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California's 22nd Congressional District election (June 5, 2018 top-two primary)

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2020
2016
California's 22nd Congressional District
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Top-two primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 9, 2018
Primary: June 5, 2018
General: November 6, 2018

Pre-election incumbent:
Devin Nunes (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in California
Race ratings
Cook Partisan Voter Index (2018): R+8
Cook Political Report: Likely Republican
Inside Elections: Solid Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
See also
California's 22nd Congressional District
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California elections, 2018
U.S. Congress elections, 2018
U.S. Senate elections, 2018
U.S. House elections, 2018

2016

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California's 22nd Congressional District

General Election Date
November 6, 2018

Primary Date
June 5, 2018
Top-two primary

November 6 Election Winner:
Pending
Incumbent prior to election:
Devin Nunes Republican Party
Devin Nunes.jpg

Race Ratings
Cook Political Report: Likely Republican[1]
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely Republican[2]
Inside Elections: Solid Republican[3]

California U.S. House Elections
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2018 U.S. Senate Elections

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The House Intelligence Committee's investigation into potential Russian activity in the 2016 presidential election could impact committee Chairman Devin Nunes' (R) chances at re-election, according to Bloomberg's Francis Wilkinson.[4] Wilkinson writes that while Nunes' role overseeing the committee's investigation "has endeared him to the president’s biggest fans, it has also motivated Democratic partisans."

Nunes represented California's 22nd congressional district since he was first elected in 2002. Nunes won re-election by a 35 percent margin in 2016, while President Trump carried the district by a 10 percent margin.

The five candidates who filed to challenge Nunes include three Democrats, one Libertarian, and one member of the American Solidarity Party. Attorney Andrew Janz (D) received the endorsements of the Democratic Party of California, End Citizens United, the SEIU, and seven sitting members of the U.S. House.[5]

What is California's top-two primary?

A top-two primary is a type of primary election in which all candidates are listed on the same primary ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of their partisan affiliations, advance to the general election.

California adopted the top-two primary when California Proposition 14, Top-Two Primaries Amendment, passed on June 8, 2010. The system took effect on January 1, 2011.

Washington was the first state to adopt the top-two primary for congressional and state-level elections in 2004. Nebraska also uses a top-two primary for state legislative elections, which are nonpartisan.
California voter? Here's what you need to know.
Primary electionJune 5, 2018
Candidate filing deadlineMarch 9, 2018
Registration deadlineMay 21, 2018[6]
Absentee application deadlineMay 29, 2018[6]
General electionNovember 6, 2018
Voting information
Primary typeTop-two
Early voting deadlineAvailable from May 7, 2018, to June 5, 2018[7]
Polling locations: Go to this page to find early voting locations and your assigned precinct for election day.


For more on related elections, please see:



Candidates and election results

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 22 on June 5, 2018.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 22

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Devin Nunes
Devin Nunes (R)
 
57.6
 
70,112
Image of Andrew Janz
Andrew Janz (D)
 
31.7
 
38,596
Image of Bobby Bliatout
Bobby Bliatout (D)
 
4.9
 
6,002
Image of Ricardo Franco
Ricardo Franco (D)
 
3.6
 
4,365
Image of Brian T. Carroll
Brian T. Carroll (Independent) Candidate Connection
 
1.3
 
1,591
Image of Bill Merryman
Bill Merryman (L)
 
0.9
 
1,137

Total votes: 121,803
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Top candidates

Republican Party Devin Nunes

Devin Nunes.jpg

Nunes was first elected to the U.S. House in 2002, representing the 21st district prior to 2013. As of the 2018 election, Nunes served as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Prior to his election to the House, Nunes served as director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Rural Development.

Nunes has represented the 22nd district since the redistricting following the 2010 census. Nunes' narrowest margin of victory in the 22nd was in California's 22nd Congressional District elections, 2012, when he defeated Otto Lee (D) by a 23.8 percent margin. His widest margin of victory was his 44 percent margin over Louie Campos (D) in 2016. During the time that he represented the 21st district, Nunes' narrowest margin of victory was his 36.8 percent margin in 2006 while his widest was his 46.4 percent margin in 2004.

Nunes' campaign website emphasizes the Republican Party's policies on water usage.[8] The website identifies Nunes' priorities in office as national security, government management, and tax policy.[9]

Democratic Party Andrew Janz

Andrew Janz.jpg

At the time of the 2018 election, Janz served as a deputy district attorney in Fresno County's violent crimes unit. He had not previously sought elected office.

In his April 2017 announcement that he would challenge Nunes, Janz referred to his own ties to the region and his experience as a prosecutor as well as to Nunes' role in the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.[10] Janz's campaign website described him as "the Democrat and Prosecutor Challenging Devin Nunes" and emphasizes his positions on healthcare, crime, and immigration.[11]

Janz has been endorsed by the Democratic Party of California, seven sitting members of the U.S. House, and the California Labor Federation.


List of all candidates

See also: Statistics on U.S. Congress candidates, 2018

General election candidates

Primary candidates


Did not make the ballot:


Candidate Connection = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index
See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+8, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 8 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made California's 22nd Congressional District the 164th most Republican nationally.[12]

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 1.04. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.04 points toward that party.[13]

Campaign themes and policy stances

Campaign themes are added to this page as they are made available. As of April 23, 2018, campaign themes were not available for the Nunes or Merryman campaigns.

Democratic Party Bobby Bliatout

Health Care Reform
“I believe that all Americans deserve access to quality, affordable health care” — Bobby Bliatout For the last fifteen years, I have been an executive at a non-profit health care provider. I have seen all the good and bad in our health care system. The good news is that as Americans, we blessed with a high quality of health care that when available, keeps us as healthy as any population in the world. The bad news is that our health care system is very expensive and, for many, hard to access.

The Affordable Care Act was a good start. But in my opinion the ACA is too complicated and discouraged too many people from taking part. That caused many of the hoped-for cost savings to be lost, so prices didn't go down.

I believe there is a simple solution to reforming the ACA and making it work for everyone. America already has a structure to provide high-quality and low-cost health care. It's called Medicare. Here's the best way to fix the ACA.

Basic health care plans for all
This plan would be the basic health care plan for all Americans. The plan would cover all basic health and dental benefits, from yearly physicals to specialists, to emergency and catastrophic care. Just like Medicare, these plans would find incredible savings by simply cutting back on the red tape involved in health care today.

Reinsurance program with small monthly payments
In order to make the basic Medicare-for-all option affordable there would be some Cadillac services that would not be available–like purchasing specialized eye glasses, having a solid white tooth filing rather than silver, or cognitive therapy to deal with mental health issues. These could be financed by simply adding a so-called reinsurance option to the Medicare-for-all option. People would simply be asked to pay a small monthly retainer to have these services added.

Our providers won't change
Some people either driven by profit interest or ideology claim that a Medicare-for-all system would be government-run health care. They are wrong. The biggest difference is that our health insurance plans would be streamlined through a single entity; increasing cost savings and expanding quality health care. Currently, the United States simply doesn't have the public health care infrastructure to provide the necessary services on its own. The truth is that the system would contract those services with the very same companies that provide Americans with their health care today.

