- Democrat Adam Gray is running against Republican John Duarte in California's 13th Congressional District.
- The 13th District covers much of Fresno County in the Central Valley, California's agricultural heartland.
Democratic California Assemblyman Adam Gray faces off against Republican John Duarte for an open seat in California's 13th Congressional District.
California's 13th Congressional District candidates
Duarte is a farmer and businessman who grows almonds, pistachios, and grapes in his family nursery, Duarte Nursery, located in Stanislaus County. The Central Valley, where California's 13th Congressional District is located, supplies 8% of US agricultural output and produces a fourth of the nation's food.
Gray is a member of the California State Assembly representing District 21, a position he has held for the past nine years. He was one of five California Democrats added in July to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "Red to Blue" program, designed to bolster their campaigns in attempts to flip the district from Republican to Democratic control. The Merced Democrat is a proponent of water access for farmers and the suspension of California's gas tax, but drew attention after failing to cast a vote.
Prior to being elected to the state assembly, he found work as a legislative aide in the California State Legislature and later as a lecturer at the University of California, Merced. Gray also formed the bipartisan California Problem Solvers Caucus last February, along with seven of his colleagues.
And on a similar note to Gray, Duarte was endorsed by Rep. Kevin McCarthy and named to the "On the Radar" list as part of the National Republican Congressional Committee's Young Guns program.
The Modesto Republican narrowly edged Gray in a five-way nonpartisan primary for the open district, securing 34.2% of the vote to Gray's 31.1%. As the top two candidates in the primary, both advanced to the general election under California's election rules.
Voting history for California's 13th Congressional District
California's 13th Congressional District encompasses portions of Merced, Madera, and Stanislaus counties and much of Fresno County in the Central Valley, the state's agricultural heartland.
President Joe Biden had a 20 percentage point margin of victory under the district's previous boundaries in 2020 before it was redrawn to include larger portions of Fresno County in redistricting following the 2020 Census, giving Republicans an edge.
The money race
According to OpenSecrets, Gray has raised $2 million, spent $1.7 million, and has $274,461 cash on hand as of October 19. Duarte, has raised $2.1 million, spent $1.9 million, and has $240,621 of cash still left to spend, as of October 19.
As of early November, nearly a dozen super PACs, national party committees, politically active nonprofits, and other non-candidate groups had combined to spend about $15.3 million to advocate for or against candidates in this race, including during the race's primary phase.
What experts say
The race between Gray and Duarte is rated as "toss-up" by Inside Elections, a "toss-up" by The Cook Political Report, and a "toss-up" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.