Republican David Valadao voted to impeach Trump. Now he has a GOP challenger for 2022
The only California Republican who voted to impeach President Donald Trump earlier this month already has three challengers planning bids to unseat him next year, including a Republican who said he’s running because of the impeachment vote.
The early interest signals a tough reelection campaign for Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, who defeated Democratic Rep. TJ Cox in November to win a southern San Joaquin Valley district where Democrats outnumber Republicans.
Valadao was one of just 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the former president’s role in motivating the mob of his supporters that overwhelmed that U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as lawmakers met to certify President Joe Biden’s election.
Now, Valadao has two challengers from the left. Cox wants to run again. Former Democratic Assemblywoman Nicole Parra also has announced plans to run for the district.
On the right, former Fresno City Councilman Chris Mathys this week announced he intends to run against Valadao. Mathys, who came in last in the primary for a New Mexico House seat in the 2020 cycle, called Valadao’s impeachment vote a sign of “disloyalty” to Trump. Mathys said he took personal offense to the vote and referenced his experience as an Army veteran.
“You don’t always like who you’re working for, but you’re always loyal and dedicated to your commander-in-chief,” Mathys said. “In the military you always follow your commander-in-chief, and if you don’t it’s treason, and the penalty is death.”
Mathys does not blame Trump for the violence that occurred.
Trump hasn’t been popular in the district. He lost it to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Valadao, who served in the seat from 2013 to 2018, also has faced primary challengers before and won handily.
He was one of four California Republicans picked up previously Democratic congressional seats in the November election.
Cox and Parra now are beginning to make a case about which one of them is better suited to take on Valadao.
“I was one of the most productive members of Congress in my first term and will look forward to continuing that work in the future,” Cox said in a statement to McClatchy. “I’ve been overwhelmed by the number of calls and texts I’ve received from all corners of the district who are committed to supporting my efforts.”
But Parra, who worked for former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in addition to her work as an assemblywoman, has filed to run as well.
She had sharp criticisms for Cox in an interview with McClatchy, blaming him for the loss against Valadao. She said vote returns showed “thousands of Democrats moved over to vote for Valadao.”
“Cox didn’t connect because he wasn’t involved before he ran,” Parra said. “I have a problem with candidates who come in and throw money at TV ads, and aren’t involved in the community decades before they run.”
Cox had originally filed to run for a congressional seat in the Modesto area in the 2018 cycle, before switching out of that crowded race to run against Valadao.
Parra said she’s been all over the district for decades, and she decided to run in order to better her home community. She cited getting the local economy back on track with the help of federal resources, fighting for better water quality and veterans issues as some of her top priorities.
While she supported Valadao’s vote on impeaching Trump, she said it wasn’t enough, especially with his past votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
“The impeachment vote was the right thing to do, but he’s never faced an opponent like me before,” Parra said. “It’s going to be really interesting to see, this next year, how much he votes with (Democratic House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi versus (Republican Minority Leader) Kevin McCarthy.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
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