Andy Vidak
Andy Vidak (Republican Party) was a member of the California State Senate, representing District 14. He assumed office on August 12, 2013. He left office in 2018.
Vidak (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the California State Senate to represent District 14. He lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Biography
Vidak earned his B.S. in animal business from Texas Tech University. When he served in the state Senate, his professional experience included owning a cherry farm, raising cattle and working as a manager for packing and farming operations.[1]
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| California committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Banking and Financial Institutions, Vice chair |
| • Education |
| • Energy, Utilities and Communications |
| • Governmental Organization |
| • Natural Resources and Water |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Vidak served on the following committees:
| California committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Banking and Financial Institutions, Vice chair |
| • Education |
| • Governmental Organization |
| • Judiciary, Vice chair |
Issues
Presidential preference
2016 presidential endorsement
✓ Vidak endorsed Marco Rubio for the Republican primary in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[2]
- See also: Endorsements for Marco Rubio
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2018
- See also: California State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for California State Senate District 14
Melissa Hurtado defeated incumbent Andy Vidak in the general election for California State Senate District 14 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Melissa Hurtado (D) | 55.8 | 80,942 |
 | Andy Vidak (R) | 44.2 | 64,131 | |
| Total votes: 145,073 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for California State Senate District 14
Incumbent Andy Vidak and Melissa Hurtado defeated Abigail Solis and Ruben Macareno in the primary for California State Senate District 14 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Andy Vidak (R) | 54.1 | 37,918 |
| ✔ | | Melissa Hurtado (D) | 23.2 | 16,295 |
 | Abigail Solis (D) | 14.9 | 10,413 | |
 | Ruben Macareno (D) | 7.8 | 5,464 | |
| Total votes: 70,090 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2014
- See also: California State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the California State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 7, 2014. Incumbent Andy Vidak (R) and Luis Chavez (D) were unopposed in the blanket priamry. Vidak defeated Chavez in the general election.[3][4][5]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Andy Vidak Incumbent |
54.1% | 54,251 | |
| Democratic | Luis Chavez | 45.9% | 46,035 | |
| Total Votes | 100,286 | |||
2013
Vidak won election in a special election for California State Senate District 16. The seat was vacant following Michael J. Rubio's (D) resignation on February 22, 2013 to accept a job with Chevron. Vidak faced Francisco Ramirez (D), Leticia Perez (D), Paulina Miranda (D) and Mohammad Arif (Peace and Freedom) in the special election, which took place on May 21, 2013. As no candidate took more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters - Perez and Vidak - met in a runoff election on July 23, which Vidak won.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]
| California State Senate, District 16, Special Election, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Andy Vidak |
51.9% | 42,224 | |
| Democratic | Leticia Perez | 48.1% | 39,140 | |
| Total Votes | 81,364 | |||
| California State Senate, District 16, Blanket Primary, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Andy Vidak |
49.8% | 31,610 | |
| Democratic | Leticia Perez |
43.9% | 27,854 | |
| Democratic | Francisco Ramirez | 3% | 1,890 | |
| Democratic | Paulina Miranda | 2.6% | 1,623 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Mohammad Arif | 0.7% | 471 | |
| Total Votes | 63,448 | |||
Campaign themes
2014
Vidak's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[13]
Fighting For More Valley Jobs
- Excerpt: "Andy Vidak earned a 100% pro-jobs rating from the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, voted against job-killing energy regulations that would interfere with oil and gas extraction plus co-authored a bill urging an extension of unemployment benefits for our struggling neighbors."
Water Is Our Lifeblood
- Excerpt: "No one knows better than farmer Andy Vidak that our Central Valley way of life depends on building reservoirs and more water delivery projects . . . and, he’s deeply concerned that too many local communities can’t even get clean, safe drinking water for their families."
Let’s Kill High Speed Rail
- Excerpt: "A fiscal conservative who opposes tax hikes, Andy Vidak believes high speed rail is a 'pie-in-the-sky' effort . . . that’s why he authored Senate Bill 901 that temporarily halts the sale of bullet train bonds and gives taxpayers a second chance to stop all funding for the project."
