Republican Representative David Valadao defeated Democratic challenger Rudy Salas

Republican Rep. David Valadao managed to fend off a challenge from Democrat Rudy Salas to retain his seat representing California’s 22nd District in the Central Valley.

Valadao’s win bolsters the Republican Party’s bid to retain control of the US House of Representatives and brings the GOP closer to controlling both houses of Congress after impeaching the US Senate last week.

The Associated Press called Valadao’s 22nd District race Tuesday night, though official results will take some time. After Valadao’s victory, Republicans need only two seats to win control of the House. About a dozen remaining seats are yet to be called.

The 22nd District race was one of the few California seats seen as important in determining which party will control the House. It’s usually a race won by slim margins. Both parties have invested heavily in the region, pouring millions into advertising.

The rural throw-in district includes parts of Kern, Kings and Tulare counties and includes Hanford south to Bakersfield. The economy is dominated by agriculture, and over 70% of residents are Latino. Here, 43% of voters are registered Democrats compared to 26% registered Republicans and 23% with no party preference. The Central Valley is home to many hard-line Democrats, who tend to vote differently than those in liberal metro areas like Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

The district has long been represented by Valadao, who was first elected to Congress in 2012 and won the seat again in 2020 after losing in 2018. Valadao was considered a vulnerable Republican because he was one of the few lawmakers in office who voted to impeach him at the time. -President Trump in 2021 and refused to endorse the Republican presidential nominee in this election. Valadao’s position in Congress will be closely watched after former President Trump won the presidential race.

The two congressional candidates have expressed opposing views on abortion rights. While in the Assembly, Salas sponsored a 2022 statewide ballot measure that would have included contraceptive and abortion rights in the California Constitution. Valadao previously sponsored the Life at Conception Act, a failed House bill that would have banned abortion nationwide without exception. Since then he has changed his position to support rape, sleeping with a relative and when the mother’s life is in danger. In an interview with the Times, Valadao said that abortion is not always a topic of discussion in his state and emphasized that it is “absent” for Californians.

The candidates come from different parts of the Central Valley’s agricultural landscape: Valadao is a dairy farmer of Portuguese heritage and Salas grew up in a Latino farm-working family. Valadao campaigned on his record for Congress, pointing to funds he’s raised for local projects and police departments to demonstrate his representation of the district.

Salas served in the California Assembly for 10 years and later became a political science instructor at Cal State Bakersfield. He told The Times newspaper earlier this year that he decided to run again because he saw that the citizens were happy with the changes.