Gun Safety Laws
“I am a responsible gun owner and a member of the CA Waterfowl Association. I’m not afraid to take on the NRA.” — Bobby Bliatout I am not shy about letting people know that I am a responsible gun owner who believes in strong gun safety laws
I also believe the 2nd Amendment is a inetgral part of our constitution. The 2nd Amendment provides the right for, “a well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

In 1791 when James Madison wrote the 2nd Amendment, our nation was at a constant threat from many foreign powers such as France, Britain, and Spain. So, it was necessary for common people to be able to organize in militias to protect our nation.

Today, it is a very different story. Today, Americans own 300 million guns. That has doubled in the last forty years.

The first recognized mass shooting didn't happen in the United States until 1949...
...when a severely mentally ill man shot and killed thirteen people. The UT Austin Tower mass shooting didn’t happen for another seventeen years. After that, the next mass shooting was in 1988. Sadly, there were fifty people killed in those mass shooting.

However, since 1988 there have been thirty-one mass shootings that have taken more than 1,000 lives, everyone from babies to seniors
That’s more than sad, that a national tragedy and public safety emergency.

What’s changed after 1988? That’s simple. The NRA began a concerted push to protect gun manufacturers and organize extreme gun owners. And they’ve give nearly a billion dollars to politicians including $300 million to President Trump in 2016.

The common denominator here is the easy access to guns by people who have no business owning a gun.
In each case of mass shootings, the perpetrators simply had no business having access to a gun. There are so many guns on the streets that the process of ensuring only responsible individuals owning guns could only happen through a set of Responsible Federal Gun Safety Laws.

“I am not afraid of the NRA and here are some common-sense solutions to gun violence that they have consistently opposed.” — Bobby Bliatout
Common sense gun safety laws

  • Raising the national age for buying a gun or rifle to 21 years of age.
  • Repeal the Dickey Amendment and allow the Center for Disease Control to begin to collect data on gun violence and treat it as a national health crisis.
  • Mandate gun insurance for all gun owners, just like we do for people who drive a car. To obtain the insurance, one must prove ownership of a gun lockers and guns safety locks.
  • Mandate gun safety classes for gun owners. These would include a gun safety test and a shooting range test, such as the ones required for all Concealed Carry Weapons holders in California.
  • Make passing a behavioral health evaluation a stipulation for gun insurance and permit renewal.
  • Mandatory background checks and waiting periods for everyone buying a gun. This would include monetary fines for the first two strikes and the permanent termination of their ability to sell firearms upon the third strike.

I have been criticized by some of my fellow gun owners for wanting these gun safety laws.
They mostly say, “What a pain in the rear that would be!” I tell them, “That’s the point. Responsible gun owners would understand the safety rules and live by them. And people who want their guns for any other reason than keeping their family safe or hunting would lose their right to simply just have fun. Just like drunk drivers lose their rights to drive a vehicle.” The truth is, most gun owners that I know have already exemplified all of the responsible gun owner traits: owning gun safes, continually taking gun safety courses, having gun owner insurance, training the entire family on gun safety rules, and always respecting that gun is dangerous.

It is absolutely ridiculous to have less stringent rules on purchasing guns and ammunition than monitoring over the counter drugs.
That’s correct. Try purchasing 50 bottles of cough syrup at your local store and you’ll most likely get rejected, especially if you are under 18. But, in many states, you can buy thousands of bullets without a ever getting questioned. Where is the logic in that? We need to take seriously the dangers of gun ownership and ensure that our communities are as safe as possible when it comes to gun violence.

Lifting the Middle Class
I have a simple philosophy about what type of society is best so all Americans can live the most prosperous lives–create public policies that allow working families the opportunity to move into the middle class. After we do that allow the entrepreneurs and risk takers to make as much money as the free market allows, as long as they pay their fair share of taxes and are not exploiting others.

Over the last forty years, the great American middle class has been shrinking. That means that more and more people are falling into a category considered low income. In Fresno County, for instance, 43% of residents are low income. To me, that's unacceptable. Here are some changes we can make to begin turning the tide:

  • CREATE NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE GOALS TO REBUILD AMERICA'S ROADS, BRIDGES AND AIRPORTS.
  • CREATE NATIONAL GOALS TO REBUILD WATER STORAGE SYSTEMS AND RETROFIT FARMS AND DAIRIES FOR GREATER SUSTAINABILITY.
  • PROVIDE JOB TRAINING FOR ALL DISPLACED WORKERS.
  • LOWER TAXES FOR SMALL AND LOCAL BUSINESSES.
  • LOWER TAX RATES FOR MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES.
  • OFFER FIRST-TIME HOMEOWNERS SWEAT EQUITY INCENTIVES (LIKE AFFORDABLE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY) AS DOWN PAYMENT.

Integrity in Government
"Many of my grandparents, uncles, aunts and their relatives died alongside American troops in Southeast Asia for the right of all people to be free and live in a democracy governed by rule of law. Anyone elected by the American people should respect those American values, especially since they came at such a high price.

That's why I am particularly disturbed by the actions of President Trump's campaign and administration officials related to Russia's meddling in the election of the United States. After recent indictments by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, we know for sure that some, if not many, on the Trump campaign had illegal contact with foreign agents whose goal was to disrupt our presidential election.

The fact that our current Congressman Devin Nunes was forced to recuse himself from investigating the Russia allegation is simply unacceptable. Worse yet, he has put politics over country in trying to put barriers in front of those who are trying to prosecute those who have betrayed our democracy.

If I am elected to Congress, you can be sure I will never betray my nation in the name of partisanship–we have sacrificed too much for our freedoms to accept or excuse Mr. Nunes' actions."

Saving our Farms
Like many people in the Valley, I own farmland. In fact, for several years, I also farmed that land. While non-profit health care management is my passion, I still have that deep appreciation for the land and the sweat and dedication it takes to run a successful farm. Here are some realities all farmers understand:

  • YOU CAN'T FARM WITHOUT WATER.
  • FARMING IS REALLY HARD WORK.
  • FARMING IS A CULTURE.
  • GROWTH NEEDS TO BE MANAGED OR OUR FARM LANDS WILL DISAPPEAR.
  • VALLEY FARMS FEED LARGE PARTS OF OUR NATION AND THE WORLD.
  • AND, YOU CAN'T FARM WITHOUT WATER.

“Farming is a culture, and if we lose all our small farmers, we lose that culture forever.” — Bobby Bliatout

Smart solutions for Valley agriculture.
Unfortunately, much of the dialogue about our farms revolves around ideologies–an us vs. them mentality.

I don't think that's a productive way to look at most issues and certainly not when it comes to an important industry like agriculture.

The real issue is everyone recognizing the importance of agriculture as a national strategic resource.

Here are some big things that I believe we all agree on to help preserve farmlands:

Concentrate on the small farmers
Farming is a culture. It can also be a profitable business for many working and middle-class families who are committed to the hard work of farming. Every day, there are more and more barriers keeping small farmers from succeeding. There are many reasons why small farms are at a disadvantage. But just like in other industries, small farmers do not lack will or skill–they lack resources. In Congress, I will be fully committed to helping small farmers find those resources through grants and low-interest loans. After all, farming is a culture and if we lose all our small farmers we lose that culture forever.

Farmland Protection Policy Act amendment.
Amend the act to allow California farmlands to be designated as national farm monuments. This special protection would guarantee that farm and grazing lands could continue to be operated by private farmers in perpetuity as long as the use was for agriculture and livestock. The amendment would create a formula for farmers who wished to sell their lands based on fair market value indexed against a private development formula.

