|
“California’s 22nd Congressional District offers Democrats one of the best pickup opportunities in the country. Rep. David Valadao has made that even easier by siding with MAGA Republicans to attack reproductive rights, slash health care and raise taxes on middle-class families. In contrast, Rudy Salas has delivered for Central Valley families: cutting costs, expanding health care and enhancing public safety. Central Valley families deserve a middle-class champion like Rudy Salas in Congress.” – DCCC Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney
—
To: Interested Parties
From: Maddy Mundy, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: June 24th, 2022
Subject: The Case Against David Valadao
Over two weeks after the California primary, embattled Republican David Valadao has finally advanced to the general election in CA-22.
Throughout his tenure as a Central Valley representative, David Valadao failed his constituents. David Valadao masquerades as a moderate – he is not. Time and time again, Valadao toed the party line in supporting a dangerous MAGA agenda to raise taxes on working families and threaten lifesaving programs like Social Security and Medicare.
David Valadao has waged war against his constituents’ access to affordable health care, voting to rip health care away from more than 60,000 of his own constituents. This year, as Central Valley residents struggled with the rising costs of inflation, Valadao did nothing, voting against capping the cost of insulin and refusing to direct funds to address the baby formula shortage. Such cruel votes come as no surprise – Valadao has been voting against the interests of working families since he got to Congress.
In 2022, Assemblyman Salas is the best chance Central Valley families have for substantive representation. In this largely Latino district, Rudy Salas represents an opportunity to send the first Latino representative from the Central Valley to Congress. Rudy has previously broken ceilings as an Assemblyman and the first Latino Bakersfield City Councilmember in its 112-year history. He is now running for Congress to give the residents of CA-22 the voice in Washington they deserve.
Rudy worked his way from laboring in the fields of the Central Valley with his father, to graduating from UCLA, to city council. In contrast to David Valadao’s radical voting record, Assemblyman Rudy Salas has a five year record of delivering for Central Valley families in the state legislature, where he fought for more public safety funding, clean water infrastructure, support for small businesses, expanding workforce development programs, and expanding veterans’ and workers’ rights.
As a legislator, Salas has cut costs and raised wages for working families. He has been a bipartisan problem solver in the Assembly – and unlike his opponent David Valadao, who voted with his radical party 98% of the time, Rudy Salas is unafraid to break from his party when it comes to doing what is right for the Central Valley. That’s why he was the only Democrat in the California Assembly to vote against raising the gas tax.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
The Bakersfield Californian: Candidates Color Outside Partisan Lines in Purple District [May 14th, 2022]
“’It’s about making a difference and making a real difference for families born and raised here in the valley, and it’s really about delivering,’ Salas said, mentioning a number of programs he helped bring to Kern from Sacramento, including millions for the Valley Fever Institute, COVID-19 support and legislation that helped save Kern Medical, by creating a hospital authority. ‘I think that’s what I can do for the congressional district.’”
Politico: Democrats’ chance to save the House majority runs through these districts [May 9, 2022]
“The California state legislator grew up working summers in the grape fields and eventually became the first Latino on the Bakersfield City Council before moving on to the state Assembly. He was Democrats’ dream recruit to run in California’s Central Valley, and this election, he finally agreed — just when the party might need him most.
“If House Democrats have any hope of saving their flimsy majority in 2022, or even just limiting GOP gains, it will be thanks to candidates like Salas. He is part of a group aiming to win roughly a dozen Republican-held House seats that Joe Biden carried in 2020 — perhaps the only GOP districts that are truly vulnerable this fall.”
The Bakersfield Californian: Letter to the editor: Vote on insulin costs [April 14, 2022]
“I am completely outraged at Rep. David Valadao’s recent vote not to cap the cost of insulin. Here was a chance to stand up for patients in Kern County, an area where, sadly, we are not the healthiest population.
“Instead of supporting a bill to keep medical costs at a reasonable level, the congressman chose to side with big insurance companies and drug makers. Do they not have enough money? Do they need us to continue making the difficult choice between medications, rent, food and gas? Rep. David Valadao showed once again that he’s not fighting for the working Californians of his district.”
