Villegas, a progressive Democrat endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, defeated Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, a physician and more moderate Democrat who had support from state and national party leaders. His primary performance marked a significant upset in a Central Valley district long viewed as difficult terrain for Democrats.

With more than 32% of the vote in Tuesday’s top-two primary, Villegas secured a place on the general election ballot alongside Valadao, who had already advanced. Bains represents much of the congressional district in the state Legislature, but Villegas, a first-time congressional candidate, outpaced her despite the party establishment’s preference for a centrist contender.

The Bakersfield-centered 22nd District is considered one of the most important battlegrounds in the country as Democrats seek to regain control of the House. Valadao has repeatedly survived in a district where Democrats see an opportunity, making him one of California’s toughest Republican incumbents.

Villegas said in an interview with CalMatters that his campaign proved it could compete through field organizing, fundraising and voter outreach without accepting corporate political action committee money.

“It’s clear that voters are looking for change, and voters are looking for someone who’s actually going to represent the valley’s values and not somebody who’s going to continuously sell us out to corporate interests and to billionaire donors,” Villegas said. “This seat is not for sale.”

The primary became a test of competing Democratic strategies in a conservative-leaning district with a large working-class and Latino electorate. For years, Democrats have often favored moderate candidates in swing seats, arguing they are better positioned to appeal to independents and Republican-leaning voters.

That approach has not worked against Valadao in recent cycles. Former Assemblymember Rudy Salas, another moderate Central Valley Democrat, ran against Valadao in both 2022 and 2024 and lost both contests.

Villegas’ campaign leaned into economic populism, anti-corruption messaging and criticism of corporate influence in politics. He received support from the Working Families Party, a progressive organization that backs candidates and policies focused on working- and middle-class voters.

His win also came despite a major late campaign push against him. Federal campaign finance records show outside groups spent more than $2.2 million on anti-Villegas messaging in the final month. Those groups included the AIPAC-aligned Democratic Majority for Israel, super PACs tied to centrist House Democratic caucuses and the Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC aligned with House Republicans.

Kevin Liao, a Democratic strategist not involved in the race, said Villegas benefited from an energetic and accessible campaign, including town halls, forums and door-to-door canvassing.

“You’ve gotta get people motivated to show up and pull your lever, and that’s what he did,” Liao said.

Bains and Valadao both declined to debate Villegas, skipped candidate forums and did not participate in press interviews. Bains declined multiple interview requests from CalMatters and instead provided written statements through a spokesperson. Her campaign spokesperson did not respond to multiple calls and texts seeking comment for the story.

Liao said the outcome reflected a broader question for Democratic campaigns in competitive districts.

“Are you offering folks a sort of energetic, more ambitious vision for what government can offer? Or are you merely saying, ‘Hey, we have to win this seat and defeat a Republican’?” he said. “I think the voters, at least in that district, spoke pretty clearly.”

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which had endorsed Bains, moved quickly to support Villegas after the results, calling the November campaign “full steam ahead.”

Elsewhere in California’s congressional primaries, several key matchups also took shape.

In the San Diego-based 48th District, California’s only other toss-up congressional seat, Republican County Supervisor Jim Desmond will face Democratic San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert in November. Von Wilpert advanced over fellow Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, who had twice run against retiring Rep. Darrell Issa.

In San Francisco, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will not appear on the November ballot after more than two decades in Congress. Her preferred successor, San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, will compete against state Sen. Scott Wiener for the heavily Democratic seat.

The results were mixed for younger candidates who campaigned on generational change.

In the affluent northwest suburbs of Los Angeles, Democratic challenger Jake Levine fell short in his effort to take on longtime Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman, who has represented the area for nearly 30 years. Based on votes counted so far, Levine received about 15% of the vote. The liberal 32nd District is expected to feature a general election matchup between Sherman and Republican Larry Thompson.

In Northern California wine country, Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson easily advanced to the November ballot, though his opponent remained undecided. He will face either Democrat Eric Jones, a young former venture capitalist, or Republican Ray Rihele.

In the Sacramento suburbs, Rep. Kevin Kiley, who left the Republican Party to run as an independent, will face former Democratic state Sen. Dr. Richard Pan, according to The Associated Press.

