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Republican · 3 November 2026
David Valadao
U.S. Representative for California's 22nd congressional district (since 2023)
David Valadao, a Republican who has represented California's 22nd congressional district since 2023 after earlier terms in the 21st, faces Democrat Randy Villegas, a Visalia school board trustee, in the 2026 general election.
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- Born
- April 14, 1977
- Birthplace
- Hanford, California
- Education
- Hanford High School (1995)
College of the Sequoias (attended 1996 to 1998)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
David Valadao was born on April 14, 1977, in Hanford, California, to Portuguese immigrant parents, and his father grew up on the Azores Islands. He graduated from Hanford High School in 1995 and attended the College of the Sequoias in Visalia as a part-time student from 1996 to 1998.
His father had established a dairy farm in Kings County in 1969, and Valadao and his brother became partners in Valadao Dairy in 1992. He served on the California Milk Advisory Board and as Regional Leadership Council chairman for Land O' Lakes.
In June 2018 a bank seized Triple V Dairy, of which he was a general partner, after lawsuits over defaulted loans.
Career
Valadao entered elected office after the 2010 retirement of Republican assemblyman Danny Gilmore, defeating Shafter mayor Fran Florez with 61% of the vote and representing the 30th State Assembly district from 2010 to 2012.
He was elected to the U.S. House in 2012 for California's 21st congressional district and was reelected in 2014 and 2016, before losing to Democrat TJ Cox by 862 votes in 2018. He regained the seat in a 2020 rematch with Cox.
On January 13, 2021, he was one of ten Republicans who voted for the second impeachment of Donald Trump. After redistricting he won the 22nd district in 2022 and 2024, both times against Democrat Rudy Salas.
In the 118th Congress he served on the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on the Budget.
2026 race
David Valadao is the Republican incumbent in California's 22nd congressional district, which comprises part of the San Joaquin Valley, and was reelected with 53.4% of the vote in 2024. In the June 2026 top-two primary he finished first with 40.7% of the vote.
Democrat Randy Villegas, a Visalia school board trustee, placed second with 32.4%, and Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, also a Democrat, was eliminated after finishing third with 26.9%. Valadao faces Villegas in the general election on November 3, 2026.