The Fresno Bee: This Republican voted to impeach in 2021. He’s still getting campaign cash from Trump backers [February 7, 2022]
“From taking money from politicians who want to throw out election results, to his dangerous attacks on Social Security and Medicare, it is clear David Valadao has abandoned the Central Valley for his party’s extremism”
Sacramento Bee: Assembly Democrat stripped of committee chairmanship after voting against gas tax increase [April 18, 2017]
“Salas, one of the more centrist Democrats in the Assembly, was the sole member of his caucus to vote against Senate Bill 1, which will increase the gas tax and add a new vehicle registration fee to pay for road repairs, public transit and other projects.”
HIDING MAGA VOTES WITH A ‘MODERATE’ VENEER
Though David Valadao has twisted himself in knots to present himself as a moderate to his deeply purple district, Valadao voted in lock step with his party some 98 percent of the time. Valadao’s votes show a clear pattern of indifference for his district. His opposition to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, vote to raise taxes on Central Valley families while cutting Social Security and Medicare, and repeated attempts to block raising the minimum wage for California workers place Valadao in the tough position of explaining why he followed the agenda of his radical Republican party bosses at the expense of Central Valley families.
David Valadao is far from moderate on another important issue now facing California voters: access to abortion. A recent California statewide poll reveals Roe v. Wade is supported by Democrats, independents and Republicans; while experts predict reproductive rights will be a mobilizing factor among California swing voters this November.
Valadao is complicit in Republicans’ all-out assault on women’s freedoms and today’s devastating overturn of 50 years of legal precedent. Valadao sided with his radical party bosses and voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify Roe v. Wade. He even signed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to overturn Roe and Casey, co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act, and voted for a bill that would put doctors in jail for performing abortions.
Valadao has also faltered in the face of the gun violence epidemic gripping our country. In the wake of the Uvalde shooting and a mass shooting in his home state last month, Valadao’s opposition to common-sense gun violence reform is unconscionable. In 2021, Valadao voted against enhanced background checks. Valadao’s extreme MAGA votes are a slap in the face to his constituents who join the majority of Americans in calling for common sense gun control.
ATTACKING HEALTH CARE
Valadao has been actively working to raise the cost of health care since he got to Congress. In 2017, he voted to allow an age tax on older Californians that would charge them five times more for their health care. In 2019, he voted to rip health care away from more than 60,000 of his own constituents. He even voted against protecting paid sick leave.
When David Valadao had the chance to address skyrocketing prices and cap the cost of insulin for Central Valley families, he refused – voting in lockstep with his radical party. Meanwhile, Rudy Salas has proven his priorities – having voted to lower costs for prescription drugs and expand health care in the California Assembly. He will bring that record of cost-cutting to Washington.
PATH TO VICTORY
CA-22 offers Democrats one of the best pick-up opportunities in the country. In California’s 22nd Congressional District, Democrats hold an 18-point registration advantage over Republicans. The district is 69% Hispanic, making it the district with the highest Hispanic population in the state. President Biden won this district in 2020 with 56% of the major party vote, a 12-point margin, the second widest margin for any seat held by a congressional Republican in the state.
Assemblyman Rudy Salas’ bonafides in the Central Valley bolster Democrats’ chances of flipping this competitive seat from red to blue. California’s redistricting process has empowered California’s growing Latino communities within the electoral process to better ensure representatives reflect their lived experiences and values. In California’s 22nd District, where Latinos represent nearly 70% of the electorate, voters have the opportunity to send the first Latino from the Central Valley to Congress. Rudy Salas is a product of the Central Valley and is a proven champion of the cost-cutting policies needed in Washington.
This year, Politico wrote that if House Democrats hold onto the majority, it will be “thanks to candidates like Salas.” While Salas boasts a record of cutting costs and supporting public safety in the state legislature, David Valadao has voted with his MAGA party bosses to oppose the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and push tax raises and Social Security cuts on middle class families. That is why Central Valley voters will boot him out of office this November.
|
