Adam Gray announces congressional bid, setting up Central Valley rematch with Rep. John Duarte

Prepare for a rematch of one of the closest elections in the 2022 midterms: Former Assemblyman Adam Gray announced Wednesday he is running for Congress in the 13th Congressional District, setting up a potential second head-to-head with Republican Rep. John Duarte.

“For nearly 10 years, I had the privilege of representing the Valley and putting the needs of our people above partisan politics in the State Assembly,” Gray said in a statement, adding that he “never shied away” from challenging his own Democratic Party leadership on issues of water policy and access to rural health clinics.

In 2022, the Gray-Duarte race for CD-13 was decided by fewer than 600 votes, the second closest Congressional contest in the nation.

CD-13 stretches from Coalinga to Stockton, and includes the city of Merced and parts of Fresno, Madera, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties.

Gray, 45, said that since being elected, Duarte, 58, has “consistently bent to the will of (House Speaker) Kevin McCarthy while kowtowing to the whims of the radical Freedom Caucus.”

“He has supported the gutting of funding for veterans and seniors, restricting a woman’s right to make her own healthcare decisions, and putting extremist politics over the interests of working people,” Gray said.

Gray has lined up a number of endorsements, including Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno.

The National Republican Congressional Committee was quick to respond after Gray’s announcement Wednesday, referring to the former assemblyman as a “Sacramento swamp creature.”

“Central Valley voters rejected Adam Gray after he betrayed them to collect lavish special interest perks. In Sacramento, Gray skipped over 150 votes — and when he did show up, Gray drove up inflation, raised the gas tax and waged war on the Valley’s way of life,” said NRCC spokesman Ben Petersen in a statement.

This story was originally published August 9, 2023 at 12:18 PM.