The Central Valley needs a strong leader in Congress. Here’s our recommendation | Opinion

California’s 20th congressional district is not an easy place to represent. It is vast, rural and deeply tied to agriculture, energy and water – the kinds of issues that require more than talking points.

They require fluency. They require seriousness. They require someone who recognizes how policy decisions ripple through farms, fields and families.

That is why the Republican incumbent, Rep. Vince Fong, earns our endorsement.

Fong, 46, is the most prepared and most knowledgeable candidate in this race. Once a staffer to former Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas, he brings a level of policy depth that was evident throughout our interview. On water, on energy, on infrastructure, his answers were detailed, nuanced and rooted in the realities of the Central Valley in a way his challengers could not match.

That level of understanding matters in a district where water policy alone can determine whether communities survive or shrink.

Fong can also point to tangible accomplishments. He highlighted more than $500 million secured for water infrastructure – investments in storage, conveyance and recharge that are critical in a region living through increasing hydrologic uncertainty. He grasps that California’s water system only works when it is treated as a system, not a series of disconnected political fights.

But this endorsement comes with a clear expectation. Fong must more consistently use that expertise to advocate for his district, especially when federal policy is hurting the very people he represents.

On trade, Fong offered a sophisticated defense of tariffs as a negotiating tool to counter foreign subsidies and market restrictions abroad. There’s some truth in that argument. Global markets are not always fair, and U.S. growers do face real barriers.

But in the Central Valley, the results are what matter, and the results are not working.

California agriculture, including top-producing pistachio growers in Fong’s district, has taken a direct hit from retaliatory tariffs and trade tensions. China was not just a large market. It was a high-value one. When access collapsed, growers didn’t just lose volume. They lost premium pricing and relationships they worked hard to build. Replacement markets in Europe and India simply don’t offer the same return.

This is not an abstract policy debate. It is lost income, lost stability and growing uncertainty across this district.

Fong knows trade policy. That is precisely why more is required of him. If tariffs are part of the strategy, then so must be a strategy to protect the growers caught in the crossfire. Right now, too many are worse off than they were before, and they need a stronger advocate in Washington.

More broadly, Fong would benefit from embracing the pragmatic tradition of California Republicans, the kind that prioritizes the needs of the district when they diverge from national political priorities. That includes listening more closely on issues like immigration, where the region’s agricultural economy depends on a stable workforce, and on economic mobility where rural communities continue to struggle.

It also means reckoning with the local impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill – legislation that Fong supported – which is already reshaping county budgets across his district and the state. Fresno County, as a result, is bracing for a total loss of $69 million to $295 million in federal funding, raising the risk of downstream effects that could touch everything from housing stability to public safety.

Fong’s challengers, Democrat Sandra Van Scotter and independent Ben Dewell, bring sincerity and life experience, but neither demonstrated the readiness nor the policy command required for Congress. In a district this complex, that gap matters.

Fong has the intellect, the experience and the platform to be an effective representative .Now he must more consistently use them in service of the people and industries that depend on him.

Voters should send Vince Fong back to Congress – and insist he fight harder for the people who put him there.