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In the upcoming election, Central Valley Rep. David Valadao, who is already a ripe target for the Democratic Party, puts his political future deeper this week by in favour of laws that cut Medicaid compensation, essential for about two-thirds of his constituents.
The Republican dairy farmer from Hanford said despite concerns about President Trump’s megabuilding, he voted to support it for concessions that would help his district, including an additional $25 billion for rural hospitals and a billion for western water infrastructure and agricultural investments.
More than half a million residents of the Baradao area are covered in a program known as medical in California, according to the UC Berkeley Labor Center. The bill was passed by a narrow Republican majority, both in the House and Senate, while maintaining tax credits that benefited the wealthy while maintaining tax credits that benefited the wealthy, according to the Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Valadao said his members would benefit directly from several provisions in the law, including extending tax credits, abolishing taxes on tips and overtime, and expanding child tax credits.
“These are real wins that bring more money back in the pockets of hardworking families throughout the valley,” he said. “There is no complete law, but this bill reflects its ultimate priority [my district] – Commitment to protect lower taxes, stronger farms, better infrastructure, and access to healthcare for valley residents. ”
The Democrats have vowed to use Baradao’s vote to take him in office in the 2026 election. His district includes counties in Kern, Kings and Tulare Counties, one of the most competitive in the country.
Valadao has repeatedly vowed to oppose laws that cut the health care of his members. Recently, when he posted on social media platform X on Monday, he “supported Medicaid’s harmful cuts, repeatedly made clear that it supports serious funding, is at risk, and threatens the stability of healthcare providers across districts.”
After voting Thursday, Baradao said he voted for the bill because Medicaid is keeping “for intended recipients, children, pregnant women, disabled people and seniors.”
“David Baradao sealed his fate by voting for a bill that would tear health care from tens of thousands of people in his district. “He lied to their faces and then tried to clean it under the rug. We all knew he would fold when it mattered most. It was spinesless, injustice, and will be sacrificed to his seat next November.”
“David Valadao lied. He voted for Medical and gives the CEO a tax credit. We pay with our lives.” It was built on Thursday.
Gilbert Garcia, 68, of Bakersfield, warned that upcoming cuts will be “absolutely devastating.”
The retired grant writer for a nonprofit that serves adults with developmental disabilities is a member of the California Retired American Alliance and lives in the Baradao area.
“I think community-based programs will just be disbanded because of the cuts being made, meaning these individuals and all the programs and employees associated with them will disappear from the map,” he said.
He also worried that the only trauma center in the area that saved the life of his 10-year-old son over 30 years ago would likely be shut down due to the law.
In critical circumstances, people “have time to reach a trauma center with equipment that can stabilize them and keep them alive,” Garcia said. “We don’t have time to go to LA. We don’t have time to go to Fresno. People die when we arrive.”
Democrats also plan to target Ken Calvert (R-Corona) and Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills) for support of the bill. Hundreds of protesters descended on Kim’s Anaheim Field Office on Tuesday, urging lawmakers to oppose the legislative process.
Trump’s proposal passed the US Senate slightly on Tuesday, with Vice President JD Vance casting a tiebreaker vote in the exile of three GOP senators who joined all Democrats against it.
The law dramatically overhauls the country’s tax laws by approving tax cuts during the president’s first term. This will provide significant benefits to businesses and the country’s wealthy people, and will significantly cut funding for historic federal safety net programs, including Medicaid and Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Programs.
A CBO analysis released Sunday estimated that the Senate version of the proposal would increase the national deficit by about $3.3 trillion between 2025 and 2034, with 11.8 million Americans losing their health insurance within a decade.
The law creates a rift among Republicans, with some opposing the amount added to the deficit, while others have expressed concern about how it will affect their members. But ultimately, Congress’ GOP members set aside the differences to get the bill at the president’s desk by July 4th, as Trump had hoped.
During the marathon session that ended early Thursday morning, House of Representatives members approved procedural rules that allow Trump and GOP legislative leaders to win, taking the law into account by the full body, to approve 220-212 (voting primarily along the party line).
Valadao’s vote, which supported the procedural vote before midnight Wednesday, raised an eyebrow considering the number of members he relied on Medicaid, his previous willingness to oppose Trump, and GOP’s concerns about retaining control of his seat.
Tom Holyoke, a professor of political science at Cal State Fresno, noted that it was Trump’s first midterm elections in 2018 that Baradao lost re-election to Congress.
Democrats are targeting the Baradao district for several election cycles due to the party’s voter registration advantage in the region. His vote “certainly gives Democrats something to run, but they didn’t have much in the past,” Holyok said. “In particular, Baradao said he would vote against the bill before voting.”
According to the nonpartisan California Target Book, which handicaps Congressional races, more than 40% of district voters are Democrats, 28.3% are Republicans, and 23.3% are registered as having no party preferences.
Valadao, 48, served in the state legislature for one period before being elected to the legislature in 2012. He was re-elected twice in 2018 before losing only a small re-election. He won his seat in 2020.
He elicited the rage of fellow Republicans as one of the 10 GOP members of Congress who voted for Trump for bluff each in 2021 after violence from his supporters stormed the US Capitol in the aftermath of his loss in the 2020 presidential election. But Baradao was not facing the same retaliation as others due to his long-standing relationship with lawmakers with former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield.
Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters on Wednesday that Valadao should resign if he votes for the bill.
“It’s the ultimate betrayal,” he told a news conference in Burbank. “This is one of the most tragic and devastating bills of our life.”
Newsom predicted that the bill would pass, hospitals would be closed, Californians would lose access to healthcare and food stamps, and student loans would increase.
Valadao “maybe he resigns early and if he supports it, I can call a special election,” Newsom said. “If you betray your own constituency to such an extraordinary, extraordinary degree, what basis do you have in your district? It is one of the poorest districts in the country.”
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