Fresno, Modesto voters face a replay election. Bee Editorial Boards offer their choice | Opinion

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson came out against a hard-fought Senate proposal for border security, despite House GOP members’ year-long ranting over the “invasion” of immigrants into America.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the Republican who heads the House Judiciary Committee, has for the last year pushed unproven allegations to impeach President Biden.

Yet both earned the backing of Rep. John Duarte, the first-term congressman from Modesto who represents California’s 13th District. The farm-belt seat ranges from Modesto on the north through Merced and Madera to Kerman and Coalinga in Fresno County on the south.

Duarte voted for Jordan, then Johnson, when they ran to become speaker of the House. Johnson, of Louisiana, ultimately prevailed and replaced Bakersfield’s Kevin McCarthy, who was booted out by hard-right Republican members.

The votes show how Duarte remains a loyal GOP lieutenant even though he has one California’s toughest congressional races and strives to portray himself as a moderate. Democrats have the voter registration edge in the district over Republicans, 42.3% to 28.5%.

Duarte has to do that because his opponent, Democrat Adam Gray, lost by only 564 votes when they faced off in 2022. It was the nation’s second-closest congressional race, and the outcome took weeks to determine. It promises to be close again.

In another GOP-aligned vote, Duarte backed the Parents Bill of Rights, a measure that would require teachers to notify parents when their child seeks to change gender identification. Schools that get federal funds would have to also get parental consent before allowing a child to change gender identity. Critics say such outing puts children at risk from parents angry over their gender choice.

Picking Republican leaders strongly aligned with Donald Trump, and backing House GOP culture-war bills, is not being a moderate leader for California’s 13th District.

Sixty-six percent of district’s residents are Latino; many of them are ag workers. The district is one of the poorest in the nation. Democrats are more willing to use the power of government to meet the needs of lower-income areas, and the residents of the 13th District will be better represented by Gray. The Editorial Boards of the Fresno and Modesto Bees endorse Gray in the March primary.

GOP playbook

As a first-term elected official, Duarte, who owns a nursery business, has made the necessary rounds of community events. His social media are full of photos from such gatherings.

Duarte has authored seven bills, all which remain in introduced status. He has co-sponsored 119 bills, including one to give farm workers legal status through employment, and another that gives residency to eligible people who came to America as minors.

He went against GOP leadership when he voted against the Secure the Border Act when it came up last May because it contained an employment-eligibility requirement that would have criminalized farmers who hire undocumented workers. The measure also threatened the jobs of such employees. He was one of only two Republicans to vote against it. It passed the House and awaits action in the Senate, where it will either die or be modified under Democratic control.

He believes there is enough evidence of financial misdealing by Biden to justify an impeachment inquiry. Such “evidence” is mostly seen through his partisan perspective.

And, in keeping with the GOP playbook, Duarte would tie any aid to Israel for its war in Gaza to “real border security.”

When it comes to GOP leadership of the House of Representatives, “there is a level of chaos there injuring coherent policy making,” said Stephen Routh, associate dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Stanislaus State University.

“He (Duarte) is embedded in that,” said Routh, a political scientist.

Record of accomplishment

A Merced resident, Gray served in the Assembly for 10 years and was recognized as a moderate Democrat who would buck his party’s leadership when needed to put his constituents’ interests first. Gray has been out of office since 2022.

In a debate two years ago, then-candidate Duarte asked Gray what he had accomplished. The Democrat had a ready answer: Securing millions for the Volt Institute to give young people job training so they could earn a decent wage; helping a homeless shelter in Merced County; landing $100 million to build Campus Parkway linking UC Merced to Highway 99; and defending school funding.

Gray was also instrumental in establishing a medical school at UC Merced, providing funding for law enforcement and defending Valley water rights.

Gray told the Editorial Board that the southern border can be secured while young people brought into America by immigrant parents are given a pathway to citizenship. “Targeted amnesty makes sense. (Republican President Ronald) Reagan understood this,” he said.

What America needs most, Gray said, is a return to bipartisanship. “Watching the dysfunction in D.C. and the lack of civility in the dialogue, it made me think that folks like me with successful careers of working with both sides, it was time to step up.”

Gray best suited

The primary is a dress rehearsal for the real event, as Duarte and Gray are the only candidates running. Their campaigning has been subdued; things will got much hotter this fall before the November general election.

As much as Duarte will try to present himself as a moderate, his voting record shows support for hard-right views and leaders. The danger of authoritarianism by the Republican party only grows if Donald Trump wins to the presidency.

Duarte also has the distinction of being part of the majority party in the House that has accomplished little. Some critics call it the “new do-nothing Congress.”

Gray is a thoughtful politician well suited for a district that votes neither red or blue, but purple. The Editorial Boards of the Fresno and Modesto Bees recommend Gray for congressional District 13.