In a year with very few competitive races on the ballot in Stanislaus County, among the least competitive was the race for the California’s 13th congressional district between incumbent Rep. John Duarte (R-Hughson) and former Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced).
It was uncompetitive in the sense that Duarte and Gray were the lone entrants, guaranteeing that both would advance to November’s general election.
But now that the March 5 primary is in the rear-view mirror, the Duarte-Gray rematch figures to be one of the most competitive races in the nation, as it was in 2022 when political neophyte Duarte upset Gray by just 564 votes to claim the seat. It was the second-closest congressional race in the country two years ago.
For months, the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter has classified the race as a toss-up.
Gray issued a press release just minutes after vote centers closed on Tuesday, wasting little time in firing the first salvo of the general election campaign.
“It’s time to put Congress back to work,” said Gray. “Our neighbors, friends, and families need someone in Washington who will actually get something done — not waste time on the taxpayers’ dime.
“John Duarte has been a member of the laziest, most unproductive Congress of the last century. Instead of doing the people’s business, Duarte and his far-right friends spent weeks arguing over who would be their speaker, trying to figure out how to keep women from getting health care, and failing to keep their own members out of trouble. This do-nothing Congress could not pass a farm bill. But it did pass a bill to create some commemorative coins.”
With 96.2 percent of precincts partially reporting as of 9:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Duarte and Gray were locked in another close battle.
Duarte was in front 1,247 votes — 18,492 to 17,245. Duarte held leads in Fresno and Madera counties, while Gray led in Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin counties.
Meanwhile, in the 5th congressional district, which, like the 13th, includes a portion of Turlock, incumbent Rep. Tom McClintock (R-El Dorado Hills) held a commanding lead over challengers Mike Barkley (D-Manteca) and Steve Wozniak (I-Modesto).
Barkley held a sizable lead over Wozniak and appears headed to a November rematch with McClintock.
In the 22nd Assembly District, incumbent Assemblymember Juan Alanis (R-Modesto) was leading challenger Jessica Self (D-Modesto) by nearly 1,200 votes with 100 percent of precincts partially reporting.
Like the Duarte-Gray matchup, Alanis and Self were the lone primary combatants and will automatically advance to November’s election. They squared off in 2022, with Alanis taking 58.1 percent of the vote.
In one of the other competitive races on the ballot, Proposition 1, which would authorize $6.38 billion in bonds to build mental health treatment facilities for those with mental-health and substance-use challenges, and provide housing for the homeless, was winning by nearly 170,000 votes with less than 42 percent of precincts reporting.
In other statewide races, Rep. Adam Schiff (CA-30) and former baseball star Steve Garvey, a Republican, appear headed to the November general election in the race for U.S. Senate, having outpolled Rep. Katie Porter (CA-47) and Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-12).
And to the surprise of absolutely nobody, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump won their parties’ primaries and are headed for another showdown in eight months.
With a good chunk of the vote-by-mail ballots counted, Biden had received 13,563 votes (89.2 percent) among Stanislaus County Democrats, while Trump had garnered 13,628 (81.1 percent) from the county’s Republicans.
In the contest for the county’s District 2 Democratic Central Committee, Margaret Souza, Victor Azevedo Costa, Michelle Tennell and Lise Talbot were the leading vote-getters at press time for the four open seats.
On the Republican side, Ryan Taylor, Kelly Thompson, Patrick Shields, Thomas Pannier and Christan Santos were the leaders for the GOP Central Committee’s five open seats.
Stanislaus County District 2 Supervisor Vito Chiesa ran unopposed.
All figures for this story were pulled from the various county websites and the website of the California Secretary of State.