In Sacramento, Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui will face progressive City Councilwoman Mai Vang, a younger challenger backed by the Working Families Party. The Associated Press called the race for Matsui on election night, but as additional ballots were counted in the following week, Vang moved ahead as the top vote-getter.

Original source: CalMatters

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But the party’s move to intervene in the Democratic primary has inflamed tensions among local activists and county party leaders, who say Washington leaders had promised to stay out of the race.

Two Democrats are competing for the chance to challenge Republican Rep. David Valadao, whose seat has become even more important to Democrats after court rulings complicated the party’s redistricting strategy. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently endorsed state Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, a moderate Democrat from Delano, over Randy Villegas, a progressive college professor from Visalia.

The decision came after the DCCC had previously indicated it would not take sides in the primary unless there was a risk that two Republicans could advance to November. Under California’s top-two primary system, the two candidates with the most votes move on to the general election regardless of party.

“They lied to all of us,” said Christian Romo, chair of the Kern County Democratic Central Committee. Romo said DCCC staff repeatedly assured him the national organization would not get involved in the primary.

Romo and Democratic leaders in Tulare, Fresno and Kings counties have endorsed Villegas. They publicly criticized the DCCC’s decision to place Bains on its list of targeted, winnable races, saying the national party was overriding local Democrats and state party activists who had been unable to agree on an endorsement earlier this year.

“It is a slap in the face to the local parties,” Romo said.

The dispute reflects a broader fight within the Democratic Party over what kind of candidate is best positioned to win in a working-class, heavily Latino district that still leans conservative in many elections. The contest has become a local version of the national power struggle between centrist Democrats and progressive populists.

After redistricting, Democrats hold a narrow registration advantage in the district, with 42% of voters. Republicans make up 26%, while 22% are registered with no party preference, according to the California Target Book.

The DCCC’s involvement underscores the national party’s longstanding caution about backing candidates like Villegas, who has support from prominent progressives and organizations including the Working Families Party, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Bains’ supporters argue she is the stronger general election candidate, pointing to her background as a physician and the district’s reliance on Medicaid, which Valadao voted to cut. They also cite her willingness to break with Democratic leadership in Sacramento.

“Even though she is a Democrat, she is not afraid. She does not necessarily have to vote the party line,” said Mario Nunez, Delano’s interim mayor and an independent voter who supports Bains. “She will vote against the party line if that is what benefits her district.”

Bains has drawn support from major establishment forces in Sacramento and Washington, including SEIU California, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Democratic legislative leaders. Her addition to the DCCC’s list gives her campaign access to the committee’s fundraising network, polling and staff support.

“This race is too important” for the DCCC to sit out, committee chair Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington said in a recent interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” DelBene said the committee intervenes in primaries only when it believes one candidate is clearly the strongest choice for the general election.

A DCCC spokesperson declined CalMatters’ request for an interview with a committee representative.

Villegas’ campaign has seized on the national party’s involvement as evidence that Democratic elites are out of touch with working people and are using their power to protect establishment-backed candidates.

“What the ruling class is doing right now is a clear sign that they do not believe my opponent can win this race on her own, so they are trying to step in at the last minute to save her,” Villegas said in an interview with CalMatters.

Jesse Aguilar, a Villegas supporter and board member of the California Teachers Association, said he felt “betrayed” by the national party’s decision to intervene rather than allow voters in the 22nd District to choose the Democratic standard-bearer. The teachers association has endorsed Villegas.

The California Democratic Party, which is separate from the DCCC, did not endorse either candidate in the district at its February convention.

The two Democrats are nearly even in fundraising. Bains has raised about $700,000, while Villegas has raised $718,000, according to the latest federal filings. Villegas has pledged not to accept corporate PAC money and says he has outraised Bains in multiple quarters through grassroots donations. His recent major contributors include Jane Fonda’s Climate PAC and the Latino Victory Fund.

Bains’ recent donors include groups representing health care professionals, including political action committees for anesthesiologists and obstetricians and gynecologists. She also has received support from labor groups such as the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California and the California Conference of Carpenters, as well as several California elected officials.