A national commitment to innovation in agriculture.
The United States has the best scientists, engineers, and innovators in the world. We also have some of the world's finest farmers. I see no reason why we can't all get together and come up with smart strategies to make our farms the most sustainable in the world as well. We can take innovations such as precise computerized farming and then provide Federal Grants to farmers who cannot afford to pay for new technologies. Eventually, these technologies would become a private market, like solar panels, and everyone will see the benefits of having a more sustainable and less expensive means of getting our farmed goods and livestock to market.

Gather our best and most innovative minds to make agriculture more sustainable.
There are many people who misunderstand the realities of farming and believe farmers are against innovation or sustainability. If this were true we wouldn't see so many solar panels on farms. What farmers are against is regulations that make it harder to get their products to market at a profit. Any farmer is interested in a more sustainable and less expensive way to farm.

An Affordable Education
“Nearly 70% of students graduate with an average loan debt of $28,950, up 2% from 2013 levels. In the 10 years from 2004 to 2014, the average student debt rose by 56% from $18,550 to $28,950 according to the study.” — The Institute for College Access & Success
“I believe that it’s immoral to strap young people to what amounts to a mini-mortgage the day they graduate from college.” — Bobby Bliatout

Our young people need to be educated. It's the best path to a good job and a better life. Because many young people understand this reality, they are taking on student loans to pay for their college education. In fact, Americans owe $1.3 trillion in student loan debt–that's trillion with a T. And it's also the second-highest level of consumer debt behind only home mortgages.

I believe that this is a major problem that needs to be addressed aggressively and right away. It's just not right that young people start their post-college lives with the pressure of so much debt.

Here a few thing we can do:

  • Restructure current student debt so that no one has to pay 5% of their monthly, after taxes, to pay off their debt. So, for instance, if someone with student debt is grossing $2,500 a month then they pay no more than $125 a month for their loan including interest. This will actually stabilize the market, as defaults will decrease.
  • Allow students to pay off their debt through public service jobs like teaching in inner-city or rural schools or even serving in the domestic Peace Corps.
  • Begin to move toward low-cost to free university education by encouraging that more endowment money be granted to schools like Fresno State University and Cal State-Fresno.

Immigration
“Our Immigration policies should be smart and based on human dignity and basic fairness.” — Bobby Bliatout
We are a land of immigrants.
Whether your family came to the United States on the Mayflower, through Ellis Island, north from Mexico or Latin America, across the ocean from the Pacific Rim, or like mine as refugees who fought in the U.S. effort to stop totalitarian communism–we all have one thing in common–we came for political freedom, economic opportunity, and the protection of the Bill of Rights.

So last year, as many of us watched nervously as wild eyed supporters at Trump rallies chanted, "Build a wall," I was appalled but also resolved to support an intelligent and moral immigration policy.

Here are some of my thoughts on reforming our current:

The wall is divisive and a waste of tax payer money.
Building a multi-billion dollar wall across the U.S./Mexico border is bad idea:

  • The U.S. conducts more than half-a-trillion dollars a year of trade with Mexico. So, damaging relations with such an important trading partner is short-sighted and will cost Californians jobs.
  • A wall can't be established in many areas and where it can be built it will cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars that can be better used for things like rebuilding our infrastructure or expanding health care.
  • The truth is that most undocumented immigrants enter the U.S. by overstaying their visas and not by crossing the border.

An effective visa policy
Our current immigration policy is fraught with hypocrisy and inconsistencies. On one hand, we have severely restricted people's ability to obtain a visa, on the other hand, we covet the labor of many undocumented immigrants. This makes no sense and only causes racial resentment and confusion. I support reshaping the U.S. visa policy to create legal categories for entry that mirror the actual reality of immigration into the U.S. Those would include visas for everything from, short term work, seasonal farmworkers, high tech workers and university professors, to special extended visas for people with family in the U.S. This program is not only more realistic but will help us create better accountability.

Support the DREAM Act. I support both DACA protections and the Dream Act. It is both right and smart to promote a legal path to citizenship for our best and brightest young people. The fact that the Trump administration is reneging on their promise is both cruel and unintelligent. What value is their to our society to deport a college student on their way to the Ivy League? We need to keep our promises.

Support path to a legal citizenship. I support a legal path to citizenship for anyone who can prove they have been a productive resident and are not convicted felons. People in this category should be given a visa and allowed to enter the naturalization process. This will help reconcile families and stop the hypocrisy of our current immigration policy.

No ban of anyone based on their religion
This policy is mean spirited and ineffective. I do not support policies that exclude any group of people based on religion. There is a clear reason why court after court has judged this policy unconstitutuoinal.

Patriotism
“Every day, I am thankful for being an American and being blessed to live in a free society.” — Bobby Bliatout

I want to introduce you to my late uncle Eugene Vaj.
Uncle Eugene recently passed away. He was sixty-six years old. At his funeral, generations of American veterans joined our family to mourn my uncle's death and celebrate his life.

More than anyone else in my life, my Uncle Eugene taught me about the meaning of true freedom and what it means to be an American.

He was a major under the legendary General Vang Pao during the Vietnam War. General Vang Pao was a deeply respected Hmong elder who allied our Hmong clans with the United States. General Vang Pao's Special guerrilla units fought totalitarian communism in Laos and Vietnam as part of the American mission.

My Uncle Eugene taught me that the Hmong people's mission in Southeast Asia was honorable. That we fought for political and social freedom and religious liberty. To this day many people in southeast Asia suffer at the hands of totalitarian governments. And every day, I am thankful for being an American and being blessed to live in a free society. -Bobby Bliatout

The best foreign policy is diplomacy.
As someone who understands the terrible reality of war, I am deeply committed to a diplomacy before war policy. I believe the U.S. Constitution mandates a vote of Congress before the commander-and-chief can declare war and in Congress I will fight to ensure we support our troops by not sending to war unless the threat to our national security is clear and Congress approves the intervention.

Caring for Our Veterans
Americas' war veterans have a special place in my heart. After all, my family fought as part of the American mission in southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. I consider them American veterans as well.

So when I see veterans who are unemployed, without adequate housing, or even wandering the streets suffering from effects of PTSD or TBI–frankly, it makes me mad.

I believe we can do better. If elected to Congress, I will work to reform the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs to make it more pro-active in caring for American veterans.

“No American veteran should return home from war only to find they have no job, nor a place to live, or adequate healthcare coverage.” — Bobby Bliatout

Facts about our vets

  • There are roughly 24 million vets in the United States.
  • The Vietnam War has the most veterans at 7.8 million.
  • 3.4 million veterans have a service-related disability.
  • 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans suffer from PTSD.
  • California has the highest number of veterans (2.1 million.)

Source: Bureau of Veterans Affairs

“Every American that has fought for their nation deserves the dignity of knowing their sacrifices are respected and bear the fruits of prosperity” — Bobby Bliatout

Reforms for the Veterans Administration
Move veterans onto Medicare-for-all medical insurance pools and allow them provider choice.

Provide mental health recovery services, including PTSD/TBI, using the full extent of government resources.

Work with landlords and local veterans' groups to ensure Veteran Section 8 vouchers are fully used.

