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“In his short tenure in public office, John Duarte has spent the taxpayers’ time appeasing and enabling his far-right friends at the expense of the Central Valley – all while advocating for his own shady business interests. By contrast, Adam Gray has spent years serving as a no-nonsense problem solver for families in the Central Valley – and he’s well-prepared to bring that record of service and bipartisanship to the halls of Congress,” said DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene.
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To: Interested Parties
From: Dan Gottlieb
Date: March 5, 2024
Subject: The Case Against John Duarte
In 2022, Freedom Caucus apologist and shady businessman John Duarte beat Adam Gray by just 564 votes, the second-closest margin in the nation. During his short stint in public office, Duarte has already become a part of the problem in Washington D.C. – aligning himself with the far-right of his party and using his public office to advocate for his own interests.
“As much as Duarte will try to present himself as a moderate,” the Sacramento Bee notes, “his voting record shows support for hard-right views and leaders.” In Congress, Duarte has supported gutting funding for veterans and seniors, voted to restrict a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions after promising voters during his campaign that he wouldn’t interfere, and put extremist politics over the interests of working people.
In his business dealings, he’s allegedly defrauded his customers and employees alike – accused of knowingly selling defective products, refusing to pay his workers, and having faced millions of dollars in lawsuits for dishonest, destructive business practices. That far-right, self-serving track record will come back to haunt Duarte in this Biden +10.8 district.
Adam Gray is a native son of the Valley – born and raised in Merced – so he understands firsthand the issues Central Valley voters care about. As a California Assemblymember, Adam fought against the state water grab, increased funding for public safety, wrote the bill to suspend the gas tax, and paved the way for rural health care expansion at UC Merced. His strong record is why law enforcement leaders and Republicans alike support Adam in his fight to keep our communities safe.
California’s 13th Congressional District is one of Democrats’ top pickup opportunities in the country, and Adam Gray is ready to give residents of the Central Valley the representation they deserve.
“I’M NOT THAT FAR FROM A LOT OF THESE FREEDOM CAUCUS GUYS” – DUARTE IS TOO EXTREME FOR VALLEY FAMILIES
During his time in office, Duarte has consistently bent to the will of his far-right boosters and put Central Valley families last, admitting he’s “not that far from a lot of these Freedom Caucus guys” – the most extreme members of the Republican Party. In fact, Duarte votes in lockstep with far-right MAGA extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene 79% of the time. Whether it’s voting to restrict a woman’s right to make her own reproductive health care decisions after promising not to, supporting gutting funding for veterans and seniors, or backing a drastic cut to programs for farmers and rural communities throughout the Central Valley, Duarte has turned his back on constituents.
Duarte has pushed a deeply out-of-touch agenda that endangers the needs of this district – and Central Valley families won’t forget.
DUARTE’S SHADY AND SELF-SERVING BUSINESS PRACTICES BLEED INTO PUBLIC OFFICE
Duarte hasn’t just gone back on his word to the Central Valley in DC; he also has a detailed record of self-serving, shady business practices. Before entering Congress, Duarte was accused of defrauding his customers and employees alike – allegedly selling defective products and refusing to pay his workers. Moreover, Duarte faced millions of dollars in lawsuits for his pattern of dishonest, destructive business practices – refusing to take responsibility for his actions and blaming anyone other than himself.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Duarte to start integrating those shady practices into his congressional agenda. Since entering office, Duarte has used his public office to undo environmental restrictions – the same restrictions that he violated by destroying wetlands in the Central Valley to benefit his private business – reminding voters that Congress is just another self-serving endeavor for this vulnerable freshman Republican.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“As much as Duarte will try to present himself as a moderate, his voting record shows support for hard-right views and leaders. The danger of authoritarianism by the Republican party only grows if Donald Trump wins the presidency. Duarte also has the distinction of being part of the majority party in the House that has accomplished little. Some critics call it the “new do-nothing Congress.” Gray is a thoughtful politician well suited for a district that votes neither red or blue, but purple. The Editorial Boards of the Fresno and Modesto Bees recommend Gray for Congressional District 13.” [Fresno Bee, 2/8/24]
KCRA: California’s John Duarte, Adam Gray prepare for high-stakes rematch in purple Congressional District 13. [KCRA, 2/23/24]
“The former State Assemblyman [Adam Gray] is vowing to actually find ways to work across the aisle in Congress to deliver resources to the Valley […] [He has a] reputation as a moderate Democrat who has been willing to work with Republicans, even in California’s Democratic supermajority legislature. He’s proud of the resources he secured for water and infrastructure projects in the Valley, which he said he’d push for more of in Congress. […] Gray also secured hundreds of millions of dollars to establish a brand new medical school at UC Merced as the Valley grapples with health care provider shortages.”
