Rep. David Valadao (R) won re-election for California's 22nd district. With 98% of the ballots counted, the Republican has 52% of the vote to 48% for his Democratic challenger, Rudy Salas, with a margin of about 4,500 votes.
This victory secures the 220th House seat in the Lower House for the Republicans to 211 for the Democrats. Four races remain to be decided, two of which are GOP-led: Lauren Boebert (R) of Colorado is ahead in the count. And John Duarte holds the lead in California's 15th District. If both leaders hold,Republicans will have a 222-213 majority in January. The two remaining races in Alaska and Maine are both deadlocked.
Valadao's fifth term
Valadao was first elected representative to the House in 2012, but lost re-election in 2018. Two years later, he returned to office. Next year will be the Republican's fifth term in Congress.
According to the news media CalMatters, Valadao's victory is due to the fact that his campaign focused on issues important to voters in the Central Valley district, including agriculture, water issues and the economy. Since, approximately 44% of the residents of the 22nd district are registered Democrats, 26% are registered Republicans and 23% have no specific party preference.
Controversy against Trump
Valadao was one of the 10 republicans of the House of Representatives who voted in favor of the impeachment trial against Donald Trump after the assault on the Capitol on January 6th. And along with Washington's Dan Newhouse, they are the only two who are against the former president that will continue in the Lower House. The other candidates for the position either withdrew or were defeated in the primaries by Trump-backed challengers.
In an interview with The Hill in October, Valadao's senior campaign adviser Robert Jones said that the vote in favor of Trump's impeachment was "a demonstration of his independence."