Hold VA-sponsored housing and health care training to assist our veterans.

Environmental Stewardship
We can have both jobs & a clean environment. There is a belief by some that job creation and environmental sustainability are opposing views. That's an old way of thinking, and for many good reasons, we need to move on that thinking. First of all, as technology advances, sustainable solutions to environmental concerns such as energy, air quality, water, and solid waste management have advanced as well.

It's also true that green jobs are some of the fastest-growing employment opportunities in California. These are quality jobs that range from engineering to installation in:

  • The rooftop solar industry (rooftop and solar farms)
  • Home and commercial HVAC and weatherization.
  • Wind power
  • Liquid biofuels
  • Geothermal
  • Bio Mas.

“I’m committed to helping bring high-paying green jobs to the Central Valley.” — Bobby Bliatout
Some of my environmental goals in Congress.

  • Work to provide federal grants to our local universities and community colleges to strengthen curriculum and training.
  • Work to create Biotech & Sustainability Institutes at Cal State Fresno and Bakersfield.
  • Support the Paris Climate Accords.
  • Fight efforts to dismantle Clean Air Act gains by the current EPA.

Tax Reform
This last December, the Trump administration and Congress passed a tax plan that devastates the middle class and working families while giving huge tax cuts to corporations. Devin Nunes called the plan, "fair and simple." It is any but fair and certainly not simple as the plan will add $1.7 trillion to the federal deficit over the next ten years. That will force interest rates to levels we haven't seen since the 70s.

Most importantly the tax plan does nothing to incentivize corporations for keeping their operations in the U.S. So, Google and Apple will continue to make record profits while the American people pay for their 14% tax cut.

The bottom line is that the so-called tax reform plan would help billionaires and corporations, all while hurting the Valley's middle-class and working families.

“I say we reverse the Trump/Nunes tax plan and write one that revives our nation’s middle-class families, not tear them down making them pay for tax breaks for the rich and corporations.” — Bobby Bliatout

Tax reform to help the middle class
Make sure corporations and the 1% pay their fair share of taxes by banning off-shore tax shelters.

Simplify the corporate tax code to eliminate ineffective tax breaks. We can reward corporations for creating jobs by making taxes straightforward and simple.

Tax wealth and work the same way. Today, those who receive a salary pay a far higher tax rate than billionaires pay on their investments. [14]

—Bobby Bliatout for Congress[15]


Democratic Party Ricardo Franco

Economy
We must grow and invest in good, stable jobs, green energy, and technology.

  • Taxes: Taxes for the middle class and small businesses must be cut, and wealthy corporations need to pay their fair share.
  • Jobs: We need to focus on underemployment, not just unemployment. We also need to ensure that workers, both organized and non-organized, have a seat at the table in business jobs and promote fair working conditions across the board.
  • Income: We must close the income gap by reducing taxes for the middle class and small businesses.

Healthcare
We must make a healthy lifestyle affordable, and ensure that everyone has access to healthcare through Medicare for All.

  • Food: We must fight the existence of food deserts, make healthy foods more affordable for low-income families, and support programs such as WIC and SNAP.
  • Medicare for All: I fully support Medicare for All and pledge to cosponsor it if elected to Congress. I believe that healthcare is a human right, and will ensure that we maintain access to emergency, preventative, and reproductive healthcare.
  • Mental Health: We must expand mental health services by guaranteeing healthcare coverage and expanding services to veterans, schools, and the criminal justice system.

Veterans
We must support our troops as civilian veterans as much as we do in combat. That means properly funding and staffing the VA, improving access and visibility of care, and streamlining their transition.

  • Rural Veterans: Support rural veterans by improving outreach services and transportation access to regional medical facilities
  • Transitional Programs: Increase funding for service member transitional programs
  • Medical Care: Create Regional Clinics and an Aquatic Therapy Program at Fresno VA Regional Hospital
  • Mental Health: Extend Clay Hunt SAV Bill funding for mental health services

Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Immigration reform must be comprehensive, compassionate, and provide a path to citizenship for undocumented Americans.

  • DREAM Act: I fully support the DREAM Act and would cosponsor it if elected to Congress. I also support the reinstatement of DACA.
  • Skilled Worker Visas: The private sector knows what they need when it comes to workers, and should be able to help dictate how we issue skilled and non-skilled worker visas.
  • Refugees: We should continue the American Spirit of accepting refugees, while keeping our homeland safe.

Environment
We must both protect and conserve our natural resources and fight for a greener economy to grow our communities and resist climate change.

  • Fracking: Fracking is destructive and devastating, and must be stopped immediately.
  • Climate Change: Climate change is real, and it is a humanitarian issue. We must address this global crisis through promotion of green jobs, common sense regulations, and helping businesses go green.
  • Green Jobs: When we choose to focus on green jobs, our economy and job opportunities grow. California already has over 550,000 advanced energy jobs, and we need to make this a national standard.
  • Clean Water: We must ensure every community has access to safe, clean drinking water - from Flint, Michigan to California’s Central Valley.

Water
Water is life for us in the Central Valley.

  • Work with government leaders in the West as well as Washington to update our water storage and delivery systems for residential, industrial and agricultural use
  • Conserve our environment while making sure we put human life first

Education
In order for education to be the great equalizer, every student should be equipped with the knowledge they need to thrive in our economy.

  • Higher education: We need to make sure that a higher education is within reach by eliminating access barriers based on your parents' income, your racial background, gender, or zip code.
  • College Affordability: California has taken a step in the right direction making 1 year of community college free, but we need to start moving towards fully-funded, tuition-free public colleges and universities.
  • K12: We need to ensure appropriate teacher-student ratios, support for nursing and mental health, full funding for education, universal Pre-K access, and well-rounded curriculum that includes the arts.
  • Teachers: As educators and professionals, no one knows more about the classroom than teachers. We must support them and take their lead, since no one else knows education better than they do.

Civil Rights
We must lift up and support marginalized communities, restore trust and representation in our government, and protect affirmative action.

  • Voting: We should be making it easier for people to vote, not more difficult. Our low voter turnout rates are only made worse by restrictive laws that make voting a challenge.
  • Women’s Rights: I am committed to fight for equal pay, preventing sexual assault, protecting a woman's right to choose, ending human trafficking, and maintaining access to reproductive care, including birth control.
  • Criminal Justice: We must move towards a community policing system to restore trust. Community members should see police as people who are there to help them, not people who are there to punish them.
  • Bail Reform: Our pretrial system should be keeping dangerous criminals off of the streets, not keeping poor people or people of color in jail. Cash bail must be eliminated.
  • Marriage Equality: I support love - plain and simple. I am proud to support the LGBT+ community, and fully support marriage equality.

LGBTQ+ Rights
Equality means protecting all of our communities regardless of their choice of who they love.

  • Protect same sex marriage rights
  • Expand the Federal Fair Housing Act to protect the housing rights of LGBTQ+ people
  • Address the issue of disproportionate deportations of transgender people and their housing conditions while detained, and refugee status for LGBTQ+ people
  • Combat the disproportionate incarceration of minorities, including LGBTQ+ people, by eliminating cash bail, reforming drug laws, and putting an emphasis on community wellbeing
  • Strengthen protections for victims of sexual harassment and assault
  • Expand federal workplace protections for LGBTQ+ people
  • Simplify the process for legal name changes on Social Security Cards and bank accounts.