The race has divided major newspaper editorial boards in the district. The Fresno Bee endorsed Villegas, while The Bakersfield Californian urged readers to support Bains.

The advertising war has grown increasingly harsh.

The progressive Working Families Party has spent $150,000 on digital ads portraying Bains as tied to large corporations and highlighting donations from some of the same wealthy donors supporting Valadao.

“Bains took big money from Big Pharma and health care corporations, thousands from polluters, and skipped a vote to extend our health coverage,” one ad paid for by the Working Families Party PAC says.

Bains’ campaign declined a request to interview the assemblymember. In a statement, the campaign said she has “earned the trust of Valley families by delivering results” and has “deep support from people here who know and trust my record.”

A pro-Bains group, Democratic Majority for Israel, whose positions align with AIPAC, launched $500,000 in ads attacking Villegas. The ads accuse him of voting to cover up child sexual abuse while serving on the Visalia school board, an argument the Bains campaign encouraged outside donors to emphasize. The ad cites a Los Angeles Times investigation that found more than 750 lawsuits and settlements stemming from a state law that expanded the ability of school sexual abuse survivors to sue school districts.

Israel has become a dividing line in Democratic primaries in California and across the country, as progressive candidates such as Villegas distance themselves from AIPAC and aligned groups. Villegas has said that, if elected, he would vote against sending additional weapons or military aid to Israel. Bains, who is backed by Democratic Majority for Israel, appeared to privately describe the situation in Gaza as a “genocide,” but later walked back those remarks in a statement to Politico.

“I use the word genocide with caution and do not believe it applies to Israel,” she told Politico.

Villegas called the ads against him “disgusting and pathetic” and accused Bains’ supporters of exploiting the pain and trauma of survivors for political gain. He said he supports survivors’ right to seek justice and argued that confidential legal matters, including settlements in sexual abuse cases, would not be discussed or debated in open session at a school board meeting.

“Nothing in these settlements prevents these people from speaking out and sharing their stories,” Villegas said. “These settlements allow these people and their families to get justice on their own terms, and I will continue to fight every day for all of our students.”

Republican-aligned groups have also waded into competitive districts with advertising strategies aimed at shaping Democratic primaries. Federal filings show that the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House Republican leadership, has spent nearly $72,000 on mailers attacking Villegas as a “left-wing progressive” and “too extreme for the Central Valley.”

The tactic, often used by both parties, can raise a candidate’s name recognition even through negative advertising, with the potential to energize progressive Democrats and Villegas supporters ahead of the primary.

Original source: CalMatters

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Dr. Jasmeet Bains, a Bakersfield assemblymember, hopes to harness voter outrage at Valadao’s decision to support President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill, which experts say could strip health insurance from millions of low-income Californians. Nearly 290,000 residents in his own district are at risk of losing coverage, according to the California Budget and Policy Center.

“That vote was really a betrayal,” Bains said in an interview with CalMatters. “I did not envision ever running for Congress. But this is a matter of a doctor upholding her Hippocratic Oath that she took to protect her patients.”

Valadao, who has represented the Central Valley in Congress for 10 of the last 12 years, repeatedly asserted this year that he would not support any measure that would harm recipients of Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income patients and those with disabilities. He even released a statement a week before the vote indicating he would move to block the U.S. Senate’s version of the bill if it came back to the House. 

Yet on July 2, and each time the bill came before him, Valadao cast an “aye” vote. More than two-thirds of the residents in Valadao’s Central Valley district, which includes parts of King’s, Tulare and Kern Counties, rely on Medi-Cal for their health insurance.

Bains, a moderate Democrat known for sometimes opposing her own party in the Legislature, has for months dropped strong hints that she might take on the five-term congressmember in the swing district. In May, she starred in an ad campaign funded by SEIU California that urged viewers to call Valadao and tell him to vote against the GOP megabill. And political insiders interpreted a social media post shortly after the House sent the bill to Trump as an inevitable sign that she would jump into the race. 

“My community overwhelmingly elected me to office to fight for them because they know I am not afraid to go to any length to protect them,” Bains wrote on X the day after the megabill passed. “It might be time to call in the doctor!”

