Adam Gray vs. John Duarte: Where candidates for California’s 13th Congressional District stand

The race for California’s 13th Congressional District in the San Joaquin Valley is expected to be a close one, with Democratic Assemblyman Adam Gray running against Republican John Duarte.

The district includes Madera, Merced and Modesto. Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock, represented much of the district for the past four years. Harder this year is running in a different district centered on San Joaquin County.

John Duarte

Party: Republican

Age: 56

Birthplace: Modesto

Residence: Modesto

Occupation: Farmer/Businessman

Education: San Diego State (Finance), University of Pacific, Stockton (MBA)

Offices held: None

Campaign website address: johnduarteforcongress.com

Do you think that Gavin Newsom’s drought protection plan does enough to address the state’s water shortage?

Gavin Newsom has held state office for 12 years and has done absolutely nothing to address real drought reform, and the people of the Valley are paying dearly for it. Gavin Newsom and career politicians want to talk “drought reform” because they don’t want to talk the truth. We have water. We have water that we flush out to the ocean because we refuse to do the right thing.

Would you have voted in support of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act?

No. President Biden and Nancy Pelosi’s new law did nothing to fight inflation — and, according to most economists, this law will cause everyday items to get even more expensive.

As your congressman, I’ll vote to stop the federal binge spending that is causing inflation. I’ll make sure our farms have water so food is affordable. I’ll suspend the gas tax so gas is cheaper. I’ll vote to ease unfair rules and fees on new housing so that people can afford to buy or rent in our community. I’ll vote for a middle-class tax cut. People shouldn’t have to pick between buying food, gas or filling their prescriptions.

How do you plan to address homelessness in your district?

We need to call it what it is: a crisis. The system has failed. Homeless individuals — whether they need assistance with mental help, drug intervention, or other services — we must get them help that will keep them off the streets for more than just the time being.

Local health care providers as well as local law enforcement need to be given the tools necessary to address the situation to keep our streets safe. The government has spent billions on helping the homeless — every month, we have more homeless.

I support getting serious about the problem by immediately building enough shelters for the homeless and prohibiting camping in our parks and on our sidewalks. I support opening as many new drug and mental health treatment centers as we need and requiring they be used. I support immediately cleaning up the dangerous, filthy camps in our communities, and keeping our parks, sidewalks, and freeways clean. I also support public, nonpartisan audits of all the agencies dealing with homelessness so we can see where our money went.

It’s not right and it’s not American to let people shoot up, sleep, and use the bathroom in our streets. It’s time we help them to help themselves.

Adam Gray

Party: Democratic

Age: 45

Birthplace: Merced

Residence: Merced

Occupation: Assemblyman, educator

Education: Merced College, UC Santa Barbara

Offices held: Assemblyman since 2012

Campaign website address: adamgrayforcongress.com

Do you think that Gavin Newsom’s drought protection plan does enough to address the state’s water shortage?

Over the last four decades, California’s population has doubled while our water storage has grown by just 1%. Farmers have done an incredible job of growing more food with less water, and the entire United States owes San Joaquin Valley farmers a debt of thanks every night they sit down to dinner. As our population continues to grow, conservation can only get us so far. We need to capture, store and deliver more water. I support adding 4 million acre-feet of additional water storage as a starting point, but more will be needed. I also support water recycling and reuse, desal, increased efficiency, cleaning up contaminated water and eliminating the red tape that has stalled Prop. 1 and future water storage projects.

One thing missing from the drought plan is a plan to modernize the Delta. The Delta is like a leaky bucket where we waste 50% of our freshwater by letting it flow out to the Pacific Ocean to push back saltwater intrusion. That’s insane. We need to re-engineer the Delta to minimize saltwater intrusion and stop wasting that water. The state has installed a rock wall at the mouth of the Delta as an emergency drought barrier. It has proven highly successful at reducing saltwater intrusion without requiring us to sacrifice as much fresh water. It should be made permanent and expanded, and we should pursue other creative solutions that mitigate water waste. Importantly, the plan also needs to permanently cancel the state’s water grab in the northern San Joaquin Valley. The water grab fails to protect drinking water in disadvantaged communities, hurts farmers, won’t save a single fish, and doubles down on Delta water waste. Instead, we should embrace voluntary agreements that will better manage our reservoirs, restore natural habitats, and eliminate invasive predators.

Would you have voted in support of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act?

Compromise and negotiation that reflects more diverse and varied perspectives always lead to better public policy. I support the Senate’s negotiated plan.

How do you plan to address homelessness in your district?

Short-term solutions do not solve long-term problems. Most homelessness projects fail to address the root causes of homelessness like mental illness, addiction and domestic violence. In the state Legislature, I delivered millions of dollars for my district to build over 100 units to house the homeless paired with support services to address these root causes. This funding needs to be made permanent so we can continue to expand housing opportunities and ensure we never have to turn someone away to sleep under the freeway. I also voted to create CARE Court, which will compel people to receive care when they are too mentally ill to seek it out for themselves.

Unfortunately, good mental health care is hard to find even for people with private insurance because of the health care workforce shortage. That’s why I have fought to fund residency slots, nursing schools, and loan forgiveness programs to encourage more healthcare workers to practice medicine in underserved communities. It is also why I fought to deliver the funding to establish a medical school at UC Merced, so we can train the next generation of doctors in the communities that need them most.

We cannot stop there. We also need to invest in our social workers and public health programs, including early intervention programs that identify and address mental health problems in childhood. People end up homeless for a lot of different reasons, and we need to have a multitude of services available in order to get them back on their feet.

This story was originally published October 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.