Unions
Organized labor fought to provide us the protections we have in the modern workplace. We must work to restore, defend and expand these protections

  • Fight back against dangerous “right to work” laws
  • Support the right of workers to legally unionize
  • Advocate for a $15 federal minimum “living wage”
  • Pledge to cosponsor Medicare for All which will remove the burden of providing healthcare from the employer and provide employees with accessible, affordable healthcare
  • Support career technical education programs that prepare students for unionized jobs that grow the economy
  • Ensure fair working conditions and adequate compensation for workplace-related injuries

Election Transparency
The survival of our nation relies upon preserving a true democracy. Ensuring we have fair elections in an age of new technological threats as well as not disenfranchising voters is vital

  • Expand the use of open source voting machines, which are less susceptible to hacking
  • Support and encourage election audits, which are critical to our democracy
  • Address the insecurities of ballot tabulators, which can lead to a crisis in national security
  • Work to author or co-sponsor legislation to devise a new Section 5 coverage formula after it was struck down from the Voting Rights Act

Poverty
Poverty robs from children the ability to dream. No one should have to choose between paying for healthcare and putting food on the table.

  • Housing: The Housing First model has worked to eliminate veteran homelessness, and should be expanded to fight homelessness nationwide. Housing should be affordable and accessible for all people.
  • Poverty: I will work to improve public health and services to ensure that people who need a leg up have the resources they need, with an efficient system.[14]
Franco for Congress[16]


Democratic Party Andrew Janz

Healthcare
The Affordable Care Act expanded health insurance to 24 million Americans who didn’t have it before. However, there are flaws in the design. We should keep what works and fix what doesn’t. Unfortunately, the current proposals in Congress would strip millions of their access to healthcare by gutting Medicaid, scrapping the pre-existing conditions mandate and instituting an Age Tax that would make seniors pay more. This is the wrong approach. We must work together to ensure that, regardless of income level, every American is covered. Americans should not be going broke because a family member or they themselves get sick. Healthcare is a right, not a privilege. I also believe Congress must keep its promise to seniors and strengthen Medicare, not cut it. Medicare is not the government's money; it is your money. You earned it.

Crime
As a prosecutor, I work closely with our law enforcement partners, especially the men and women who serve and protect our communities as peace officers. I will fight to protect federal grant money that the Trump administration is threatening to withhold from our law enforcement agencies. Our policing agencies should not be held hostage to Sacramento and Washington's political fights.

Immigration
We need comprehensive immigration reform and secure borders. They’re not mutually-exclusive. We need a visa program that allows farmers and business owners to legally employ the labor they need. We need a work visa program that will bring these employees out of the shadows, so they can pay taxes and fully take part in the communities they support with their labor. While dangerous criminals who are here illegally should properly be deported, as a career prosecutor, I know that having ICE officials threatening crime victims and witnesses is making us all less safe. ICE should stay out of schools, hospitals, and courthouses.

Investing in Students & Teachers
Investing in our children’s education is the best way to build the economy of the future. When I served on the California State University Strategic Planning Commission I fought to expand access to all students regardless of their income or racial background. What we need now is an education system that prepares our children to be productive members of society and gives them the tools to enter the 21st-century job market. Many schools in CD-22 are underfunded and existing laws target these schools for budget cuts. For far too long teachers and professors have been blamed for lack of adequate funding from federal, state, and local governments. When I marched alongside the California Faculty Association during my days as a student leader at CSU Stanislaus, I understood that better working conditions for educators meant better learning environments for students. Although California is the wealthiest state in the nation, we rank near the bottom in funding per student. It is time for a change.

As your member of Congress I will push the federal government to do the following with respect to K-12 education: (1) ensure that no student is denied the right to equal educational opportunity, (2) protect grant funding for programs that expand access to educational opportunities, specifically art and STEM programs for students living in poverty and underserved communities, (3) continue to provide funding for research and data gathering so that local governments may make more informed decisions in education policy, and (4) support the mission and goals of state and local governments in improving education systems.

With respect to higher education, we need to reduce the cost to attend a four-year college. Students graduating from universities are saddled with debt and struggle to find well-paying jobs to repay their loans. The federal government should offer additional loan repayment programs such as the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Additionally, not all students are geared to go to a standard four-year college. We, as a society, need to expand apprenticeship programs through new and additional public-private partnerships.

Water for the Valley
Water is one of the most important issue areas in the valley, one that Devin Nunes has tried to own during his tenure as our representative. I have spoken with countless local farmers, and I have looked at the state of our aquifer levels and water storage systems; I can tell you that Nunes hasn't delivered. I will work on increasing water storage for our Valley and commit to recharging our underground aquifers. I will work in a collaborative way that does not undermine our environment or our farmers.

Women's Health
I strongly support every woman’s right to choose and will stand up to any efforts to criminalize abortion. Reproductive health care decisions should be between a woman and her doctor, not Washington politicians.

Economy
My wife is a small business owner. Both she and I still carry student debt. We understand the burdens that hold back so many Americans from financial independence. Washington needs to be more responsive to the small businesses and working Americans who can’t afford to hire special interest lobbyists. We need to reduce the burden of taxes on small businesses and middle-class families, while simplifying tax filing. We need to ensure that the rising cost of college doesn’t hold anyone back from following their dream. And we need to prioritize the research and development that creates the high-paying and high-tech jobs of the future, so more Americans can find work that supports a family.

Gun Safety
I am in a unique position to tackle gun safety issues with credibility in Congress. As a prosecutor, I deal with violent crimes daily, and as a gun owner, I support an individual's right to bear arms. I am committed to enacting universal background checks, and closing gun show and private sale loopholes. Additionally, I believe that no one who commits a violent crime or who is mentally ill should have access to guns. Specifically, I support a measure banning those who are convicted of committing domestic violence from owning a gun. I also strongly support the no-fly no buy list. My opponent Devin Nunes has an A rating from the NRA and has accepted over $20,000 in contributions from them. I will never take a dime from the NRA or any organization that opposes common-sense gun safety legislation that will save lives and end the epidemic of mass shootings in America.

Climate Change
We’re already experiencing the effects of climate change in the Central Valley and around the world. Protecting the environment and ensuring clean air and water will be priority issues in my campaign. We can’t afford a member of Congress who ignores the threat of climate change we need one who is ready to act. The Central Valley can become California’s renewable energy powerhouse, creating good-paying jobs that the Valley desperately needs, but we will only achieve that through local, state, and federal cooperation and leadership.

Protecting & Expanding Medicaid
Medicaid is an essential part of this country’s safety net. Tens of millions of working families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities rely on Medicaid for their healthcare. Current Republican proposals in Washington would devastate the Central Valley with huge cuts to Medicaid. Medicaid is essential to keeping our most vulnerable populations covered by health insurance. It also boosts our local economy by adding jobs to the region and keeps rural hospitals open. I strongly oppose any effort to cut Medicaid. We should be working to strengthen the program for years to come, so that no American, regardless of income level, is without access to healthcare.

Ending Citizens United
People are understandably fed up with a political system that has been hijacked by billionaires and special interests. I strongly support the efforts to overturn Citizens United and will support legislation to require outside groups to publicly disclose political spending. Reducing the stranglehold that dark money has on our elections is a crucial step to making our government actually work for everyday Americans again.

