

Noticias Telemundo highlights how House Democrats and our strong Democratic candidates in key races across California are working to reach Latino voters.

Noticias Telemundo: The fight over a handful of Republican seats in Democratic states could decide who controls the House 

  • Republicans are defending their narrow eight-seat majority (220 to 213). This includes 18 GOP-held seats that President Joe Biden won four years earlier, which excites Democratic leaders. For them it is an opportunity to regain control.

  • “We have strong candidates campaigning to flip seats in districts with large Latino populations in California and New York,” José Alonso Muñoz, Hispanic Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), told Noticias Telemundo. “Throughout this election cycle we have worked hard to connect with Latino voters, talking to them about the issues that matter most to their families and talking to them about the work Democrats have done to lower costs, expand health care and protect fundamental freedoms.”

  • Noticias Telemundo sought comment from the Republican National Committee and the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee but did not receive a response as of this writing.

  • On the other side of the country, in California, there are five contested seats currently held by Republicans and two seats classified as “leaning Democratic.”

  • Democrat Adam Gray faces Republican Rep. John Duarte for a seat in the Central Valley, a rematch of the race two years ago in District 13, which is at least 50% Latino and had voted Democratic from 1974 to 2022. when after a district redesign, the Republican won. And although Biden won here in the presidential election, Duarte defeated him by only 564 votes.

  • The DCCC announced that it invested $27 million in additional ads focused on flipping seats from Republicans, including $1.5 million for Spanish-language television ads, as well as radio ads, mostly in the 13th and 22nd districts.

  • In District 22, Republican Rep. David Valadao faces former Democratic Assemblyman Rudy Salas also in a 2022 rematch.

  • “There is no doubt that control of the House of Representatives passes through the Central Valley. That means that if we win here, we can take back the House and deliver real results for working families both in the Valley and across the country,” Salas told Noticias Telemundo in response to questions sent by email. “We have seen what Republican control of Congress has brought us. My opponent, Mr. Valadao, has repeatedly voted to raise costs and make life harder for Valley families. Latino families, in particular, have seen the extreme rhetoric coming from the other side in the form of ‘mass deportation now’ signs at the Republican National Convention and the rude rhetoric about Latinos from Trump and his delegates.”

  • Salas says that Latinos “are an essential part” of his campaign. “This is the most Latino district in California and is the home of César Chávez, Dolores Huerta and the farm workers movement. However, this region has never had a Latino representative in Congress,” said Salas, who was the first Latino elected to the Bakersfield City Council and now seeks to “make history again by becoming the first Latino congressman from the entire Central Valley.”

  • Three Southern California districts (the 27th, 41st and 47th, held by Republican Representatives Mike Garcia, Michele Steele and Ken Calvert) are considered undecided. Biden won all but the 41st, a Democratic-leaning Palm Springs district, in 2020.

  • [George] Whitesides seeks to unseat Mike Garcia in an area in northern Los Angeles County, from Santa Clarita to Lancaster and Palmdale, where Latinos are a major force, 43.5% of the population. “[Latinos] are a big part of our district and we have always focused the Latino community in our campaign because we knew they were going to be a very important part of the future,” said Whitesides, whose wife, Loretta Hidalgo, is of Cuban and Salvadoran descent.

  • “This is really one of the most important races in the entire country,” Whitesides said in an interview with Noticias Telemundo. “If we win four seats, assuming we keep all the others, we will take control of the House. And, you know, what’s really important about that is not so much the political party, but the solutions that we can offer the American public.”

###





Please make sure that the form field below is filled out correctly before submitting.