Democrat Adam Gray tops Republican John Duarte in close congressional rematch
Former Assemblymember Adam Gray, D-Merced, has beaten incumbent Rep. John Duarte, R-Modesto, in their tight House of Representatives race., Associated Press said Wednesday
Latest unofficial results show Gray leading Duarte by 187 votes. The race was the last in the nation to be decided.
“The final results confirm this district is ready for independent and accountable leadership that always puts the valley’s people ahead of partisan politics,” Gray tweeted on X.
Duarte told the Turlock Journal he had called Gray and conceded the race.
A Gray win narrows the already-tight Republican House majority to a point where a handful of dissidents can have enormous influence on legislation. The GOP will control 220 seats in the session that begins next month, while Democrats will have 215.
But two Republicans have been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump for administration jobs, and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said he will not return to the House. For a few weeks or perhaps months, that means the Republican to Democratic ratio will be 217 to 215—and since a tie means legislation doesn’t pass, any one member can have enormous influence.
Nonpartisan election analysts had thought that the 2024 rematch between Duarte, a farmer and businessman turned congressman, and Gray could have gone either way.
The 2022 contest between Duarte and Gray was also one of the nation’s closest, helping pad Republicans’ slim House majority that year. Duarte was declared the winner several weeks after Election Day, with the freshman prevailing by about four-tenths of a percentage point.
Gray, 47, served Merced in the California State Assembly for a decade before leaving his seat in 2022 for the congressional bid. Duarte, 58, serves on House committees concerning agriculture, natural resources and transportation and infrastructure.
The 13th district includes all of Merced County and chunks of Madera, Stanislaus, Fresno and San Joaquin counties.
It is a Latino-majority voting-age district with a large population of young people. Compared to the rest of California, this area has tended to have low turnout, leading older, white, more conservative voters to disproportionately influence elections here. Presidential general elections usually spur the most turnout.
The 13th is one of more than a dozen congressional districts across the country held by GOP members of Congress where President Joe Biden would have beaten former President Donald Trump in 2020 had current legislative boundaries been in place. Lines were redrawn to reflect the 2020 census. Voters in the new 13th would have picked Biden by 11 percentage points in 2020.
Preliminary results show Trump topping Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, 50.8% to 46.6% in Merced County, according to the California Secretary of State.. Trump won Madera County by about 21 points, Stanislaus by 11, Fresno by 4.5 and San Joaquin by about 1. Harris won statewide by 20 percentage points.
This story was originally published December 3, 2024 at 9:08 PM with the headline "Democrat Adam Gray tops Republican John Duarte in close congressional rematch."