Clean Drinking Water
It's unacceptable that people must use unsafe tap water, including people right here in California's 22nd Congressional District. Central Valley residents need representation in Washington that will advocate for clean water. This is something that we should all agree on. I will take the opposite approach of Devin Nunes. I will challenge the EPA to do more. I will work with state and local level agencies to ensure our residents have clean drinking water.

Criminal Justice Reform
As a prosecutor, my first priority is to the safety of our community. I will continue to do my best to seek justice for victims of violent crimes. With that being said, I am in a unique position to talk about criminal justice reform. From day one, I have spoken about the need to reform our criminal justice system.

Over the years I have supported a number of initiatives that end the seemingly endless cycle of incarceration that disproportionately targets low-income minorities. Specifically, I have supported increased funding for diversion programs that help those with drug addiction and mental health issues.

As a prosecutor, I have sought behavioral health programs in lieu of jail or prison time for non-violent offenders. Additionally, Fresno County has implemented a new bail system which I support and use every day. This bail system does not take into consideration a person's race or ability to pay and will allow non-violent offenders to be released pending trial under supervision so long as they are not a flight risk or a danger to the community. This is a model I support and one I believe should be enacted nationwide. I vehemently oppose profit-driven incarceration and prisons. I will fight any attempt for private businesses to take over our prison system. I believe these institutions should be accountable to the people and any attempt to privatize prisons will lead to re-offending and not to rehabilitation.

The question of how to reduce crime is a difficult question. However, I believe if we invest in education, commit ourselves to ending income-inequality, and promote mental health programs, we will see a sharp decline in recidivism and property crimes. We need to create more opportunity for everyone and my campaign is aimed at tackling these tough issues.

Dignity in Aging
Aging is not a disease, it's a gift. We should honor those who have worked hard and created paths for the next generation by providing them a life of dignity, choice and independence. We need to invest in services that provide the option for people to age in place, within their own communities, and in their own homes. They should not be an afterthought, forgotten and relegated to hospitals and institutions, choices which are more costly and less desirable. No one should age out of dignity in America.

According to the California Department of Finance (http://www.dof.ca.gov/Forecasting/Demographics/projections/), from 2010 - 2060, the aging population will grow as follows:

  • Ages 65 - 74 by 140%
  • Ages 75 - 84 by 203%
  • Age 85 and older by 316%

Mental Health
New scientific studies show that maintaining our mental health is just as important as maintaining our physical health. Through education, I will fight to end social stigmas associated with seeking mental health services. I firmly believe that mental health services must be included in any health insurance. To that end, I will support legislation that provides more access and coverage for mental health services in our community to reduce emergency room visits, child abuse, incarceration, and homelessness. I would like to see a higher number of skilled mental health providers in our district to address shortages and I hope to break through the barriers which prevent patients from seeking services through cost-efficient programs.

Veteran Issues
Those who have served our country deserve more than just one day of recognition a year. They deserve a government that will fight to ensure that they have the healthcare and resources they need when they come home. I promise I will work to be a champion for veteran's issues. I will work to modernize and simplify the VA, expand mental health coverage, and work on incentives to hire and house veterans. This issue is one that hits close to home as it is the reason my wife Heather became a mental health professional. She witnessed her father struggle with PTSD after he came home from serving our country overseas. Heather’s experiences with her father led her to become a licensed marriage and family therapist and a staunch advocate for mental health services for veterans.

Accountability & Accessibility
As a candidate, and if elected as a Congressman, I will work for you, not for big business or special interest groups. I promise to hold at least two town halls a year, provide mobile office hours across the district, and to use social media to actively engage with you and hear your concerns. I will hire professional and diverse staff members who are ready to work for all members of the community. My offices will be open to the public, no appointment necessary. I work for you and I will never forget that.

Investing in Early Childhood Development
Recent studies have shown that a child’s brain develops at an astronomical rate during the period between conception and pre-kindergarten. Many factors influence brain development during this age including relationships, experiences, and environment. Of course, there is nothing better than good parenting, however, funding early childhood programs such as pre-kindergarten have been shown to have a net positive impact on both child and society.

In fact, children who do not receive quality learning programs during these early years are 70 percent more likely to commit violent crimes before age 18. This is especially true in underserved communities in the Central Valley. Every dollar society spends on a child before the age of five yields a net societal benefit of seven dollars. Our nation and communities need to decide whether we want to continue funding revolving door prisons or if we want to fund preschools. I will fight to fully fund universal pre-kindergarten. It's one of the best investments we can make.

LGBTQ Issues
As a prosecutor, I am deeply aware of the fact that the LGBTQ community faces a much higher risk of violence than the general population. Every American, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, deserves to live a life of dignity, respect, and safety. I will fight any attacks on same-sex marriage and am strongly opposed to bathroom bills that threaten the dignity and safety of transgender Americans.

Protecting our DREAMERS
Dreamers were brought to the United States by no fault of their own during childhood. Over the years, Dreamers have integrated into our society and worked hard for the American dream. Many have started their own businesses and volunteered to serve in our armed forces. They are law-abiding taxpayers that have no criminal history. We must keep our promises to them by creating a pathway to citizenship. If Donald Trump had his way, they would all be deported despite his promises during the campaign to protect their interests. What’s worse, if we fail to pass legislation to protect DACA-eligible immigrants, our local economy in CD-22 would see a net-negative economic impact of about $274 million per year. Dreamers contribute to our local economy. There are approximately 7,700 DACA-eligible immigrants in CD-22, 5,000 of whom have already secured DACA status. The majority of Americans believe that Dreamers deserve a pathway to citizenship, as do I. I will protect Dreamers from Trump’s attempt to have them all deported and will not use DACA recipients as a bargaining chip to fund Trump’s frivolous spending at our southern border.[14]

Andrew Janz for Congress[17]


Grey.png Brian T. Carroll

Foreign Affairs
The primary foreign affairs tasks given to Congress are to supply funds and advice to the President, and to ask the hard questions. In our complex world, any corner can spin out of control on a moment’s notice, yet no candidate for any office can be an expert in the whole world. I would bring to Congress a generalist’s wide knowledge, gained over a lifetime of reading, travel, and international friendships.

Some of my experiences I attribute to dumb luck. I happened to be standing on a sidewalk Berlin, in 2000, when French President Jacques Chirac arrived to meet German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. They shook hands all around, and then we all walked together under the Brandenburg Gate, a monumental moment that signified French acceptance of Berlin as Germany’s capital, 55 years after the end of World War II. In 1967, a high school teacher told me that Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie would be speaking at UCLA, and that it would be worth playing hooky for a day to go see him. I correctly guessed his exit route, and was standing within a few feet as he passed by. In Colombia, I was asked to host a dignitary, and I found myself over dinner, chatting with a senator who had served as a delegate to that country’s 1990 Constitutional Convention. On another occasion, I got to observe the election of a village headman among a slave-tribe in the Amazon.

