California Republican is debt free for first time in office. What happened to his creditors?
Congressman David Valadao, a Republican representing the Southern San Joaquin Valley, is debt-free for the first time since he assumed office, his most recent financial disclosure shows.
At least one constituent wants more details about who he owed money to in the past.
Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, claimed no liabilities for 2020 — a far cry from 2019, when he claimed he owed at least $16 million to various creditors, some of whom he did not disclose the identities of, in connection to one of his family’s dairy farms.
The farm declared bankruptcy after facing a lawsuit in November 2017 when Valadao and his family’s farms, Triple V Dairy and Two Star Dairy, were sued by Rabobank, a financial services company, over unpaid loans.
Valadao signed off on at least five loans adding up to at least $6 million from Rabobank since he was first sworn in as a congressman in 2013, according to his financial disclosures, which are available dating back to fiscal year 2012.
In addition to Rabobank in the filing for 2019, the most recent one for which Valadao listed liabilities, the congressman owed money to Kubota Credit Corporation, a financier, and Western Milling, which offers farming equipment and support.
One section of his 2019 form showed that from 2016 and 2018, Valadao owed between $5 million and $25 million to “various unsecured creditors” over “outstanding accounts payable for Triple V Dairy partnership.”
Federal disclosure rules say congressmen must provide information about any entity or individual to whom they more than $10,000. Valadao may still have some debts, but none that surpasses $10,000.
A spokesperson for Valadao confirmed that the bankruptcy of his family’s farm, Triple V Dairy, was the reason the debts were cleared, including the unnamed ones mentioned in the ethics complaint. The spokesperson did not confirm how many people made up the “various unsecured creditors” field.
Valadao’s business debts led political news outlet Roll Call in 2013 to rank him as the poorest member of Congress, a line which has followed him throughout his reelection campaigns.
He claimed he earned $55,000 from farm labor at Valadao Dairy in 2020.
Ethics complaint over Valadao’s unnamed creditors
Members of Congress are required to make their assets and liabilities publicly available annually. They file their financial disclosures with the House Clerk’s office, which puts that information into an online, searchable database.
Maria Martinez, a resident from Valadao’s district, last month filed an ethics complaint against the representative seeking more information about the unidentified creditors from Valadao’s previous disclosure forms.
The complaint says it’s unlikely the unnamed creditors were each owed less than $10,000 given the limited number of people listed in the farm’s bankruptcy filings.
“The only exception to this rule would apply if Rep. Valadao has 500 or more creditors to whom he owes less than $10,000 each, which does not appear to be the case here,” the complaint, sent to the Clerk of the House of Representatives, reads.
Martinez said she worked with members of United Farm Workers on the complaint. She said she was concerned Valadao would be irresponsible in making decisions in Congress based on his history with bankruptcies and not sharing the names of creditors.
UFW is a Democratic-leaning organization. It donated to Valadao’s Democratic opponent in the last election cycle, according to OpenSecrets. Martinez, a former farmworker who worked for UFW before starting her own business, wrote the complaint on her on volition, she said.
It is easy to file an ethics complaint against members of Congress, though few are taken up by the House Committee on Ethics, which investigates alleged violations.
The person wishing to file can either fill out a form, send an email or make a phone call to the Office of Congressional Ethics. The filer must outline the reason for the complaint, personal details about themselves and other several associated details of the alleged ethics violation.
The Office of Congressional Ethics decides whether to refer the complaint to the House Committee on Ethics and initiate a review.
A spokesperson for the office declined to comment for this story, citing its rules on confidentiality.
Valadao’s office had not been notified of the complaint prior to the publication of this article, said his campaign spokesman, Andrew Renteria.
“It is unfortunate that baseless partisan attacks are being used to distract from the good work Congressman Valadao is doing on behalf of California’s 21st Congressional District,” he said.
Valadao’s district is a toss-up in the 2022 election
Valadao has been collecting serious campaign cash ahead of the 2022 election, where he is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbent Republicans.
The representative of the 21st district, which is sandwiched between Fresno and Bakersfield, has long flipped between a Republican and a Democrat.
In 2020, Valadao narrowly defeated incumbent TJ Cox, a Democrat who represented the district from 2018-2020. Valadao held the seat from 2013 to 2018.
But Valadao will face at least a few Democratic challengers in 2022: Nicole Parra, a former member of the California State Assembly representing Kern County; Bryan Osorio, the mayor of Delano; and Angel Lara, who most recently served as a staff assistant in Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office.
Valadao — who has backed away from former President Donald Trump on issues related to impeachment and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the Capitol, unlike other House Republicans — also faces GOP Trump supporter Chris Mathys, a former Fresno city councilman, in the 2022 race.
This story was originally published August 23, 2021 at 8:00 AM with the headline "California Republican is debt free for first time in office. What happened to his creditors?."
