HANFORD, Calif. – One of the country’s most competitive primary races for Congress this year is a swing district in Central California, where Democrats are hoping to flip a seat long held by Republican David Valadao.
District 22, which stretches across parts of four counties in California’s rural and agricultural Central Valley, is politically purple. Even though Democratic voters have held a slight majority in this district for many years, Valadao has won six of the last seven congressional elections here.
But statewide redistricting last year, which rewrote California’s congressional district maps, is expected to have made this district even more favorable for Democrats. And with less than a week until the primary on June 2, the party’s two candidates are competing for who can appeal to the most voters – as the national Democratic party contemplates its own identity.
One of those candidates is Randy Villegas, a political science professor at a local community college – College of the Sequoias – and an elected trustee of the Visalia Unified School District.
On a recent night canvassing in the Kings County town of Hanford, Villegas’s messages advocating for universal healthcare and suspending federal gas taxes seemed to resonate with voters. When he asked them if he could count on their votes, many said yes – and some even said they had already voted for him before submitting their ballots early.
On the trail, Villegas says he refuses to accept campaign contributions from political action committees (PACs) funded by corporations.
“I'm proud to be the only candidate in this race that has never touched a corporate PAC check, and I never will, because I want to be committed to our communities and not corporate interests,” he said.
If elected, he says his focus would be on supporting those he says have been ignored by Washington.
“This isn't a fight about left versus right. It's a fight about bottom versus top, and working families who've been left behind by politicians in both parties,” he said.
This type of messaging is gaining popularity among Democratic primary voters across the country as they become increasingly frustrated with not just the Trump Administration, but also the Democratic establishment.
And it’s part of the reason Villegas earned endorsements from Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who are supporting other Democratic candidates around the country as well.
California state Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains is also running for the Democratic nomination in District 22. She represents part of this district in the state legislature and is also a family doctor.
“It’s time we elect the physician to Congress,” she said.
In Sacramento, Bains has voted for Democratic priorities like access to abortion rights and public school funding. But she also bucked her party on some prominent issues, including by voting against Democratic redistricting and a legislative effort to restrict oil industry profits.
She says she listens to her constituents, many of whom voted for President Trump.
“The people that represent the Valley understand the importance of standing up for the Valley, not their party,” she said.
One thing she and Villegas have in common is that they both scold Valadao for his 2025 vote to slash Medicaid funding through the One Big Beautiful Bill, even though his district has one of the highest Medicaid enrollments in the country.
“Him and the Republicans are trying to gaslight us into thinking, ‘oh, this isn't going to impact you.’ No, sir, it is impacting us. It's already impacting us,” she said.
Although Bains doesn’t always align herself with her party, she’s been endorsed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).
Democratic strategist Andrew Godinich says he understands why the party’s establishment supports her: In 2024, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris lost in Bains’ district, and yet Bains won – by a long shot. Harris earned 49% of votes, while Bains earned nearly 58% of votes – nearly 9 percentage points higher.
“When you have a candidate who has shown they have an affinity with the independent voters and Democrats who have been turned off by what they’re seeing from Democrats in Washington, it's important to give that candidate the resources and the backing to win,” he said.
After all, he stressed, the party’s main goal is winning back the House this November.
But they’re also working out disagreements within their own party.
“I think the Democratic Party is in a difficult position right now nationally, because their brand is quite unpopular among voters,” said Erin Covey, House Editor with the non-partisan Cook Political Report.
“The schism between these two candidates is emblematic of what is happening with the Democratic Party at the national level, where there is this tug of war for the identity of the party,” agreed Ivy Cargile, a political science professor at California State University, Bakersfield.
In District 22, both Democrats are tugging hard, knocking on thousands of doors.
But at least four recent candidate debates turned into one-on-one discussions when Villegas was the only candidate who agreed to participate.
As for why, Valadao’s team declined to answer questions for this story.
Bains replied to say she’ll only debate candidates who live in the district. She argues both her opponents’ homes are no longer within the district following recent redistricting – a fact confirmed by Villegas’s spokesperson but not by Valadao’s.
Living outside the district is legal, however, for both congressional candidates and members of Congress.
Here in California, the top two vote-getters in a primary advance to the general election, regardless of party.
Valadao will likely secure one of those spots. The other will be decided next week in a primary that will be closely watched around the country.
“This is definitely at the top of my races to watch on June 2,” Covey said. “This is going to be one of the races that ultimately decides control of the House in November.”
