MERCED, California — California Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) has had some close calls in his political career.
Two years ago, he won reelection in a hard-fought race that made him one of two House Republicans who supported the impeachment of President Donald Trump and still kept his seat.
Next year, he could be facing another uphill battle, only this time it would be because California Democrats put their thumb on the scale and redrew his district as part of a scheme to give Democrats the upper hand in the 2026 midterm elections.
Valadao, who represents California’s Central Valley and has roots as a dairy farmer, has called mid-decade redistricting despicable. He said he cannot support the statewide push to temporarily change the maps, nor the demand Trump has made of some red states to change their maps in favor of Republicans next year.
“I won’t defend any of it,” he told the Washington Examiner, before bashing Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) for leading California’s redistricting campaign. “Instead of being a leader and actually coming up with his own ideas, he’s taking someone else’s bad idea and running with it, using that as an excuse to do something that he knows his voters disagree with.”
Valadao’s district could be diluted if Californians vote in favor of Proposition 50 on Tuesday.
The ballot measure was triggered in response to Trump telling Texas legislators to change the state’s map to give Republicans a five-seat advantage in next year’s midterm elections. Since then, other GOP-led states, including Missouri, North Carolina, and Utah, have followed suit. There are a handful of others that have either started the process or indicated they were looking into redrawing their maps.
Unlike Texas, where state lawmakers have control over drawing the state’s congressional map, California’s process is more complicated. Its constitution requires that an independent redistricting commission draw the map and that voters approve any changes. That means even though the state legislature passed the proposed map, voters will decide on Tuesday whether it will be used for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 elections.
If voters greenlight it, it would put three Republican-held seats into safe Democratic hands and turn two others into those that lean Democratic. Specifically, the map would change districts held by Reps. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) and Kevin Kiley (R-CA) in Northern California. In Southern California, Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Ken Calvert (R-CA) would be at risk, and in the Central Valley, Valadao would have a harder time getting reelected if the map is passed. The new map would stretch Valadao’s district out almost twice as long to gain Democratic voters from neighboring counties.
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The Central Valley is home to a third of the state’s nine Republicans in Congress. It comprises a significant portion of California’s rich agricultural belt, and political experts said the region is a critical part of the Democrats’ plan to redistrict the state.
Farmers in the area, like Charles Meyer — who owns a 1,500-acre farm in Kings County and grows wheat, Pima cotton, alfalfa, pistachios, and almonds — are worried what could happen if they suddenly were at the mercy of regulation-happy representation. California Democrats have pushed a wave of environmental regulations that prioritize protecting air, water, and ecosystems. Those same regulations also restrict things like groundwater and fertilizer use, which farmers need to grow their crops.
“When [Democrats] gain power, negative things happen,” Meyer said.
Valadao said he hopes voters will recognize the real-world consequences of supporting Proposition 50, arguing the measure is less about improving life for Californians and more about giving Newsom a national platform to launch a 2028 presidential bid.
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“This is his way of getting on a national stage but why couldn’t he have just done a good job as a governor?” Valadao said. “That would have been helpful. Instead, he’s chosen to take the president on, but the reality is that if you want to show a better way of doing things, do a better job of running your state. Don’t run our prices on fuel up. Don’t run our electricity prices up. Don’t make it unsafe to live in our communities.”
Valadao added that “instead of doing his job as a governor and actually functioning as an adult, he’s chosen political fights. And this is not what the American people want. That’s not what California wants. It’s just such a horrible strategy.”