Other background also comes from travel. In 2004, I taught a summer school English class in China, where my assignment was to get the students to talk, and talk about anything. They asked whether the US would ever fight a war with China over Taiwan. I remember their eyes getting big when I answered that no, if the US fought a war with China, it would be over the crazy guy in North Korea. In 1972, hiking near the Jordan River, I was stopped by an Israeli patrol wanting to know what I was doing there. After interrogating me and deciding I was harmless, they gave me a lift out to the main highway. Altogether, I have almost ten years in Latin America, either living in Colombia or visiting friends and family in Brazil. My five trips to Europe, Turkey, and Israel total about six months, and I have friends or family in England, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Nine weeks in Asia have introduced me to six Chinese provinces and Uzbekistan. My experiences with Africa come vicariously. My aunt and uncle served in the Congo, doing community development during the turbulent early 1960s, and I maintain a lively Facebook friendship with the Maasai headmaster of an elementary school in Kenya, and other Africans.

I began voraciously reading biographies at age eight, and between ten and twelve I added the habit of reading the world and national sections of both the daily newspaper and a weekly newsmagazine. I majored in history at UCLA, researching and writing extensively about Chinese and Japanese immigration into Europe and the Americas. My teaching career has included both US, Latin American, and World History. I taught Comparative Democracy as a civics course to international students. I speak passable Spanish and have a fair reading knowledge of Portuguese.

As a generalist in a world of complexity and specialization, I can quickly be up to speed on an area of the world that spins out of control. There is no way to predict what foreign difficulties the United States might face in the future, and no way for anyone to be an expert on everything. However, I believe my background prepares me to combine on-the-ground experience with broad knowledge to a degree that few other congresspersons will be able to match.

War and Peace
In 1914, Woodrow Wilson ran as the “Peace” candidate, promising to keep the US out of World War I. In 1940, FDR campaigned on the promise to keep us out of World War II. LBJ demonized Barry Goldwater as a warmonger, before escalating the “police action” in Vietnam that eventually cost some 1,353,000 lives (Wikipedia, counting combatants on both sides and civilians). Barack Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize, but the US was bombing seven countries when he left the White House.

Self proclaimed “Peace” candidates have a very poor record, and I have no intention of making promises I won’t be able to keep. But these will be my intentions should I be elected to Congress:

· I will never vote to put a war on the nation’s credit card. If a situation is not sufficiently serious that one generation sees war as worth the price, it isn’t worth the price. Much of our national debt today stems from decisions by Presidents Bush and Obama—and the Congresses that accompanied them—to pass war debt to the next generation.

· I will never vote to give the President a War Powers blank check. LBJ abused the Tonkin Gulf Resolution and Presidents Bush and Obama have stretched whatever permission Congress gave them beyond recognition. Where, for example, has Congress given the President permission for our participation in the war in Yemen, where carpet-bombing has destroyed housing and infrastructure, subjecting some 7 million civilians to famine and 700,000 to cholera. What, for that matter, is the US national interest in Yemen? Are we primarily there because we sell munitions to the Saudis? The Constitution gives Congress the power-of-the-purse precisely to rein in an adventurous president.

· I will never vote to send American soldiers to a war for which we are not ready to care for the wounded and distraught soldiers who return. Too often, our wars seem designed to protect corporate interests, and our returning soldiers are treated as collateral damage. If we are not prepared to fund top quality veterans’ care and reentry programs, then we are not prepared to go to war.

· I will never vote for military spending that provides things the military hasn’t even asked for. I have seen examples of the military budget being padded with goodies to benefit favored Congressional districts. When the goal is to stimulate depressed economies, there are more efficient—and more honest—ways to do it.

· I will never vote for war without considering both the lives of the young Americans we are sending into harm’s way, and the lives of civilians on both sides who have increasingly become the victims of modern warfare.

Civil Rights
So many subtopics come under the general heading of civil rights. Twenty-five times during the last 40 years, I have taught through the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Gettysburg Address, at either the junior high or high school level. I teach that much of this was less a description of what we were than an outline of what we wanted to become, and that we are not there yet. My purpose in teaching it to my students is that they would pick up the task and work to complete it. Until “All Men” are not just “Created Equal” in theory, but in day-to-day practice, we still have room to improve.

We have come a long way, just during my lifetime. As a child, I saw the news reports as President Eisenhower used the National Guard to walk American citizens to their rightful places in the neighborhood schools of Little Rock Arkansas. Our own state had legalized red-lining to keep minority home-buyers out of White neighborhoods. Poll taxes kept the poor from voting. We have managed to move many of the barriers from de jure violations of civil rights to de facto, but too many violations still exist. High rates of incarceration within minority communities, coupled with a system of private prisons, make me wonder if we have truly fulfilled the promise of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. The protections of the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 14th Amendments are enjoyed by corporations at the same time that they fail to protect categories of natural persons, both born and pre-born. Just in the last three weeks, police shootings in both Tulare and Sacramento raise serious questions about how we train our officers, and the instructions we give them. I have families in my classroom, where one sibling is here legally and protected, while a brother or sister could be detained and deported on short notice. The list could go on. I don’t expect that we can ameliorate all of these civil rights issues in our lifetimes, but we must keep the goal ever in our sights.[14]

Carroll for Congress[18]


Campaign finance

The table below contains data from FEC Quarterly January 2018 reports. It includes only candidates who have reported at least $10,000 in campaign contributions as of December 31, 2017.[19]
Democratic Party Democrats

Republican Party Republicans


Satellite spending

Fight Back California

Fight Back PAC is a political committee associated with March On, which was founded by organizers of protest marches which took place following President Trump's (R) inauguration in January 2017.[20][21] Fight Back PAC's California branch announced on May 21, 2018, that it would fund the placement of three billboards with messages opposed to Devin Nunes (R).[22]

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods
Race ratings: California's 22nd Congressional District election, 2018
Race tracker Race ratings
October 30, 2018 October 23, 2018October 16, 2018October 9, 2018
The Cook Political Report Likely Republican Solid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales Solid Republican Solid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball Likely Republican Likely RepublicanLikely RepublicanLikely Republican
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every two weeks throughout the election season.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia tracks endorsements by organizations and elected officials. As of March 23, 2018, we have located the following endorsements in this race. To notify us of other endorsements, please email us.

Primary election endorsements
Endorsement Democratic Party Bliatout[23] Democratic Party Janz[24]
Federal officials
Ami Bera, U.S. representative
Zoe Lofgren, U.S. representative
Jerry McNerney, U.S. representative
Mark Takano, U.S. representative
Eric Swalwell, U.S. representative
Jimmy Gomez, U.S. representative
Pete Aguilar, U.S. representative
State figures
Fiona Ma, California State Board of Equalization member
Local figures
Sal Quintero, Fresno County supervisor
Leticia Perez, Kern County supervisor
Susan Anderson, former Fresno County supervisor
Henry Perea, former Fresno County supervisor
Lali Moheno, former Tulare County supervisor
Oliver Baines, Fresno city councilman
Luis Chavez, Fresno city councilman
Anita Betancourt, Reedly mayor
Jim Avalos, Selma mayor
Greg Gomez, Farmersville city councilman
Jose Sigala, Tulare city councilman
Tom Bohigian, former Fresno city councilman
Steve Rapada, former Reedly city councilman
Miguel Arias, State Center Community College District trustee
John Leal, State Center Community College District trustee
Cal Johnson, Fresno Unified School District trustee
Christopher De La Cerda, Fresno Unified School District trustee
Brandon Vang, Sanger Unified School District trustee
Luci Vazquez, Visalia Unified School District trustee
Organizations
California Young Democrats
Central Valley Indivisible
Clovis Democratic Club
College of Sequoias Young Dems
California Democratic Party
End Citizens United
Every Tuesday Vigil
Fresno County Democratic Central Committee
Fresno County Young Democrats
Fresno, Madera, Kings & Tulare Counties Building & Construction Trades Council
Laborers Local 294
SEIU California
Speak Up! CD22
Tulare County Democratic Central Committee


Campaign tactics and strategies

Campaign advertisements

Democratic Party Andrew Janz

Support
"JANZ CA 22 JUSTICE" - Janz campaign ad, released May 8, 2018


State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in California heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

State executives

  • As of May 2018, Democrats held seven of 10 state executive positions and the remaining three positions were officially nonpartisan.
  • The governor of California was Democrat Jerry Brown.

