The last House Republican standing who voted to impeach President Trump is in danger of losing his battleground seat — and it is Democrats, not his own party, who are trying to knock him down.
Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), who represents Bakersfield, is in a toss-up race to hang onto his seat while facing a heavy opposition from national Democrats plotting to pluck seats from the Golden State.
“The Republicans who voted in favor of impeachment, I think are largely a dying breed,” said Jessica A. Levinson, a political analyst who teaches law at Loyola Marymount University.
“It’s not just that this was a consequential vote, but it’s seen as whether or not you’re loyal to Trump, and whether or not you’re a party loyalist. And I think it’s hard to overstate the impact that those votes have had for some representatives and senators.”
The Cook Political Report now rates Valadao’s race as a pure toss-up, after Democrats pushed through a mid-decade redistricting measure that reshaped his district in response to similar moves in Republican-run states.
California uses a top-two primary system — all candidates regardless of party appear on one ballot, and the top two finishers advance to the general election in November.
Two Democrats are battling in the June 2 primary to take on Valadao: Physician Jasmeet Bains is backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, while lefty political science professor Randy Villegas is supported by “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes (D-NY).
“He has both a tougher district and a tougher environment. Even though he has a decent record of over-performing he’s going to be in a tougher position” said Erin Covey of the Cook Report. Trump carried his redrawn district by just two percentage points.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who cast a vote to convict Trump in the Senate of “incitement of insurrection” in January 2021, lost his seat in a Republican primary last week after the president endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) and branded him a “disloyal disaster.”
It was the latest stop in a revenge tour where Trump and his allies took out Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who crossed Trump on a raft of matters.
Valadao, who worked in the agriculture industry before getting into politics, said in 2021 while insisting his impeachment vote that Trump’s “inciting rhetoric was un-American, abhorrent, and absolutely an impeachable offense.”
But he made peace with the White House and cast a critical vote for Trump’s One Big Beautiful bill.
The Democratic campaign arm now says he “chose his party in Washington” over voters by voting for it and have been hammering on Medicaid cuts. His Central Valley district has the highest Medicaid enrollment of any GOP-held district.
His campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In Georgia, there has been speculation Trump could endorse to shake up a runoff election there. Former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley, who is backed by Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) and made it into the runoff, has been making statements that could torpedo his chances with Trump.
He was asked on Newsmax whether he would end the Senate filibuster to push through Trump’s Save America Act dealing with voter ID and other matters.
“I think there’s a bigger issue at stake,” he responded and said the filibuster was sometimes a safeguard against Democratic ideas.
His rival, Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.), blasted Dooley for a comment he made on MSBC about illegal immigration. “I’m very sensitive to both sides of the issue,” Dooley said, saying migrants who got here illegally shouldn’t have to “look over their shoulder every five minutes.”
Collins, who is battling to take on the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent, responded: “The guy who has the same immigration policy as [Georgia Sen.] Jon Ossoff shouldn’t be who we replace Jon Ossoff with.”
The White House did not return a request for comment.