She joins Randy Villegas, a Visalia school board trustee and college professor, as the only two declared challengers in the race so far. Former Assemblymember Rudy Salas, who ran and lost against Valadao in 2022 and 2024, filed paperwork to run in 2026, although he has not announced his candidacy and his campaign raised less than $60 in the most recent quarter. Clovis Democrat Eric Garcia, a disabled Marine veteran whose three previous runs ended with losses in the primary, also filed a statement of candidacy on Tuesday.

Bains said several patients at her family clinic have encouraged her to run to “do something” about the rising costs of health care and the lack of access to physicians. In the Assembly, she spearheaded an effort to bring a University of California medical campus to her district. She secured $8 million in state funding for a local task force to combat the spread of fentanyl, a cause she has championed as a doctor specializing in addiction treatment. 

All eyes are on Valadao’s seat

Valadao has only lost his seat once, as part of the 2018 “blue wave” where Democrats rode a wave of voter discontent with the first Trump administration to reclaim control of the House, highlighting the GOP’s botched effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. 

After the vote, he defended his support for the megabill as “not an easy decision” and said he still had concerns about how certain aspects would be implemented. 

“Ultimately, I voted for this bill because it does preserve the Medicaid program for its intended recipients – children, pregnant women, the disabled, and elderly,” Valadao wrote. “No piece of legislation is perfect.” 

Christian Martinez, spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, wrote in a statement that Bains was a “radical Democrat” and that Californians “deserve better.”

Since first winning her Assembly seat in 2022, Bains has earned a reputation as a moderate who frequently breaks ranks with her party. She was the lone Democrat to vote against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to penalize oil companies that exceed a certain profit margin set by state regulators. As punishment, former Speaker Anthony Rendon temporarily stripped Bains of her post on the Business and Professions Committee, a desirable committee. 

“My constituents have seen me take on my party when it comes to having their back,” Bains said, emphasizing that she often pushes back on issues of affordability. “I could not believe that there was someone that was representing this district that could not do the same.”

The daughter of Indian immigrants, Bains grew up in Delano and returned to the Central Valley after graduating from the Illinois Institute of Technology. As the Great Recession hit and friends and neighbors lost their jobs and health care, Bains quit her job at her father’s Chevrolet dealership in Taft to pursue medical school in Antigua. 

She returned to Kern County for her residency and still sees patients on the weekends. In April she showed up to a Business and Professions Committee hearing dressed in scrubs after working a late night at the clinic.  

Before she has the chance to take on Valadao though, both will need to prevail in the June primary. 

‘I hoped we would have just one candidate’

Villegas leans further left than Bains and has aligned himself with the Working Families Party. While he has resisted the label of “progressive” in favor of “economic populist,” some strategists fear he might be too liberal for the Central Valley. Since launching his campaign in mid-April, Villegas has so far raised more than $230,000.

Local Democratic leaders have said Bains will likely be the front runner to challenge Valadao, given her name recognition as an assemblymember and doctor in an election cycle that will likely be dominated by health care. 

But the local Democratic Party chairs in Kern, Kings and Tulare caution that Bains is in no way a shoo-in, especially since she has positioned herself as a political outsider who bucks party leadership. 

Cathleen Jorgensen, who chairs the Kings County Democrats, said she has not been contacted by Bains or her team, a “troubling” sign since Villegas has made himself widely available. Jorgensen said she wished the party could present a united front behind a single candidate from now through next November, rather than pit multiple contenders against each other in a primary. 

“I’m concerned that it might become negative,” said Jorgensen, who has been impressed with Villegas. “I really had hoped that maybe we would have just one candidate.”

Christian Romo, chair of the Kern County Democrats, warned that while health care might be the current hot political topic, much could change between now and June 2. Running as a single-issue candidate, as Bains plans to do, is a risky bet and will require that voters remember Valadao’s vote for the megabill. That could be challenging, especially since the most severe changes to Medi-Cal won’t happen until after November 2026. 

“If we don’t keep that momentum, if we don’t keep reminding people that you’re going to lose health insurance, you’re going to lose your food assistance, you’re going to lose your veterans’ benefits and services that we desperately depend on,” Romo said, “then I don’t see us winning.”

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