|
KGET: “Recent reports are hinting Valadao may be at risk, with his 22nd congressional district now considered a toss-up by Cook Political Report.”
Valadao and his fellow vulnerable House Republicans in California are in serious jeopardy for enabling the far-fright fringes of their dysfunctional party in Congress, and Californians are hearing all about it.
On Friday, KGET 17 News in Bakersfield spoke with the chairwoman of the California GOP about the state’s electoral future — discussing both how vulnerable Republicans are trying to survive without Speaker McCarthy’s backing and the pitfalls of Representatives Kim, Steel, Garcia, Duarte, and Valadao voting to elevate far-right Speaker Mike Johnson — and conspiracy theorist Jim Jordan before him.
DCCC Spokesperson Dan Gottlieb:
“Actions speak louder than words, and California’s voters have taken note of the way their Republican representatives are enabling the extremists running their party while posturing as moderates at home. David Valadao is already feeling the heat as his district shifts into toss-up territory, and others will follow suit as their hypocrisy comes into focus.”
KGET 17 News (NBC Bakersfield): Insight from CA Republican Party’s chairwoman: Key Congressional races for 2024, future of McCarthy and more
Jenny Huh | November 3, 2023
-
The race to win big in the 2024 election cycle is well underway, especially right here in California.
-
KGET’s Jenny Huh spoke one-on-one with the chairwoman of the California Republican Party on what the GOP is gearing up for.
-
A big focus for both parties is retaining and gaining congressional seats, as Republicans try to keep their majority in the House of Representatives with an ousted Kevin McCarthy.
-
Currently, the GOP holds a 9-seat majority, five of which are key California districts the party picked up in the 2020 and 2022 election cycles.
-
And those five seats are eyed by both parties. For Democrats, they’re places President Biden won in 2020.
-
“We’re going to [try to keep the seats of] Congresswoman Young Kim, Congresswoman Michelle Park Steel, Congressman Mike Garcia, Congressman David Valadao and Congressman John Duarte,” said California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessia Millan Patterson.
-
But Democrats have been criticizing those five, saying they voted for far-right representatives Jim Jordan and Mike Johnson during the speaker elections.
-
In the mix are the Central Valley’s David Valadao and John Duarte.
-
Recent reports are hinting Valadao may be at risk, with his 22nd congressional district now considered a toss-up by Cook Political Report.
-
Valadao’s district, which includes parts of Kern County, is already primarily Democratic and Hispanic.
-
Dan Gottlieb of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) wrote in a newsletter Valadao is a “hypocrite whose convictions change at the whim of his party’s dysfunction.”
-
Valadao’s office declined to comment on whether his re-election campaign stands compromised, instead referring 17 News to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).
-
And with Kevin McCarthy’s fall from power, the California GOP may be in some tricky financial waters.
-
McCarthy has long been a prolific fundraiser for the party, at the state and national levels.
-
In 2022, he pulled in a minimum of $550,000 for the California GOP alone.
-
The GOP must now fundraise with new House Speaker Mike Johnson…the most inexperienced Speaker in modern history.
|
