GOP Speaker Johnson and Bernie Sanders are fighting over Bakersfield

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Sen. Bernie Sanders are bringing a national focus to a Central Valley district that is one of the most competitive races in the country.

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Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, and Sanders, an independent from Vermont, are holding dueling rallies in the same week in Bakersfield, a large city in the heart of California’s farm country, where Rep. David Valadao, an incumbent Republican, is fighting to hold on to his seat against Randy Villegas, a progressive first-time candidate. 

Johnson spoke to a crowd of nearly 150 attendees in Bakersfield on Wednesday afternoon, according to his campaign, just days before Sanders is slated to speak in the same city on Sunday. Rep. Lance Gooden, a Republican from Texas, and Valadao were also at the Johnson rally.

Valadao’s district is 74% Latino, making those voters the primary demographic in the district. Proposition 50 reshaped the 22nd Congressional District to bring in more Democratic voters from the more liberal Fresno and Madera counties.

Valadao took home 40.7% of the primary vote, meaning a healthy majority of primary voters did not support him. Villegas received 32.4% of the primary vote, beating Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, who finished third with almost 27%. The progressive’s win was a shock for a district that has historically voted red, and it’s a potential signal of the district’s changing views.

In the past, Valadao has relied on his background as a dairy farmer to connect with the largely agricultural district. He also appealed to the district’s more moderate or liberal voters, having at times broken party lines, such as when he was one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach President Donald Trump for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Valadao’s support might be slipping. He won reelection in 2024 with 53% of the vote, against Assemblymember Rudy Salas, and has since been in the hot seat after siding with his party on a consequential vote on Medicaid cuts.

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Villegas, a college professor, entered the race with little name recognition but managed to win a surprise primary upset over fellow Democrat Bains, a doctor, whose assembly district includes parts of the 22nd Congressional District. Villegas picked up steam after securing a key endorsement from Sanders back in November, which was followed by support from New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, union activist Dolores Huerta, Rep. Ro Khanna, Sen. Adam Schiff and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Sanders’ rally is slated to be at a high school in Bakersfield on Sunday as another stop on his Fight Oligarchy Tour, which has been running since last year. The tour has brought out large crowds of voters in unexpected pockets of the country, including drawing a 3-mile line for a rally he held in Sacramento County last year with Ocasio-Cortez.

Gov. Gavin Newsom rolled his eyes Wednesday when a reporter asked his thoughts about Johnson’s visit to California. 

“He’s been one of the worst speakers of my lifetime,” Newsom said to a room full of reporters on Wednesday during the governor’s bill signing in Sacramento. “One of the most destructive speakers of my lifetime. He’s been completely complicit in the unraveling of truth and trust, progress.”

Newsom doubled down on his thoughts of the Republican speaker.

“Speaker Johnson has been completely absent as we’ve watched the president of the United States and his family and friends have raided and picked the pockets of the American people. He’s completely complicit in all of that.”