The race for the 13th Congressional District, expected to be one of the closest races in the nation, hasn’t turned out to be as close as it was in 2022.
Rep. John Duarte (R-Modesto), the incumbent who beat former Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced) by a scant 564 votes two years ago, is ahead by 3,122 votes in their 2024 rematch.
According to the California Secretary of State’s website, incumbent Congressman John Duarte, R-Modesto, is headed to victory for re-election in the 13th Congressional District. In the latest results, Republican Duarte led with 76,685 votes (51.0 percent) over Democrat Adam Gray who received 73,563 votes (49 percent).
Late Wednesday, Duarte led by about 3,200 votes, with Gray able to slice 400 votes off that lead by Thursday evening. That gave the Democrat’s campaign added optimism.
“Every vote matters,” said Gray. “We feel confident about where we stand and we’ll continue to watch the results roll in. I look forward to representing my neighbors and continuing my work for the Valley.”
While it’s unclear how many total votes remain to be processed in the five counties, Donna Linder, Stanislaus County’s Registrar of Voters, said that county turnout this election is trending toward about 67 percent. If that’s the case in the rest of the district, which boasts 340,000 registered voters, then there could be tens of thousands of votes outstanding.
“I am encouraged by the early vote returns,” said Duarte. “On Tuesday, Valley families sent a message that we are tired of high food and gas prices.”
Linder reported late Thursday night that 126,484 county ballots already had been counted, and that more than 64,000 vote-by-mail ballots in Stanislaus County alone still needed to be processed. However, not all those ballots will include Gray-Duarte votes since only about half of Stanislaus County sits within the 13th district’s boundaries.
In the 5th Congressional District – which includes most of Modesto and the eastern half of Stanislaus County including Hughson – will continue to be represented by Republican Tom McClintock. The incumbent has thus far collected 188,098 votes (62.6 percent) to the 112,278 votes (37.4 percent) collected by perennial Democrat candidate Michael “Mike” Barkley of Manteca.
The triangle-shaped northwest corner of Stanislaus County falls within the 9th district, where Rep. Josh Harder (D-Tracy) is locked in a close battle with Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln (R-Stockton). As of Friday, Harder was leading with 51.2 percent of the vote. Harder, who used to represent Ceres in Congress, has 85,528 votes to Lincoln’s 81,504 votes (48.8 percent).
Alanis soundly defeating Jessica Self
Voters in the 22nd State Assembly District soundly chose Juan Alanis, R-Modesto to continue representing them in Sacramento. Alanis again defeated Democrat Jessica Self, a public defender who ran unsuccessfully for that office two years ago. Alanis collected 55,589 votes (57 percent) to Self’s 41,896 votes (43 percent). The 22nd Assembly district includes Ceres, Keyes, Modesto, Turlock, Empire, Denair, Patterson, Gustine, Newman, Hilmar, Ballico, Snelling, Grayson, Crows Landing, Diablo Grande and Stevinson.
“I am grateful to have the opportunity to continue the hard work my team, and I have been putting in for the past two years,” said Alanis in a social media post the morning after the election.
“For the past two years, I have striven to work as hard as possible to benefit the people in my District. Sixteen bills I authored were signed into law in the past two years, and I strove to ensure the 22nd District’s voice was clearly heard in Sacramento. I am extremely proud to have delivered on my original campaign promise to deal with Proposition 47, retail theft, and crime during my first term. We gained several public safety victories, including the passage of Proposition 36, and passed laws to make our kids and communities safer,” he continued.
“During my time in office, I had never been about party politics. It has been about being a problem solver and getting things done. I promise to continue that same mentality in my second term. Thank you to the people of the 22nd Assembly District. It is my life’s honor to represent you in the legislature.”
Ripon Republican Heath Flora has won re-election to the 9th Assembly District, which includes eastern Stanislaus County and those living in Hughson. Assemblyman Flora received 89,574 votes (70.6 percent) over the 37,231 votes (29.4 percent) collected by Tami Nobriga, an American Independent Party candidate, retired advertising businesswoman and conservative Christian.
In the Yosemite Community College District Trustee Area 7, which encompasses Ceres, incumbent board trustee Antonio Aguilar was victorious over challenger M. Geri Vargas of Ceres, a retired executive assistant. Aguilar picked up 8,650 votes (68.41 percent) to Vargas’ 3,995 votes (31.59 percent).
— Kristina Hacker and Joe Cortez contributed to this report.
