Last year, Rep. David Valadao (CA-22) joined his Republican colleagues and voted for the Republican mega-bill that stripped $1 trillion from Medicaid, dramatically increased ICE funding, and gave massive tax breaks to billionaires and corporations. That isn’t particularly remarkable: Republicans fell in line with President Trump’s agenda, fulfilling the long-time ambitions of the Heritage Foundation and other rightwing lobbies that have spent decades and hundreds of millions of dollars striving to gut protections for working people and give handouts to corporations and the rich.
What is remarkable is that Valadao took that vote while representing the people in a Central Valley district where nearly two-thirds of constituents rely on Medicaid and ICE has terrorized many families. There’s no way around it: Valadao voted against his own constituents’ health and safety.
Enter Randy Villegas. This spring, endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and many others, Randy won the Democratic primary. He is taking on Valadao in November.
Randy is the son of immigrants who was raised in a working-class family in Kern County, CA. He earned his Ph.D. and is now a college professor, community organizer, and owner of a family auto shop. Unlike Valadao, who is funded by corporate donations, Villegas has signed onto End Citizen United’s Unrig Washington campaign and does not take corporate PAC money. He is running on a strong anti-corruption platform and has vowed to fight for the working people in his district.
Democracy News: Why are you running for Congress?
Randy: I love the Central Valley, where the farmworkers who get up at the crack of dawn feed the rest of the country, the rest of the world. Even though we work hard every single day, many of us are just trying to get by. I know what that struggle feels like personally. At the same time, the Valley has given me and my family so many opportunities. I was able to get my PhD, become a professor in my twenties.
With David Valadao in Congress, we have a representative who’s not even willing to acknowledge the very real fear that many members of our communities are facing. I recently talked to a fourth grader, and he asked me about what he could do about immigration raids. This is a kid who should be thinking about what he’s going to do at recess and instead is feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders, because of a representative who fails to actually stand up for our communities and our families. That’s why I’m running, to fight for people in my district.
Democracy News: Your campaign is not accepting corporate PAC donations. Was that a difficult decision?
Randy: Personally, it wasn’t a hard decision. What surprised me is that I had people tell me that if I didn’t have people I could call on Day One to ask for a thousand dollars each then I couldn’t even run. It was really discouraging. People were also asking, “When are you going to quit your job?” And I couldn’t quit my job to run the campaign. That’s why we have so many millionaires in Congress, it’s really hard to run for office as a working person. But we need people in Congress who understand the realities of working for a living.
Democracy News: When you’re out in your district, what do you hear from people about corruption and how it’s affecting their lives?
Randy: People are experiencing corruption in their day-to-day lives. Two out of every three of our constituents in CA-22 relies on Medicaid. And despite that, Valadao voted to gut it, to give tax breaks to billionaires. He also voted to gut SNAP benefits that feed children. For what? So that Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos can buy another yacht or an island? This summer, communities in Earlimart didn’t have running water for two and a half weeks. And what did Valadao have to say about it? Nothing.
For far too long, the Central Valley has been left behind. People are feeling now more than ever. This administration is using institutions and agencies against us. The Central Valley was ground zero for ICE raids last year. Instead of having a member of Congress who stands up for civil rights and civil liberties for people across this country, we have Valadao who voted to expand ICE. It’s downright disrespectful to people who have been targeted by this administration and sometimes have to go without food on their table.
Whether we’re talking about cuts to healthcare or ICE raids, it all goes back to money in politics. When I was growing up, my mom used to say, “Dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres.” Tell me who you’re with, and I’ll tell you who you are. The same thing applies to who candidates are taking money. I’ve never taken money from corporations and I never will. Meanwhile, Valadao has made it clear who he’s with, and that’s millionaires and billionaires. He won’t stand up to the president, to his party. He’s taken millions from companies that continue to exploit working families. He is giving tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires while communities in this district don’t have adequate healthcare or running water.
Our campaign’s message has been resonating with people across the political spectrum. That’s one big lesson learned. We can’t just be against Trump or Valadao. We have to stand for something that people believe in.
Democracy News: What reforms would you prioritize when in Congress?
Randy: Priority number one is reversing the cuts in the Big Bullshit Bill to ensure that we’re restoring Medicaid and other programs that families rely on. I’m also going to co-sponsor legislation that would mean working people don’t pay federal income taxes on their first $70,000. We’re going to do that by making sure that millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share. For me, fighting for working families also means fighting for universal healthcare and childcare.
Democracy News: With everything that’s happening, how are you coping?
Randy: Personally, I remind myself of the people in my district. I remind myself of the experiences of people who are working two or three jobs just to survive and make ends meet.
It’s really easy to feel cynical and apathetic and like your voice doesn’t matter. But that’s exactly how they want you to feel. Billionaires, millionaires, and corporations wouldn’t be spending millions and millions of dollars to influence elections if our votes didn’t matter.
I'd like to see all attorneys prohibited from being in Congress, because it's a conflict of interest to write the laws and then turnaround and get wealthy by using those laws to benefit themselves. They should be restricted to being advisors on the staff of Congress, where they belong...providing technical advise.