Fresno Bee: This Central Valley congressional district could be Democrats’ easiest California pickup. [Fresno Bee, 1/29/24]
“California’s 13th, which covers all of Merced County and parts of Madera, Stanislaus, Fresno and San Joaquin counties, has more registered Democrats than Republicans. Voters there picked President Joe Biden over former President Donald Trump by almost 11 percentage points in 2020. Candidates who pitch themselves as moderate tend to win over voters in the largely agricultural district.”
“‘I look at the other California Biden-won districts that Democrats are targeting and this one can be seen as among the most gettable,’ said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, which rates elections based on whether Democrats or Republicans are more likely to prevail.”
“As people start paying attention to race, they’re going to see that John Duarte is just a sympathizer with the extremists,” Gray said in an interview.
Business Insider: GOP congressman’s farm deceptively sold the wrong type of lemon tree, lawsuit claims. [Business Insider, 11/2/23]
“One of the most vulnerable House Republicans in the country is facing a new lawsuit over literally selling lemons. In a 12-page complaint filed on August 31, California citrus grower Ron Turner accused Rep. John Duarte’s family nursery of deceptively selling him the wrong type of lemon tree in 2015 when the congressman was the company president.”
“It’s not Duarte’s — or his nursery’s — first brush with controversy. In 2015, his nursery was sued by a group of pistachio growers who alleged he was selling pistachio tree rootstock afflicted with “bushy top syndrome,” a genetic mutation that causes the trees to have stunted growth. A judge has already ruled in favor of the growers, but the case remains ongoing, and the next phase is set to begin in 2024.”
HuffPost: He Paid $1 Million For Destroying Wetlands. Now He’s Fighting Clean Water Rules In Congress. [HuffPost, 2/8/23]
Modesto Bee: Pistachio growers sued Duarte Nursery over defective trees. Where does case stand? [Modesto Bee, 8/10/22]
“Duarte Nursery of Hughson stopped selling defective pistachio trees in 2014, but litigation over the matter goes on. Several plaintiffs claimed the nursery did not disclose a genetic disorder that caused more than half a million trees to grow poorly. The defendants include company President John Duarte, who is running for Congress in the Nov. 8 election. Judge John Freeland ruled in the growers’ favor in Stanislaus County Superior Court in March but has yet to hear arguments on monetary damages. The ruling cites at least $8.8 million in losses claimed by the growers.”
Los Angeles Times: Column: These California Republicans voted for Jim Jordan and against the good of the country. Remember their names. [Los Angeles Times, 10/17/23]
PATH TO VICTORY
As the Democratic nominee in California’s 13th Congressional District in 2022, Gray came within 564 votes of beating extremist John Duarte, and has consistently overperformed top-of-ticket Democrats in his races for the State Assembly. In 2020, President Biden won the district by 10.8% points, and Democrats continue to hold a 13+ point registration advantage over Republicans. Now that Duarte has a far-right voting record to match his shady business practices, Democrats have an even stronger message on the urgency of ousting Duarte from this Democratic-leaning district in 2024.
In the race to represent the Central Valley in California’s 13th, voters have an easy choice: Adam Gray doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk. He has a deep understanding of the issues that matter most to Valley families, and a long record of results to point to throughout his ten years in the state legislature. While extreme Republicans move in lockstep to ban abortion, enable useless culture wars, and compromise the needs of California families, Gray will cut through the nonsense to do what he’s always done – deliver results for the Valley. |