More Career & Technical Education
- Excerpt: "With school dropout rates as high as at 60% in some of our south Valley high schools, Andy Vidak co-authored a measure that provides a 50% tax credit for people who attend vocational schools and he voted against a bill that would suspend the academic testing program."
Keep Convicts Behind Bars
- Excerpt: "An advocate of longer prison sentences for random acts of violence, Andy Vidak is fighting the projected release of up to 52,000 state prisoners into local communities across our state . . . that’s why he supported a new state law that keeps dangerous felons off our streets."
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Endorsements
2014
In 2014, Vidak's endorsements included the following:[14]
- Mayor Gabriel Jimenez, City of Orange Cove
- Mario Rodriquez, Hispanic 100
- Mayor Rudy Mendoza, City of Woodlake
- Al Smith, President, Fresno Chamber of Commerce
- Mayor Harvey L. Hall, City of Bakersfield
- Councilman Danny Espitia, City of Wasco
- Dino Giacomazzi, President Kings County Farm Bureau
- Councilman Lou Martinez, City of Hanford
- Dr. Robert Allen, Rural health physician, Tulare County
- President Lori Cardoza, College of the Sequoias Board of Trustees
- Betty Jo Toccoli, President, California Small Business Association
- Sheriff David Robinson, Kings County
- Jon Coupal, President, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
- Councilman Aldo Gonzalez, City of Dinuba
- Sheriff Margaret Mims, Fresno County
- Rodney Spencer, Senior Pastor, City of Refuge — A New Beginning
- Michael Durant, President, Peace Officers Research Association of California
- Sergeant Justin Bond, Ret. United States Army, Purple Heart recipient
- Eric Schmidt, President, Fresno Deputy Sheriff’s Association
- Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims
Scorecards
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2020
In 2020, the California State Legislature was in session from January 6 to August 31.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the chamber.
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- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to the interests of home care providers.
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the California State Legislature was in session from January 7 through September 13.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the California State Legislature was in session from January 3, 2018 through August 31, 2018.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the California State Legislature was in session from December 5, 2016 through September 15, 2017.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the California State Legislature was in session from January 4 through August 31. The formal session ended on August 31, but constitutionally the session adjourned sine die on November 30.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the California State Legislature was in session from December 1, 2014, through September 12, 2015.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the California State Legislature was in session from January 6 to August 30.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the California State Legislature was in session from December 3, 2012, to September 13, 2013
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See also
- California State Legislature
- California State Senate
- California Senate Committees
- California State Senate District 14
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Official campaign website
- Profile from Open States: State Senate
- Profile from Open States: Full Legislative Profile
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Andy Vidak on Facebook
- Campaign contributions via OpenSecrets
Footnotes
- ↑ vidakforsenate, "Biography," accessed September 19, 2014
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "6 California lawmakers and San Diego mayor back Marco Rubio for president," January 8, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official 2014 Primary election candidate list," accessed March 27, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed December 14, 2014
- ↑ KBPS.org, "Special Election Set To Fill State Senate Vacancy," March 8, 2013
- ↑ sos.ca.gov, "Senate District 16 Special Primary Election - May 21, 2013," accessed April 8, 2013
- ↑ turnto23.com, "Andy Vidak wins 16th State Senate district special election," May 22, 2013
- ↑ bakersfieldnow.com, "Dramatic turn in special election as Vidak falls below 50 percent of vote," May 24, 2013
- ↑ visaliatimesdelta.com, "Perez concedes state Senate election to Vidak," July 25, 2013 (dead link)
- ↑ sos.ca.gov, "Official primary election results," accessed November 18, 2013
- ↑ sos.ca.gov, "Official special election results," accessed November 18, 2013
- ↑ vidakforsenate.com, "On The Issues," accessed September 19, 2014
- ↑ vidakforsenate.com, "Endorsements," accessed September 19, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tom Berryhill (R) |
California State Senate District 14 2014-2018 |
Succeeded by Melissa Hurtado (D) |
| Preceded by Michael J. Rubio (D) |
California State Senate District 16 August 2013-2014 |
Succeeded by Jean Fuller (R) |
