A bitter slugfest in the Central Valley reveals divisions in the Democratic Party

BAKERSFIELD – The Southern Central Valley is home to one of California’s few remaining battleground states, where Democrats are seeking to unseat longtime Republican incumbent David Valadao.

Last year’s voter-approved Proposition 50 redrew the lines of this predominantly Latino district in favor of Democrats. Two top Democrats are arguing over who is best to face Valadao (R-Hanford) in November.

Valadao is especially vulnerable after voting last year to cut Medicaid spending, a vital resource for many in this poor, rural area. Two-thirds of the state’s residents are enrolled in a subsidized health insurance plan, and more than 60,000 are expected to lose coverage when work requirements and other federal laws go into effect next year.

The Democratic National debate has overshadowed the ongoing midterm primary race since the House Democrats’ campaign backed one candidate, Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains (D-Delano), over Randy Villegas, a school board trustee backed by progressives including Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.).

The race was already heating up when the Democratic DRM Campaign Committee added Bains, a family physician and two-term congresswoman, to its “Red to Blue” program, which provides staff and financial support to Democrats running against vulnerable Republicans. Local party leaders said they received assurances from the National Democrats that they would not enter the race, which further angered Villegas and his supporters.

“This is another example of why people’s faith in the Democratic Party and the leadership of the party is very low,” Villegas said in an interview with The Times. “In many ways, it’s a badge of honor not to be a candidate and to say that I’m going to fight for the members of the community here and not the DC elite.”

The chairman of the DCCC, Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, cited Bains’ background as a family physician and his record in the Legislature fighting to expand access to health care.

Randy Villegas, who is running for California’s 22nd Congressional District, said his campaign manager wants him to post pictures of himself on social media while walking neighborhoods in Bakersfield.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

“We only focus on primaries where we feel that one candidate is the strongest candidate to ensure that we win the general election,” DelBene said in a recent interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “This is a state that has been devastated by declining health care, a large Medicaid population, so he’s an amazing person and can talk about the issues that need to be addressed in health care.”

For Democrats, the outcome of the primary could have national significance. With President Trump’s popularity at an all-time low across the country – and especially in California – the party hopes to gain enough seats in the 2026 election to oust the Republicans from power in the US House of Representatives.

Valadao, who was first elected to Congress in 2012, has been a target for Democrats, who have held significant enrollment in his district. A moderate Republican, Valadao has emphasized his support for immigration reform, from his own party. Still, Democrats ousted Valadao in the 2018 blue wave, only to win the seat again in 2020 and remain in office ever since.

Both Villegas and Bains touted themselves as the Democrats’ best option to unseat Valadao again.

Villegas, the son of Mexican immigrants, has been endorsed by the House Hispanic and progressive caucuses and has painted Bains as a corporate-backed candidate who will bend to special interests.

Jasmeet Bains, running for California’s 22nd District, speaks with Mary Jimenez during a campaign tour in Bakersfield.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

“We can’t just show that we are not Trump. The Democratic Party actually needs to stand for something,” he said. “To me that means fighting for universal health care, education for children, banning members of Congress from trading stocks, defunding PACs. Those things would make the Democratic leadership uncomfortable, and I’m fine with that.”

Bains is campaigning on his experience as a doctor in a region known for its negative environmental and health impacts. After medical school, he returned to Kern County, where he completed his residency and continued to work in clinics serving primarily low-income patients in the county.

He decided to run for the seat after Valadao voted for HR 1, the Republican spending bill that Trump signed into law last year that cuts nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid funding to pay for tax cuts, which Bains described as “a betrayal.”

“In the valley, your word is your bond,” he said in a phone interview as he drove the 250 miles from his district to the state Capitol in Sacramento. “In the beginning, he kept telling everyone that he would not vote for it, and I took what he said.”

Jasmeet Bains brings Chiquita, 8 months old, as she campaigns in the Bakersfield area.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Bains is the daughter of Indian immigrants and was the first South Asian woman elected to the California Legislature. He continues to work weekend shifts at the Delano clinic.

“I thought the health disparity of people who lost their private insurance and had to be transferred to Medicaid” was terrible, Bains said. “With a trillion dollars cut from Medicaid federally, I am now in a position where I am transferring my patients from Medicaid to nothing. The problem in the health care Valley has gotten worse and worse.”

It’s a reason labor unions including SEIU Local 521, which represents workers in the public, nonprofit and health care sectors in Kern and other counties around the state, are supporting Bains.

“Within my union, the members I represent in Kern County, in some ZIP Codes live 15 years less than union members who live in Monterey County, which is a very similar community” with rural agriculture interests, said Riko Mendez, the chief elected official.

He said Bains understands the region’s unique health challenges and has used his position in the Legislature to address them, including seeking funding to research and treat valley fever, a disease caused by a fungus in the region’s soil.

“We think that his experience, his profile, his message is the one that we agree with, and that has the best chance of winning in the match against Valadao,” he said.

Bains’ time commitments in Sacramento and working at a clinic leave him little time for traditional door-to-door campaigning and public appearances. Some voters who supported Villegas noticed.

Randy Villegas takes a phone call from the shadows while walking through the Bakersfield neighborhood.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

“For us, showing up is one of the most important things, and she’s the only person who’s been doing that consistently,” said 18-year-old Vanessa Orozco Romero after a recent candidate forum in Bakersfield. Although nearly a dozen people from different offices were invited, Villegas and two other Democrats running for legislative seats were the only ones present.

Orozco Romero called the DCCC’s decision to support Bains “stupid and immoral,” especially since none of the candidates received enough delegate support to win the state party’s endorsement earlier this year.

Bains and Villegas have similar backgrounds as children of immigrants growing up in the south Central Valley. Although they both went on to earn advanced degrees, each stood by staying in Kern County to improve the lives of its residents.

The region is centered on the east side of Bakersfield, home to California’s once prosperous oil fields, and extends northward toward Fresno to include dozens of agricultural areas and small farming towns.

Although there are more than twice as many registered Democrats in the district as Republicans, Democratic candidates tend to underperform in the Central Valley and independent voters play an important role in choosing the winners. Even under Proposition 50’s new lines in favor of Democrats, President Trump would have beaten former Vice President Kamala Harris by nearly 2 points.

Although nearly two-thirds of voters in the district are Latino, turnout tends to be lower among Spanish-speaking voters who are often dissuaded by negative attack ads, Democratic activists say.

Save for the 2018 midterms during Trump’s first term, Valadao, a dairy farmer, frustrated Democrats by continuing to win enough independents to hold on to the seat. Although the three candidates are competing in an open primary, Valadao is expected to advance to the general election as the longtime incumbent and the only Republican on the ballot.

“As he has done in every primary election, Congressman Valadao is working hard to get the vote of all Democrats, Independents, and Republicans,” Robert Jones, Valadao’s campaign adviser, wrote in an email. “We hope that the voters of the Central Valley will send two candidates to the general election in November.”