It was officially determined late last week Republican David Valadao had held off Conservative Republican Chris Mathys to face Democratic State Assemblyman Rudy Salas in the November election to represent the 23rd District in the U.S. Congress.
Valadao currently represents the 21st district in Congress but is running in the 23rd district, which includes Porterville, after redistricting. The Associated Press officially declared Valadao had advanced to the November election on Friday.
As of Monday Salas had 45.2 percent of the vote while Valadao had 25.6 percent of the vote. Mathys, who had been critical of Valadao, had received 23.4 percent of the vote.
On June 8 the day after the primary election Mathys stated he felt it was virtually impossible for him to catch Valadao at that time. At that time Valadao had received 25.7 percent of the vote and Mathys had received 19.4 percent of the vote.
And based on the numbers the two Conservative candidates in the race who were critical of Valadao may have split the vote enough among more Conservative voters to allow Valadao to advance. Adam Medeiros, the other Conservative Republican in the race, received 5.8 percent of the vote.
So combined, Mathys and Medeiros received 29.2 percent of the vote, which exceeded Valadao's 25.6 percent. But it's unknown of that 5.8 percent who supported Medeiros how many would have supported Mathys or Valadao.
The 23rd district spans Tulare, Kings and Kern Counties. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by about 16 percent.
But Democrats tend to lean more Conservative in the district so the race is considered a toss-up and could play a key role as to whether Republicans take control of the U.S. House of Representatives from Democrats.
And in the primary election, the votes for Republicans have totaled more than the votes for Salas by 54.8 to 45.2 percent. That could indicate a higher number of Republicans than Democrats voted in the primary election or some Democrats voted for a Republican or a combination of both. In any case, Democratic turnout in November will obviously be a key for Salas.
Based on the data Joe Biden would have won the 2020 Presidential election in the redrawn 22nd district by 13 percent. But again it's possible some Democrats who would have voted for Biden would have also voted for a Republican in the Congressional race.
Representative Kevin McCarthy and Bakersfield teacher Marisa Wood have advanced to the November election in the 20th Congressional District. McCarthy currently represents Porterville in the 23rd district but would no longer represent Porterville in the 20th district.
The 20th district does include Springville and the Sequoia National Forest area. McCarthy received 61.3 percent of the vote and Wood got 24 percent of the vote.
In the 16th State Senate District, Republican Porterville farmer David Shepard will face current 14th District State Senator Melissa Hurtado in the November election. The 14th district currently includes Porterville and Hurtado is running to continue to represent Porterville in the redrawn 16th district.
As of Monday Shepard had received 45.3 percent of the vote while Hurtado received 30.8 percent of the vote. Former State Assembly member Nicole Parra received 9.6 percent of the vote and Delano mayor Bryan Osorio received 6 percent of the vote.
Even though Democrats have a 13 percent edge in the district, the race is also considered a tossup. In the primary election Democrats received 46.4 percent of the vote while Republicans received 53.7 percent of the vote. Republican Bakersfield Pastor Gregory Tatum received 8.4 percent of the vote.
State Assemblyman Devon Mathis, who currently represents Porterville, is running to continue to represent Porterville in the 33rd district. Democrat Tulare County city councilman Jose Sigala is on his way to facing Mathis in the November election.
Mathis has received 64.8 percent of the vote while Sigala has received 19.9 percent of the vote and Farmersville city councilman Ruben Macareno has received 15.2 percent of the vote.
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