Voters should elect a Valley native as their next 21st District representative

In the March primary, Republican David Valadao handily beat Democratic incumbent TJ Cox in the 21st Congressional District. Two other challengers received scant support, and their candidacies ended.

Now comes the November general election, when it matters most. Cox unseated Valadao and won the closest House race in the nation in 2018, but this November, voters should return Valadao to Congress after a two-year hiatus.

Key reasons

Here’s why Valadao deserves another chance at governing:

▪ He is open-minded, a trait in short supply in Washington, D.C. What is the proof? For one thing, Valadao worked hard to get immigration reform passed when he was in Congress, including supporting the push to let Dreamers — young people brought to America as children by undocumented parents — become citizens.

Much of Valadao’s motivation on immigration was to assure farmers in the 21st District, which covers Kings and parts of Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties, that they would have an ample supply of workers to tend their farms, fields and orchards.

Supporting Dreamers was not favored by most Republicans, but Valadao was willing to cross the aisle because he saw the bigger picture of helping Valley agriculture — even if it meant enduring scorn from GOP colleagues.

▪ Valadao has been criticized by Cox for voting for the GOP plan to repeal Obamacare in 2017, and indeed, scaling back government health care assistance would have had devastating results for the 21st District, one of the poorest in the nation.

But Valadao voted for the plan because it included a pilot project to pay doctors higher Medicare reimbursement rates if they practiced in the district. A key reason why health care in the Valley lags behind California’s coastal cities is doctors do not make as much and consequently, are not as interested in working here. A physician shortage is the result.

That Valadao understood this problem and was willing to take a vote that would be easily criticized by Democrats shows he has courage and focus.

Striving for bipartisan solutions is something he has already done, he told The Bee’s Editorial Board. Democrat Barack Obama was the president during part of Valadao’s time in Congress. “I get it if you don’t like the president, but work with him. I worked with Obama ... I did my best to stand there and work with him. That is important in leadership.”

▪ Valadao is Valley born and bred. A Hanford resident, the 43-year-old helps manage his family’s dairy operations and is as comfortable in a pair of Wranglers and boots as he is in a suit.

Blue wave

Cox, an engineer by profession, managed a tax-credit fund before he ran for Congress in 2018. The fund helped funnel federal construction dollars into projects such as medical clinics in small, low-income farming towns in the Valley. When Cox won, he captured the seat by a mere 862 votes. It took weeks of counting before the result was finalized. He rode in on the Democrats’ so-called blue wave, which gave the party control of the House and a net gain of 40 seats.

Since then, Cox has been hard at work on issues of importance to the district, authoring and supporting bills, including a measure that would repair the Friant-Kern Canal, a key part of the Valley’s water delivery system that farmers depend on.

But problems with the 57-year-old’s own financial affairs that pre-date his time in government service have surfaced during his first term. As recently as February, news came that Cox owed nearly $145,000 in unpaid taxes. He guarantees those problems are behind him.

A Cox ad chides Valadao for voting with President Donald Trump nearly all the time as a congressman, and for backing the president now. But it is not surprising that a member of Congress would support his party’s president most of the time.

Valadao supported Jeb Bush, a moderate Republican, as a GOP presidential candidate in 2016. Of backing Trump now, Valadao says he had meetings with the president and found that he listened closely to what Valley residents need. Valadao gives Trump credit for recent directives to open up the federal Central Valley Project for more water deliveries to Valley farmers.

Recommendation

In 2016, when Democrat Hillary Clinton easily defeated Trump in the 21st District, voters also comfortably returned Republican Valadao to Congress.

The district remains a Democratic stronghold, but as recent election results show, Valadao knows how to win there. He also knows how to work the halls of Congress. Voters should give Valadao a new opportunity to represent them so he can bring a moderate voice back to the capital.

How The Bee came to this recommendation

The Bee’s Editorial Board consists of Publisher Tim Ritchey, Editor Joe Kieta, Opinion Editor Tad Weber, Vida en el Valle Editor Juan Esparza Loera, and Vida Staff Writer Maria Ortiz-Briones. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the board interviewed the candidates via Zoom. Additional research was also done using publicly accessible online sources and The Bee’s archives. Candidates must meet with the board to earn a recommendation.

The recommendation is meant to guide readers as they reach their own decision on which candidate to choose. This recommendation is the opinion of the Editorial Board; the news staff does not play any role in its creation.