State legislature

  • Democrats controlled both chambers of the California State Legislature. They had a 55-25 majority in the state Assembly and a 27-13 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

  • California was a state government trifecta, meaning that Democrats held the governorship and majorities in the state house and state senate.

2018 elections

See also: California elections, 2018

California held elections for the following positions in 2018:

Demographics

Demographic data for California
 CaliforniaU.S.
Total population:38,993,940316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):155,7793,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:61.8%73.6%
Black/African American:5.9%12.6%
Asian:13.7%5.1%
Native American:0.7%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0.4%0.2%
Two or more:4.5%3%
Hispanic/Latino:38.4%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:81.8%86.7%
College graduation rate:31.4%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$61,818$53,889
Persons below poverty level:18.2%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in California.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

As of July 2016, California had a population of approximately 39,000,000 people, with its three largest cities being Los Angeles (pop. est. 4.0 million), San Diego (pop. est. 1.4 million), and San Jose (pop. est. 1 million).[25][26]

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in California from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the California Secretary of State.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in California every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), California 2000-2016
Year First-place candidate First-place candidate votes (%) Second-place candidate Second-place candidate votes (%) Margin of victory (%)
2016 Democratic Party Hillary Clinton 61.7% Republican Party Donald Trump 31.6% 30.1%
2012 Democratic Party Barack Obama 60.2% Republican Party Mitt Romney 37.1% 23.1%
2008 Democratic Party Barack Obama 61.1% Republican Party John McCain 37% 24.1%
2004 Democratic Party John Kerry 54.4% Republican Party George W. Bush 44.4% 10%
2000 Democratic Party Al Gore 53.5% Republican Party George W. Bush 41.7% 11.8%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in California from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), California 2000-2016
Year First-place candidate First-place candidate votes (%) Second-place candidate Second-place candidate votes (%) Margin of victory (%)
2016 Democratic Party Kamala Harris 61.6% Democratic Party Loretta Sanchez 38.4% 23.2%
2012 Democratic Party Dianne Feinstein 62.5% Republican Party Elizabeth Emken 37.5% 25%
2010 Democratic Party Barbara Boxer 52.2% Republican Party Carly Fiorina 42.2% 10%
2006 Democratic Party Dianne Feinstein 59.5% Republican Party Richard Mountjoy 35.1% 24.4%
2004 Democratic Party Barbara Boxer 57.8% Republican Party Bill Jones 37.8% 20%
2000 Democratic Party Dianne Feinstein 55.9% Republican Party Tom Campbell 36.6% 19.3%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in California.

Election results (Governor), California 2000-2016
Year First-place candidate First-place candidate votes (%) Second-place candidate Second-place candidate votes (%) Margin of victory (%)
2014 Democratic Party Jerry Brown 60% Republican Party Neel Kashkari 40% 20%
2010 Democratic Party Jerry Brown 53.8% Republican Party Meg Whitman 40.9% 12.9%
2006 Republican Party Arnold Schwarzenegger 55.9% Democratic Party Phil Angelides 39.0% 16.9%
2002 Democratic Party Gray Davis 47.3% Republican Party Bill Simon 42.4% 4.9%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent California in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, California 2000-2016
Year Democrats Democrats (%) Republicans Republicans (%) Balance of power
2016 Democratic Party 39 73.5% Republican Party 14 26.4% D+25
2014 Democratic Party 39 73.5% Republican Party 14 26.4% D+25
2012 Democratic Party 38 71.7% Republican Party 15 28.3% D+23
2010 Democratic Party 34 64.1% Republican Party 19 35.8% D+15
2008 Democratic Party 34 64.1% Republican Party 19 35.8% D+15
2006 Democratic Party 34 64.1% Republican Party 19 35.8% D+15
2004 Democratic Party 33 62.3% Republican Party 20 37.7% D+13
2002 Democratic Party 33 62.3% Republican Party 20 37.7% D+13
2000 Democratic Party 32 61.5% Republican Party 20 38.5% D+12

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

California Party Control: 1992-2025
Twenty years with Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor R R R R R R R D D D D D R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
Assembly D D D S R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D


See also

Footnotes

  1. The Cook Political Report, "2018 House Race Ratings," accessed December 6, 2017
  2. Sabato's Crystal Ball, "2018 House," accessed December 6, 2017
  3. Inside Elections, "House Ratings," accessed December 6, 2017
  4. Bloomberg, "Devin Nunes's safe seat is looking less safe," February 22, 2018
  5. Andrew Janz for Congress, "Andrew's Endorsements," accessed April 26, 2018
  6. 6.0 6.1 California Secretary of State, "Election dates and resources," accessed January 31, 2018
  7. Ballotpedia staff, "Phone call with the California Secretary of State's Office," January 31, 2018
  8. Devin Nunes for Congress, "Home," accessed April 23, 2018
  9. Devin Nunes for Congress, "Biography," accessed April 23, 2018
  10. Fresno Bee, "County prosecutor Andrew Janz says he’ll challenge Devin Nunes for Congress seat," April 25, 2017
  11. Andrew Janz for Congress, "Issues," accessed April 23, 2018
  12. Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
  13. FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  15. Bobby Bliatout for Congress, "Home," accessed April 23, 2018
  16. Ricardo Franco for Congress, "Home," accessed April 23, 2018
  17. Andrew Janz for Congress, "Issues," accessed April 23, 2018
  18. Caroll for Congress, "Issues," accessed April 23, 2018
  19. FEC, "Federal Election Commission", accessed February 13, 2018
  20. [https://fightbackpac.com/ Fight Back PAC, "Home," accessed May 23, 2018
  21. We Are March On, "About," accessed May 23, 2018
  22. Newsmax, "Dem Ad Campaign Targets Rep. Devin Nunes," May 21, 2018
  23. Bobby Bliatout, "Endorsements," accessed March 23, 2018
  24. Andrew Janz for Congress, "Endorsements," accessed March 23, 2018
  25. California Demographics, "California Cities by Population," accessed April 2, 2018
  26. U.S. Census Bureau, "Quickfacts California," accessed April 2, 2018


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
Ami Bera (D)
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
Adam Gray (D)
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
Ro Khanna (D)
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
Jim Costa (D)
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
Raul Ruiz (D)
District 26
District 27
District 28
Judy Chu (D)
District 29
Luz Rivas (D)
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
Ted Lieu (D)
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
Young Kim (R)
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
Dave Min (D)
District 48
District 49
District 50
District 51
District 52
Democratic Party (45)
Republican Party (9)